Bizzare Behaviour

[Bjelkier]

Mistral my two year old entire male Samoyed did the strangest thing last night.

He was in the kitchen eating his dinner when suddenly he bolted out and came to the door so frightened he actually peed on the floor!

Now he is totally terrified of the kitchen!

We were sitting just outside and herd nothing that could have scared him in such a way, he has been in there alone hundreds of times and this has never happened before.

My question now is what to do with him?

He wont go in there at all, he is very nervous in the rest of the house and every little noise is freaking him out. I am stumped about how to get him in the kitchen again. I have tried coaxing him in with me slowly but he gets to the door and bolts.

I am open to any ideas.

[megan_]

My boy did somethign similar when he was going through a fear period. Ignore him and carry on with life. He will soon get hte message that there is nothing different.

[corvus]

Aww, poor thing. Maybe something bit him. My old dog was terrified of march flies. She'd bolt if she heard one buzzing around. I don't blame her; I'm terrified of them as well! I still think hurting so much when you bite someone is maladaptive for a bloodsucker.

Anyway, have you tried starting from a good distance from the door and feeding him? There must be some distance at which he is reasonably comfortable. I'd focus on very gradually shortening that distance.

[Bjelkier]

Aww, poor thing. Maybe something bit him. My old dog was terrified of march flies. She'd bolt if she heard one buzzing around. I don't blame her; I'm terrified of them as well! I still think hurting so much when you bite someone is maladaptive for a bloodsucker.

Anyway, have you tried starting from a good distance from the door and feeding him? There must be some distance at which he is reasonably comfortable. I'd focus on very gradually shortening that distance.

I have started coaxing him in with food which is slowly working but as soon as I say he can go he bolts out of there.

Poor thing is shaking the whole time.

I am a little worried that doing this might reward the fearful behaviour though, not sure about that one.

I just don't understand what may have happened ;)

Edited February 23, 2010 by Wolfsong

[Staranais]

Aww, poor thing. Maybe something bit him. My old dog was terrified of march flies. She'd bolt if she heard one buzzing around. I don't blame her; I'm terrified of them as well! I still think hurting so much when you bite someone is maladaptive for a bloodsucker.

Anyway, have you tried starting from a good distance from the door and feeding him? There must be some distance at which he is reasonably comfortable. I'd focus on very gradually shortening that distance.

I have started coaxing him in with food which is slowly working but as soon as I say he can go he bolts out of there.

Poor thing is shaking the whole time.

I am a little worried that doing this might reward the fearful behaviour though, not sure about that one.

I just don't understand what may have happened

I'm not a trainer, but if it were my dog I wouldn't worry about that - if he's too scared, he won't eat anyway, plus in my observation eating often relaxes a dog.

If you did end up with a dog who "acts scared" in order to be fed, that's a far easier problem to fix than a dog who actually is feeling terrified. But if he's genuinely scared, then how to manipulate you to get more food will be the last thing on his mind.

If it were my dog, I'd take Corvus's advice - feed the dog at a distance where he's a little nervous but not terrified. Then gradually decrease the distance as he starts to feel more and more comfortable.

That's JMO, though.

[poodlefan]

I'd adopt the "no big deal" approach to the kitchen. Feed him outside maybe for a while?

You'd probably have more success walking him through it on lead and rewarding than trying to coax him in.

Edited February 24, 2010 by poodlefan

[Jigsaw]

Is there another entry to the kitchen that you can use? As in bring him in on lead through another door, walking quickly, turn around and go straight back out again. Then reward. Although I think I'd probably just leave him for a while and ignore the behaviour and feed him elsewhere and when using the kitchen use a happy voice to talk to him (even if he's not in the room), ignoring the bad behaviour and reward good behaviour such as eye contact. Was there anyone else in the room with him at the time or another animal?

[bedazzledx2]

I agree with poodlefan. Sounds like a superstitios behaviour and you may never know what set him off. Drawing attention to it may actually increase and validate his fear. Thats not to say his fear isn't genuine...I'm sure it is, but I would be ignoring it for now and feeding him outside in a place he feels secure.

I'd adopt the "no big deal" approach to the kitchen. Feed him outside maybe for a while?

You'd probably have more success walking him through it on lead and rewarding than trying to coax him in.

[Aidan]

As far as getting him in the kitchen, teach him to target your hand or a target stick. It is 1000x better than food luring for this sort of problem. Condition it strongly first, although I have used this with a newly conditioned targeting behaviour and very frightened animals successfully before. As Jigsaw has mentioned, get him in, then let him leave. The exception would be if he has that look like "how silly of me, what was I worried about before?"

