Interesting Behaviors

[dawn miller]

I had a little dog that did this when first adopted her. In her case I think it was more of “what’s over here? Now what’s over here? Oh, something interesting on the other side…” I had to make things on one side of me accessible as I slowed down to let her sniff. Things on the other side we walked past quickly. She figured out it was better to stay on one side.

As far as herding or claiming, if you walk shoulders up and with confidence and purpose, she shouldn’t feel the need to do either. Making a barrier between you and strangers, that might be the case. I’d recommend showing her that you would rather have her sitting by your side. She really doesn’t need to protect you from friendly strangers. Just my two cents.

[irene indarte]

Hello Andrea – I walk my four Giant Schnauzer mixes and had the same issue. I was tripping all over the place! What I do now is hold the end of the leashes with my right hand and hold the middle of the leashes in my left hand. This keeps them on my left side and more or less keeps them from running back and forth and around. I also do my best to stand straight and use my core strength to manage them which also displays confidence to my pups.

[irene indarte]

I am wondering if it is possible for dogs to hallucinate or something. One of my dogs, Elsa, seems to bark at nothing. She’ll bark at a wall (our walls are solid cement so mice in the walls isn’t a possibility), or she’ll bark at the hallway. There are also times she’ll jump at nothing but acts like there is something there. I’ll look for a fly, or a ball, anything in the direction that she is barking – nothing. What is also funny is she yaps like she is talking to someone/thing. We joke that she is talking to her imaginary friend or a ghost.

Is this normal? Can she be seeing things?

[brittney logan]

Hi Irene, we do have some questions relating to similar behaviors that you have mentioned, many of those coming from published surveys focusing on canine compulsive disorder. We are not veterinarians and cannot diagnose anything. If these behaviors are concerning to you, you can bring up these behaviors to your vet.

[hazel beeler]

Re dog that circles when on leash, thus tripping/tangling the person, basic obedience that teaches heeling should solve the problem, regardless of its original cause–the dog will learn to stay to your left.

[amy attaway]

I’m wondering if anyone has any insight into what our girl means with this behavior: while we’re walking (almost always when she’s off leash but walking in a heel) she will quickly and deliberately turn her head to me and slightly touch my leg. It’s almost like she’s saying “oh there you are” or checking in. I always tell her “good girl” or “thank you” because I assume it’s a check in kind of behavior but I’m not sure. Any thoughts?

[dawn miller]

Seems like a “checking on you” behavior to me. All my dogs have done that from my beagle / whippet mix to my German Shepherd Dogs. Like you, I reward it.

[brittney logan]

I would agree that it is like she is checking in on you. My Lab does the same thing when off leash, but on leash she is only interested in checking out her surroundings. It is quite an interesting behavior, but I would also assume that it is due to aspects of training, especially if the dog as been trained to heel. I think it is great that you are rewarding it!

[meriam doron lefler]

I have 1 dog (Lhasa) that never barked for 12.5 years of his life (he would just warn you very shortly that someone is at the door but stop right when the door opens) until he moved to our house (we inherited him) and lived with my barking, territorial dog. Now he imitates her … And, because he is blind (old), he barks and looks for intruders for a while after someone has left (sometimes he starts barking 15 minutes after they left) when he smells their (past) presence.
The other dog (Giant mix), when we first got her as an adult, used to only eat when I stood by her. She is good now, but still stops eating when she is sad/upset (if I go on a trip). She used to point, 2 years ago when we got her, but has stopped. She seems to recognize family members even when she never met them before (father, mother, sister) and does not show agression towards them when they come to our house as she does with others.

[mary jane dorr]

I have a female chihuahua that pees while standing on her front paws and lifting both of her backs legs in the air.

[dawn miller]

Mary Jane, I’d love to see a video of that. Never imagined a female lifting the back end to pee like that.

[amy attaway]

Mary Jane, that’s funny. Our girl usually lifts one leg to pee (like a male dog) if we’re away from our yard but squats here in the yard. We know that one of her brothers (not in our family) squats to go Number 1. We joke that the two of them got their elimination habits crossed.

[allison miller]

Both of my dogs are rescues and neither barks nearly as much as any other dog I’ve owned. They don’t bark at the doorbell, knocking or strangers. It’s kind of nice but odd.
My lab has terrible night terrors, however, and will bark, whine and howl loudly in his sleep.

[dawn miller]

that has to be heart breaking Allison. what do you guys do to relieve the nightmares?

[melisse leweck]

Allison, you should try some hemp products for your dog. It comes in treats, capsules, or just oil and works very, very well.

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