Help With Behaviour Change In My 2 Year Old Bitch

Hi all,

as many of you know we adopted a dog that has been treat badly by its 1st owners and we got her from someone that got her from the 1st owners to stop her from being treat bad. The 2nd owners kept her for just 1 month and then rehomed her and we adopted her from them.

she is a loving dog we think she is a staffy x ridgeback but not 100% sure and wont find out untill she has been to the vets on thursday. since we got her last weekend she has been a loving well behaved dog although she hasnt been eating much as mentioned in a different topic on here in the nutrition and diet section of the forums.

but since last night she has had a mad 10-15 minutes or so after we have put our daughter to bed when she has looked like she is going to go for us and if we move then she moved rather quickly with her mouth open and tongue hanging out. this has scared us we know it is going to be hard for her to trust Humans and it will take her some time to do so is there anything we can do to over come this other than taking her for more walks as we take her for regular walks 4 times a day and each walk is between 30 minutes and 1 hour a time.

What should we do to try and get her out of behaving this way as we dont want her to think she is the top of the pack as thats not meant to be her place.

We are more keen to get her out of this strange behaviour pattern at night as we are scared she may turn on either us or our 1 year old daughter through the day.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Kind regards

Carl

Could you video it and put it up, might be helpful

I think (only think) she might be playing and your misreading it.

Adam

Thanks for your reply adam.

I would video it but have no idea how to add videos to the net from my phone/computer

thanks

Carl

Hay from what your are describing it sounds like playing behaviour, my dog does it trying to get me to play chase. But without seeing a video I can't say for deff.
ATD x

Thanks for your reply atd I shall try and figure out how to add a video so you can see what she goes like.

but she gets down on to her belly spreading her back legs out on the floor every move i make towards her or away from her she looks like she is going to move closer to take a bite at me even when I try to put her lead on her to take her for a walk.

I Literally have to come to a stop for 5 minutes or so and not move at all untill she settles down again.

I just hope this is playing behaviour and nothing more serious.

Thanks for the replies

Carl

Hi Carl the behaviour you are describing is to me what many dog owners would call and recognise as 'a mad ten minutes' . It often happens in the evenings because dogs are naturally crepuscular, this means most active at dawn and dust though down the generations the tendency to be active at these times has been largely suppressed.

If the behaviour worries you don't reward it with attention, no word no eye contact and the moment she is calm reward with praise.

As others have said its hard to tell without seeing what she is doing. However if she is dropping to the floor onto her tummy it sounds as if she is being very submissive. Can you even take a photo of her and post it.

Try keeping a handful of nice smelly [strongly flavoured] treats to hand such as diced cheese or liver. When she drops try calling her to you and hold out a treat, when she comes to you give her a treat and tell her she is good and then ask her to sit and then treat and make a fuss of her. This way she is learning that by coming when called, she will be rewarded.

It may be worth your while to ask a behavourist to come and assess the situation as you have a small child.

Thanks minihaha for your reply. I shall try what you advise and hope that will help her to calm down a bit. I had never come accross this before with other dogs I have looked after and been brought up around.

Thanks again

Carl

Carl what you are describing here is a 'play gesture'. If you spend time watching a group of puppies playing you will soon learn to recognise it.

When my dog does this (most evenings after supper) I sit on the floor in the sitting room and we have a game of 'fetch ' . If I think she is getting too excited I stop until she has calmed down a little .

If your little dog has only just started offering you these gestures it my be an indication she is feeling more at ease and confident enough to play

Thanks for your reply minihaha I shall get down on the floor with her next time she goes like this and see if she is wanting to play if this is the case I will be so relieved and will play with her as much as she wants to untill she gets to excited then will stop untill she has calmed down a little.

Thank you so much for your reply and help you have been a great help

thanks

Carl