Guest jsteiner78 Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 This concerns our sensitive boy Jack. When we first got him, he always took corrections very hard. A spray bottle of water made him react like it was filled with battery acid. He is very eager to please, and hates getting even a stern look. This past Friday, we had a guest dog over, and they played like crazy in the backyard. As a result, Jack ended up drinking a lot of water that evening, and his usual routine of going for a walk around 10pm didn't cut it - that night at 3am, we were awoken to the sound of his pee hitting our hardwoods. We jumped up, and in shock yelled 'NO JACK!!' and he went running back to the corner of the room where his bed was, looking very sad. I jumped up to start cleaning, and as I was on my hands and knees, he came over for comfort, but was stepping in the puddle, I gave him a firm push back - and he yelped and ran back like he had just been whipped - He then just stayed in his bed, and we cleaned it up, and went back to bed.. the next morning was our normal routine of a walk, and he seemed fine. Then, the next night, we all went upstairs, and he just wouldn't settle down. He kept coming up to our bed and whining and whining, then running to the door and begging to get out. I thought he might need to go to bathroom again (even though he had just been on his walk) so I jumped up and took him back out. We came back into our room, and again he was whining - so we decided to open the door, and let him run downstairs, knowing he hates being alone without the humans or his sister, KK, and would come back upstairs. Instead he stayed at the bottom of the steps, barking like crazy (which he rarely does). Since we had guests, I decided to go just go sleep on the couch in our living room, and he slept peacefully. Last night, we all went upstairs like usual, and Jack again was a wreck. I moved his bed right next to ours, which helped a little bit, but he would try to lay down to get comfortable, but then get up and pace. He finally stopped whining, and we fell asleep. I thought he had too - but this morning he showed no excitement to go for a walk, and was dragging the whole time, making me think he didn't sleep a wink the entire night. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? Our plan is to just keep up with our usual routine until he gets back to enjoying sleeping in our room without pampering him and rewarding his anxiety, but was wondering if there were other suggestions? We know how sensitive he is (his fosters called him a drama queen) so we don't raise our voice very high generally, but at 3am and the shock of him going right in the middle of the floor caused us both to yell. We both feel so guilty that his favorite sleeping spot is now a place of anxiety for him - please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 It's surprising that he drank enough water that he couldn't hold it--or that he didn't wake you up to go. Is there a favorite treat he enjoys? Bully sticks? Something like that? Perhaps if there is, you could spend some quite non-sleeping time in the bedroom and allow him to enjoy his treat there? Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lakota Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 How is he the rest of the day? Is it possible that he has a UTI? There might be a medical cause for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn8 Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Sounds like a UTI to me too. At least worth checking out before you put too thought into all the other possibilities. Jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GreyHawk Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Sometimes Guilt is appropriate. This is one of those times. Hopefully.... you've learned and he'll forgive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhead Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Sounds like a UTI to me too, which we have just gone through with one of ours. Though the urine didn't appear cloudy or anything, a culture showed E. coli. He too had the restlessness and inability to settle that your dog has, only it took him longer to show it. The needing to go out a lot and accidents came first. Quote Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cwholsin Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 Tasty treats are a good idea for bedtime until the negative association dies down. Does Jack enjoy training or a particular toy? If there's an activity he likes doing, I suggest having a session of it in your room. Our buddy, prof. animal trainer, suggested something like that for Hermes when he was feeling stress. The training took his mind off of it and helped him calm down. Otherwise... I'd just let him get over it. Hermes is really sensitive too, and used to (and still does occasionally) run upstairs if we yelled at the cats. He might mope for a day or so, but I'm sure he'll get over it on his own. Don't be too hard on yourselves up over what happened. He got scared, but it shouldn't cause any irreparable harm to your relationship with your cutie. Dogs do live in the present, so try not to focus on his anxiety but provide a calm redirection if you can! Good luck with your drama queen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jsteiner78 Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 All, thanks for the replies. At first I was wondering about a UTI as well, but he didn't need to go out any more than usual, and didn't act distressed anywhere but the bedroom. The good news is that Jack is back and happily running up to our room to sleep at bedtime again. I spent a couple nights down on the couch with him, and he started following me back up there during the day when I needed to change clothes or something to that effect, and each day he acted a little less stressed in that room. Last night we went upstairs, and after a little more milling around than in the past, he plopped down on his bed and slept through the night, and was excited and back to himself this morning, ready for their morning walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cwholsin Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 All, thanks for the replies. At first I was wondering about a UTI as well, but he didn't need to go out any more than usual, and didn't act distressed anywhere but the bedroom. The good news is that Jack is back and happily running up to our room to sleep at bedtime again. I spent a couple nights down on the couch with him, and he started following me back up there during the day when I needed to change clothes or something to that effect, and each day he acted a little less stressed in that room. Last night we went upstairs, and after a little more milling around than in the past, he plopped down on his bed and slept through the night, and was excited and back to himself this morning, ready for their morning walk. Good to hear! These sensitive guys sometimes just need a little time to get over things! Hermes got his head caught in the door (trying to sneak out after me ) and needed to hang out in the crate the rest of the day to get over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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