His nervousness in the rest of the house and other little noises spooking him concerns me. Keep an eye on him. It may not be a simple case of generalised fear and heightened anxiety from whatever scared him before.

[Bjelkier]

As far as getting him in the kitchen, teach him to target your hand or a target stick. It is 1000x better than food luring for this sort of problem. Condition it strongly first, although I have used this with a newly conditioned targeting behaviour and very frightened animals successfully before. As Jigsaw has mentioned, get him in, then let him leave. The exception would be if he has that look like "how silly of me, what was I worried about before?"

His nervousness in the rest of the house and other little noises spooking him concerns me. Keep an eye on him. It may not be a simple case of generalised fear and heightened anxiety from whatever scared him before.

This worries me too, I will watch him carefully.

Its so strange that he is doing this, he has never been a fearful dog and nothing has happened to him recently.

He already knows to target so I will get him doing that.

Thanks everyone I will try some of the suggestions and see how he goes.

[poodlefan]

Perhaps there is a medical reason for it Wolfsong.

Hypothyroidism isn't unknown in the breed and would explain the behaviour. If it kept up, that's an avenue I'd be exploring.

Have a read of this

[Bjelkier]

Perhaps there is a medical reason for it Wolfsong.

Hypothyroidism isn't unknown in the breed and would explain the behaviour. If it kept up, that's an avenue I'd be exploring.

Have a read of this

Hmmm that sounds very much like what he has been doing.

Might be making a trip to the vet soon, thanks PF.

Our of idle curiosity does anyone know if Hypothyroidism is genetic?

Edited February 24, 2010 by Wolfsong

[Aidan]

Our of idle curiosity does anyone know if Hypothyroidism is genetic?

Yes.

Just be aware, you will need to send the sample to Dr Jean Dodds in the USA to test for hypothyroidism at this level. It cannot be done here and any result returned will probably show "normal" (otherwise you would be seeing the better known symptoms of hypothyroidism already). What's more, the results needs to be interpreted specifically for breed.

There are other possible medical reasons for this sort of behaviour.

[Bjelkier]

Our of idle curiosity does anyone know if Hypothyroidism is genetic?

Yes.

Just be aware, you will need to send the sample to Dr Jean Dodds in the USA to test for hypothyroidism at this level. It cannot be done here and any result returned will probably show "normal" (otherwise you would be seeing the better known symptoms of hypothyroidism already). What's more, the results needs to be interpreted specifically for breed.

There are other possible medical reasons for this sort of behaviour.

Like what?

[persephone]

If he were mine- I would NOT be paying attention to him- also not trying to coax him back into the kitchen or anything.Fed him somewhere he IS comfortable- and otherwise keep routines as you would normally. If he wants to stay in one room- so be it.

When you go for a walk this evening- watch him. Is there any sign of a difference in his sight and/or hearing? Is he more anxious looking, is he walking any differently?

Has he had access to anywhere different where he may have eaten medications or anything?

Hope he is better tomorrow .

[poodlefan]

Perhaps there is a medical reason for it Wolfsong.

Hypothyroidism isn't unknown in the breed and would explain the behaviour. If it kept up, that's an avenue I'd be exploring.

Have a read of this

Hmmm that sounds very much like what he has been doing.

Might be making a trip to the vet soon, thanks PF.

Our of idle curiosity does anyone know if Hypothyroidism is genetic?

Yes, it can be and and is noted in the breed.

[corvus]

Hugs to Mist. Hope it is just an odd superstition. It seems so out of character for a confident Sammy boy.

[poodlefan]

PM Erny if you decide to get him tested WS - she knows the ins and out of this backwards.

[Bjelkier]

If he were mine- I would NOT be paying attention to him- also not trying to coax him back into the kitchen or anything.Fed him somewhere he IS comfortable- and otherwise keep routines as you would normally. If he wants to stay in one room- so be it.

When you go for a walk this evening- watch him. Is there any sign of a difference in his sight and/or hearing? Is he more anxious looking, is he walking any differently?

Has he had access to anywhere different where he may have eaten medications or anything?

Hope he is better tomorrow .

On his walk/obediance training session he was his usual nutty self.

Excited and happy but not having issues of any kind.

As for somewhere different, no nothing has changed.

He was able to eat dinner tonight in the kitchen.

I had him heel in and when he sat he looked around and realised were he was. He stayed calm, was nervous but calm. Ate his dinner (all be it at my feet the whole time and occasionally checking things out) but he managed without bolting out of the room and hiding in the bedroom, so its a little better.

[Aidan]

Like what?

Anything from ear infections to poisoning to seizures. A vet is the best person to speak to. I don't mean to cause you any unnecessary alarm, just making you aware that it might not just be something in his environment.