Sudden On-set Of Destructive Behaviour

[novta]

Thanks pinnacle, your replies are great!

She is desexed has been for about 2 years now. I think the labs are going to basically test every thing ie, white cell count etc just incase there is something else the vet could not pick up in their basic testing.

I will take the dogs to work for the rest of the week, it may help break the cycle and like you say will be interesting to see if she reacts in the ute as well.

Will try the camera next week when she is back in her kennel.

Good thought re the kennel & wooden flooring, however the flooring is raised high enough off the ground that I could see if there was anything nesting under there, and there doesn't appear to be. I did wonder that at one point as we had a couple of field mice make their way into the house, but have not had any sign of them in ages. The wooden floor is un-treated.

Will give you an update tomorrow once I get lab results back. Thanks again, it's always so helpful to get a different insight, you always miss things yourself which could be contributing to the behaviour.

[Tapferhund]

Novta, I don't know what type but I only suggested it because your bitch's strange behaviour is recent (?) plus she is doing physical damage to herself,teeth, nails etc during her "bouts" of destructive behaviour. Maybe she is having some type of fit (??) which is causing her strange behaviour??

Might be an idea to mention it to your Vet.

Whatever is causing it I hope you DO get to the bottom of it !

[novta]

Thank you Tapferhund, I will definately mention to the Vet tomorrow, the more suggestions the better!!

Hopefully I do get to the bottom of the cause soon, I hate it when you know something is not right with your dog - would be good if they could talk sometimes!

[Sarah L]

Thank you Tapferhund, I will definitely mention to the Vet tomorrow, the more suggestions the better!!

Hopefully I do get to the bottom of the cause soon, I hate it when you know something is not right with your dog - would be good if they could talk sometimes!

Hi Novta, How did you go at the vets with the lab results? I am eager to know. How was the second day at work with your girl? Gee I am just full of questions aren't I

[novta]

Well nothing further showed up in the urine tests from the labs, which I guess is good, but is really strange, as she is exhibiting the all the signs of having the UTI back, even my male dogs is sniffing her heaps. But if there was anything I'm sure it would of showed up. They are going to give her another check over tomorrow just to double check.

She was fine again today at work in the ute, spends the day sleeping!! I went out to check on them & make sure they had water etc and both times they were dead to the world asleep.

She actually seems to be a lot happier in herself when at home as well. Both dogs are still sleeping in their kennels at night, and she doesn't have a problem with this.

I will take them to work for the rest of the week, get the other runs up in the weekend and see what happens when I put her in them for the day.

[Sarah L]

Well nothing further showed up in the urine tests from the labs, which I guess is good, but is really strange, as she is exhibiting the all the signs of having the UTI back, even my male dogs is sniffing her heaps. But if there was anything I'm sure it would of showed up. They are going to give her another check over tomorrow just to double check.

She was fine again today at work in the ute, spends the day sleeping!! I went out to check on them & make sure they had water etc and both times they were dead to the world asleep.

She actually seems to be a lot happier in herself when at home as well. Both dogs are still sleeping in their kennels at night, and she doesn't have a problem with this.

I will take them to work for the rest of the week, get the other runs up in the weekend and see what happens when I put her in them for the day.

I am glad also that nothing showed up in the lad results. Novta can you please pm me with the kennel they spent overnight at. The reason I am asking this is even one bad night may be contributing to the problem. However the fact your other dog is sniffing her a lot may have another reason. Dogs may be able to detect a lot more than even the best educated human when it comes to ill health in their companions. Where is he sniffing, eg... around her vulva or another part of her body. Or does he start at her vulva and end up at another part of her body.

It will also be very interesting to see how she goes in the new runs and with the camera when you are at work.

[Lablover]

Just a thought, has your dog managed to escape from her run prior to the onset of this behaviour?

[novta]

Well we got another Vet Checkover, temp etc all normal. She did have full anal glands and some ulcers in her mouth from chewing at the wire in her cage. They have given me some anitbiotics to clear these up. But no sign of anything else. My male dog is mainly sniffing around her vulva and up and down the back of her back legs, but mainly the vulva area. He has the same silly look in his eye when he is sniffing her as when there are bitches in season around.

She has not managed to escape from her run before.

Can't wait to get the other runs up and see if this makes a difference! Will keep you informed.

Thanks.

[novta]

Hi all, well we have now got our new runs up, all going good so far. I have not left the dogs in them for the whole day yet, just building up gradually, starting out by putting them in there for 10mins or so at a time and observing them from inside, both dogs seem very settled in the new runs. The bitch I was having troubles with is very relaxed in them, her first time in them she lay down after about 5mins and was very relaxed. After they have been in there we give them a treat for being good and let them out. Will start leaving them in there longer and feeding their tea in there, so they hopefully get the good association with the new runs. In the females run we have left a patch of grass so if it was the UTI and stress of not being able to go to the loo in the old kennel that caused the problem she can now go on the grass.

All going well next Monday will be the first day home alone in the new runs, fingers crosesd it works!!

