odd behavior with my dog

[rundrave]

I have a 6yr old Male GSP that has shown some odd behavior again recently.

Just a little backround I also have a 4yr Male GSP, they share a kennel, and do everything together. These dogs get along great, and that really isnt the issue other than backround info. We live in the country, dogs get worked daily and have plenty of exercise. Just ran them on some homers the other day. They live a good life and are treated as members of the family.

The problem I have is with the older dog. There are times where I tell them both to kennel up and he runs to area where I cant get to him (under the deck, under a vehicle, desk in the house, corner of a room, etc) and wont come out. 99.9 percent of the time this isnt an issue, I can go a full year and never have it happen, and recently its happened probably 3 times in the last month. If I have the e-collars on its not an issue and is easily corrected, but I dont have the collars on 24/7 and rarely use them unless we are out in the field.

When he does this, and I go near him he will sometimes cry, sometimes growl but will never attempt to bite etc, but oftem times I am afraid to press the issue or let it escalate for fear that he might. Most the of time I just let him be or completely ignore him and just go back to him and eventually I am usually able to just pick him up or grab him by the collar and lead him to the kennel.

When he does this, I am unable to bribe him with food, toys, bumpers, dokkens, leash etc or anything. Sometimes I am able to bluff and show him the remote to the collars even though he doesnt have his on and he will immediately run to the kennel. This has me dumbfounded, and frusrated at times. Other than leaving the collars on 24/7, which I have had bad experiences with as the prongs irritate the skin enough to make it raw, I dont know what else to do which leads me to my next point.

The only thing I can think of to cause this happened back in 2008 when I had some very serious health issues. To make a long story short I was in the hospital for about 4 months. During that time following a surgery I was released and was at home doing well. Unfortanately I ended up having a grand mal seizure, of course I dont remember any of it, but both dogs saw it all. When the firetruck and ambulance arrived at our home the paramedics had to peel both dogs off of my chest (can you say mans best friend?) I was then in and out of the hospital for a about 4 month. I am lucky to say I am in good health today and that was the only seizure I ever had. I have recovered and have moved on and thats all behind me.

While I was in the hospital they were often kept at home but my wife made efforts to get home to them twice a day everyday, and when we knew she couldnt they were left at a local kennel and always in good care.

I never had this issue with my dog until I got out of the hospital. He did it frequently right when I got out and it made sense, but eventually went away for a long time. He would do this usually in the morning before I left for work. But last night he did it when I got home from work after doing some retrieves. The daily routine is I come home from work, they get excercise and then I feed them. It has gone well over a year maybe even 2 before this started to happen again and now he has had a few episodes the last couple weeks.

Any ideas or thoughts? I know the aggressiveness is a touchy subject and that makes it even harder for me.

[LightningBG]

That is a tough situation. Something is triggering it. I'm guessing he's worried about something. Who knows how to fix it though. I'd say just keep spending quality time with him to try to calm any anxiety and hope it passes. Best of luck.

[LABS4ME]

Here is my guess... this coming form a guy with a son with uncontrolled siezures... it may seem like a stretch but hear me out.

Could He be sensing electrical activity that would be the same as a siezure onset. They train dogs for this for people who have bad epilepsy... some dogs a wonderful at picking up the electical activity in the brain of the affected person before the siezure manifests itself. He sounds like he is confused and it could be because of this activity...? Not all siezure activity comes to fruition. You could easily not be aware that this activity is even taking place. My son can 'sieze' basically 24 hours a day and function... can you possibly be having this 'backround' siezure activity... You would only know this with an EEG and a nuerologist reviewing it. Some siezures are so slight that they would go un noticed by many... sometimes they manifest as only staring episodes... lots and lots of siezures... not just the Coach Kill Grand Mals.

After he calms down can your wife coax him out of his hide without you in the room? Can he have got a slight injury somewhere that causes pain on certain occassions ie: torn ligament? Sounds to be more scared/confused than pain, but explore everything and think outside the box...

Good Luck!

Ken

[nofishfisherman]

Yeah that is a tough one.

It sounds like his reaction is out of fear, fear from what I don't know. If he did it all the time it would be easy to figure out but since he only does it once in awhile its hard to pinpoint what the trigger is.

When you crate him can you think of anything you might be doing differently on those days that might trigger something? He's afraid to go into the kennel so could it be something you are doing might remind him of a traumatic event related to the kennel?

You said you kennel your dogs together, are you 100% sure the other dog isn't the issue at times?

Where is the kennel located? Are there any external forces around the kennel that might trigger the dog?

I can only think of two things you could try. First is to make sure he reassociates the kennel with only good things. Make him associate it with some sort of out of this world treat. My dog will resist the kennel at times in the mornings becasue he knows he's going to be locked in there for 8-9 hours. Theres no fear or aggression but he plays the "hey dad I really don't want to" game and will run around the couch. To curb that behavior I started to give him a small piece of a dog biscuit that he only gets when its time to kennel up. It helps to build the association between kennel = happy place. I'll also feed him in his kennel alot of mornings, mainly becuase he's a slow eater and I don't have that kind of time in the morning before work. But all of it helps build the association. Most times now I don't even give a command for kennel up, he knows once i start walking toward to treat bag that its time and by the time I get back he's sitting in his kennel waiting for me. Sometimes I'll even go get something that is sort of near the bag of treats I'll come back to find him waiting in the kennel.

The other thing is that perhaps the association with the current kennel is too strong. If its one of the plastic or wire indoor kennels you could try getting a different kennel and maybe putting it in a new location. Make it as new as possible, maybe it will be different enough that you can start fresh with a new association.

First though I'd try to figure out if you can determine any sort of connection between his behavior and some sort of trigger. It might be something weird that you'd never expect. For instance I couldn't figure out why my dog wouldn't go eat out of his bowl one day, he'd just sort of sneak up to it an quickly grab a bite of food and run away. He was totally spooked by the bowl. Turns out the bowl was by an air vent and the fan was on blowing air across his bowl. It was a new thing to him and totally weirded him out. Actually pretty funny to watch but I've since moved his bowl.

[rundrave]

Ken, thanks so much for chiming in, I was hoping you would have something to offer, never would have guessed it would be related to seizures as well. There is some scar tissue there that causes some abnormal feelings in my left side and it probably always will. I havent had any other siezures but know I will always be at risk of another.

After he calms down can your wife coax him out of his hide without you in the room?