Sulking/depressed pup!

I had my gorgeous 8 months old sharpie cross for a month now. She is doing great and brill in my house and with my kids. She wasn't used to outside and strange dogs as her old owners only took her to their garden for toilet.

So i have been working hard on her training outside, she is less scared about people, passing cars etc. Getting better at meeting others dogs, but it depends on the dogs, some dogs, she greeted perfectly and with other dogs she would growled/barked at them. Apart from that, she LOVES going outside now, every chance I have got, I have been taking her out. And every weekends, we took her to different places like forests trails/parks etc (Hubby is a geocaching buff).

So the problem is that she sulks or look depressed even when we go home/at home. A couple of times, when she realised that we are on the way home, she would walk slow behind me and a couple of times, she would stop and if i pull her lead a bit, she threw a tantrum (jumping and jerking the lead iykwim). She would sulk at the front door at the bottom of the stairs. I live upper flat of a four in one cottage and have my own garden but she is not interested in the garden. Honestly, I do make effort with her, play games with her at home so to show she can still enjoy herself at home. She seemed to enjoy herself but i can't keep playing all day. Even my friends commented at how depressed she looked, because she would stand there in kitchen, staring at the floor! Lol!

Is that normal? Or is it just a teenage tantrum? I am guessing that she is still not settled at mine and afraid of missing out on walkies/outside? Also whether i am wrong in taking her out as much as i can?

I never knew that dogs can sulk!

Spencer heaves a huge, hard done by sigh and goes and hurls himself down on his bed when I tell him I'm done with playing. I just leave him to it, I know he gets plenty of exercise and stimulation so he can sulk all he wants. He's so terribly neglected

Do you tend to take her out or play with her when she looks depressed or sulky? I assume she doesn't spend literally all her indoor time staring at the floor? They soon catch on to what behaviour works to get them what they want Is there any chance something in your house worries her and that could be the cause of her depressed behaviour?

My GSP has always looked sad at the end of a walk. For months and months when he was an adolescent he would skulk in the undergrowth as we approached the car...after a 2 hour walk! He still looks sad now as we head for the car and I deal with his skulking by keeping his attention on his ball. Once he's in the car he's fine, but he lives for his walks. Your girl will get used to her new routine. Perhaps give her a chew once the walk and dinner boxes are all ticked?

Good to hear that other dogs are the same! I grew up on a farm, so our dogs had unlimited access to outside so never really have seen them sulk at all!

I do give Vesper a kong when we arrived at home, only if she decided to give up on waiting at the front door and come upstair! Lol! Hopefully the phrase will pass. I got a routine set and been pretty regular although I got to admit if she still sulk a hour after the walk, I would soften and take her out. Maybe i should be more tougher but pretty difficult as it was obviously that her old owners were pretty harsh on her.

Give her a chew right after the walk is good idea, will try that.

How about rewarding when you go in? A bit of her dinner perhaps?

Is she off lead on the walk - and then you put her on lead to go home? If so, make that last recall to put her on the lead, amazing. And walk her a little bit on the lead before you get home. Loads of fuss, treats and tell her how good she is. Make it just as exciting to go home, as it is to go on the walk.

If not, maybe she is just trying you out. If she never had the walks before, she clearly loves them, and never wants them to end! Your still new to her I guess? Give it time, she will soon learn x

Having had a chow that makes the OP's pei cross sound like a mere amateur, that is often the answer. He would have been out walking all day if he could. Head for home and he suddenly turned into a 15 year old arthritic dog who could only walk very, very slowly. As soon as someone walked past he'd start making choking noises like I was throttling him despite the lead being loose. He'd look into the eyes of the person walking by with such heart wrenching sadness in his eyes as if to say "Please take me with you - I'm terribly abused by this horrible woman!" I got some absolutely filthy looks off people. Should I turn round and head away from home, he was like a spring lamb in an instant.

Anyway, back then was when I learned that the ideal time to feed my dogs with similar tendencies is after their morning walk. That way, then have an incentive for wanting to go home after an hour or so and don't spend the rest of the day looking despondent.

Thanks guys for your suggestions!

No, I use long training leads on her in parks. She doesn't listen to me if there are other dogs around.

DoKhyi - It was actually vet's suggestion not to let my dog out hungry as it can make her more grumpy toward other dogs, said if vesper is full and happy, more likely to get more pleasant meetings with other dogs. It is Vesper's only issue (well, apart from the sulking!), she had not been socialised enough with other dogs. I did took her out without breakfast but brought it with me, she wasn't interested in the food, she would only be interested if i bring real good treats - (cheese, hot dogs, ham etc) and her favourite toys weren't enough to distract her from other dogs.

Do you know what the other breed she's been crossed with? I've had shar-pei for about 15 years and had quite a bit of experience with my friend's many pei as she used to breed and show them. In general, they are not good dogs offlead no matter how well you train them. They have been bred to be independent thinkers for centuries. It's a lot safer to buy a Flexilead 3 Long and keep them on it when out.

The only thing you can do with when to feed her is trial both times for a week or two each and see which gives the best results. I do feed the bearcoat first as I take the TM out and it keeps her quiet while I'm gone. But her incentive to come home is the TM so she can duff him up.

Shar-Pei are an incredibly odd breed and I've never known one that didn't have at least one quirk. My friend's foundation bitch would spend hours staring at the same spot on the wall. I've had one that was a weather predictor, one that wanted to murder any black lab she saw and a horsecoat that was a spider assassin. It's a shame Crufts doesn't have a sulking competiton as two of the three would have been champions. The bearcoat could throw me the most medusa like accusatory stare if she saw my suitcase appear and the horsecoat's sad face if I had to leave her was heartbreaking. Current bearcoat is a rescue and is totally crackers - I don't know where to start with her.

The old owners and vet didn't know what she is crossed with. I am thinking maybe staffordshire terrier. I ll put up some pictures if i can and you can guess. Personally i think Vesper look almost nothing like any sharpei, only signs is her wrinkles/loose skins.




Good idea, i will test it out the next few weeks with the meals. Fingers crossed that there will be some improvements.

I used to live next door to an old shar pei, the owner often left the front door open, he would chill out on the door step every day, he would object if owner even dare to close the door, they had to bribe the dog if they have to shut the door due to bad weather. So i am not surprised to hear that shar pei can be a little loopy.