Thanks for all your help.

[Sarah L]

Hi all, well we have now got our new runs up, all going good so far. I have not left the dogs in them for the whole day yet, just building up gradually, starting out by putting them in there for 10mins or so at a time and observing them from inside, both dogs seem very settled in the new runs. The bitch I was having troubles with is very relaxed in them, her first time in them she lay down after about 5mins and was very relaxed. After they have been in there we give them a treat for being good and let them out. Will start leaving them in there longer and feeding their tea in there, so they hopefully get the good association with the new runs. In the females run we have left a patch of grass so if it was the UTI and stress of not being able to go to the loo in the old kennel that caused the problem she can now go on the grass.

All going well next Monday will be the first day home alone in the new runs, fingers crosesd it works!!

Thanks for all your help.

That's great to hear they are settling into their new runs and things are looking good. I would still set up the camera for the first week they have to spend all day in their runs just to make sure you have a way of finding out if anything goes wrong. Best of luck, hope all will be well from now on.

[novta]

Well I think I may have just figured out some of my dogs problem. It is windy here, I wouldn't say excessively windy, but there is a strong breeze and she is crying in her kennel and pacing and obviously stressed. Normally at night & when we are here she is quiet as in her kennel, but on two previous occassions when this destructive behaviour started she had two nights when it was windy and she cryed all night long.

Any suggestions what to do, do you comfort them - some people say this enforces it is OK to be afraid. Leave her to cry? Or what?? I have just given her some natural 'Pet Calm' tablets. Any suggestions would be great.

[Erny]

Well I think I may have just figured out some of my dogs problem. It is windy here, I wouldn't say excessively windy, but there is a strong breeze and she is crying in her kennel and pacing and obviously stressed.

Ah aaaahhhh!!!! Glad that you've managed to work out the trigger for your dog's anxiety. That works a good way towards being able to resolve the problem. I knew that there was a 'pattern' somewhere ..... but it isn't always something immediately obvious to us and can take a while to determine, particularly when it relates to natural elements ...... we have to wait for them to occur and then duley note them.

Any suggestions what to do, do you comfort them - some people say this enforces it is OK to be afraid. Leave her to cry? Or what?? I have just given her some natural 'Pet Calm' tablets. Any suggestions would be great.

Ok - is the wind rattling anything within the kennel, or is it merely the sound of the wind through the trees etc.?

That is one more thing that definately needs to be investigated. Naturally, if the wind is able to cause something within the kennel construction to creak; rattle etc., it ideally needs to be eliminated (eg by tightening).

Without knowing the design of your dog's kennel run, can it be further 'weather proofed' to reduce the effect of the wind (both in noise and perhaps that your dog feels it)?

There are some things that you can try in an attempt to 'calm' your dog in the presence of wind, but before I go into those, would you mind coming back to me with answers to the above? Your answers may (or may not ) influence my further response/s to you.

In the meantime - if/when it is windy, I'd be inclined to keep her inside. Anxiety breeds anxiety.

Can you do that? It would be better than going out there to comfort her, as that does run a very real risk of reinforcing her anxious behaviour.

Edited August 15, 2007 by Erny

[novta]

I having been looking back at the dairy I have kept once her destructive behaviour became more regular, and the destruction does not only occur on windy days. But perhaps the wind was the trigger or a sound in the wind. I have checked the kennel & nothing rattling around on it or loose on it, no tin or anything flapping around. We have a lot of trees around our property and are on a high hill, so I the only wind noise is the wind in the trees.

I let her inside last night & she slept on her bed in our bedroom, she was a bit nervy when she first came in but settled quickly & slept most of the night on her bed, she paced around once or twice. She has not been bothered by other windy nights recently, we had bigger winds last week & she was fine? But twice before now she has played up at night time when it's been windy.

I have just let her & my other dog out (he stayed outside all night - slept like a log!) and she is fine out free in the wind, just lying down on the grass.

Hope this is of some help!

[Sarah L]

Hi Novta

Did she start the destructive behaviour last night while still in her run or just whined and paced or barked? Do any branches of the tress come down when it is windy? Maybe some fell on her run before and gave her a scare. I do think it is a good idea if possible to make the runs a bit more wind proof. Have I got this right.... she is ok with the wind during the day but not a night? Can you post us a pic of the runs where they are positioned and so we can see what they look like.

You could try leaving a radio on in her run at night to distract her from the noise of the wind, one of those little battery operated ones and put it some where she can not reach it. You do not have to have it up loud but as some background noise she can become familiar with. This has worked for some dogs.

[novta]

Hi Pinnacle, the dogs runs are basically dog motels ie, wire run with wooden floor and a box at the end. The runs are located right beside our house, we have a big verandah around the house and the runs are under them with one side against the house, so they are pretty sheltered no chance of branch or anything falling on them. She didn't get destructive last night, just pacing & howling/crying.

It is calm here tonight so will be interesting to see how she goes - I bet she will probably try it on a bit tonight to get back inside!