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GSD-Sue
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GSD-Sue is offline  
Location: Birmingham UK
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,414
Female 
 
11-06-2011, 02:11 PM

Jekyl & Hyde dog

My friends foster dog came to her at the age of 13 due to behavioural changes when his previous owners moved house. He went from being a contented happy go lucky dog to a self harming nightmare. He dug at the house doors until his paws bled & at night panted & barked till he woke the family & then after a while fell asleep.
since he has been at my friends the daytime problems have ceased, probably due to there being other dogs present However after being there a couple of months his night time panting & barking has started up again.
Has anybody had any experience of this kind of behavior & can anyone suggest why he is doing it & what could be done about it.
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greyhoundk
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Location: Kent, UK
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11-06-2011, 03:51 PM
Sounds to me like its something to do with the house move, poor old boy, probably wondering whats going on, a bit like elderly people i supposed they get set in their ways and like to be in familiar surroundings, a bit of a shock to the system i would think at 13, thats a bit old to be moved from pillar to post.

Panting is a sign of stress, im not an expert but there are people on here who know a lot more and would be able to help.

If it were me id let the poor old boy sleep upstairs in my room because hes obviously stressed out, moving house and then going to your friends house, its very unsettling for him and is being displayed in his behaviour.

Im sure someone else will give you some advice on what could help. Good luck
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smokeybear
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11-06-2011, 05:54 PM
Has your friend taken the dog to a vet to rule out any underlying medical conditions and a referral to a reputable behaviourist?
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Bitkin
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Location: Herefordshire, UK
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11-06-2011, 06:54 PM
With our first dog, many many years ago, we moved house after he had been with us for about 3 years (he was a rescue dog). We naively thought that there would be no problems as we were going to somewhere with acres of garden as opposed to the tiny patch that he was used to, and he knew the place as for weeks we had been going there to do odd jobs and painting etc.

The first night after the move the poor boy nearly collapsed with stress. We put his bed in our bedroom for the second night but it made little difference, and he had to have sedatives from the vet. We honestly thought that we were going to lose him at one point, but eventually, after many long and exciting walks through the fields and lots of love, he did calm down and went on to live to a very ripe and happy old age. The only remaining legacy of the trauma of the move was the fact that he slept IN our bed for the rest of his life!

I think that sometimes we are guilty of underestimating the impact that a housemove can have on a dog, especially perhaps an elderly one who is taken from everything that he knows and is happy with.

I feel a little sad for your friends foster dog, because it seems that now he has also lost his owners. Poor chap. At least your friend is trying to make things better for him.
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