weird pooping behavior/behavior in general

[Jaegergirl]

something is going on with maverick and i'm quite puzzled.

for the last 2 months, maverick was allowed to have free roam of the house while we slept. about 3 weeks ago, he peed in the living room in 10 different areas (like he was walking around as he was peeing). he also pooped on the carpet a couple of times. sick of cleaning up the mess, he was put back in the laundry room at night. on sunday night last week, he went on the kitchen floor right in front of my husband. he had just been let out about 30 minutes prior. last week he went (actually it was more like the runs) in the laundry room...not just on the floor, but on the hot water heater!!! like he backed up to the tank and just let loose. he did this on monday and thurs. on wed, he pooped (it was firm, not runny) during obedience class, right there on the floor during a long sit. on thurs, when he messed on the water heater, there was blood so i called the vet and she said if the blood continued, to bring him in. it didn't. my obedience trainer suggested that maybe he's just acting this way because he's jealous or mad that he hasn't been getting attention (i admit i've been bad at spending much time with him lately).

maverick has a designated spot to go potty outside. the last 2 weeks or so, he's refusing to go there.

he's also been acting strange when i feed him... when i set give him his food, as soon as i turn to leave the room, he stops eating to follow me. i refuse to stand there while he eats so i'll leave. he finishes his food eventually.

lately, when someone comes up to pet him, he's been having a problem sitting nicely. there's one lady at class and every time she tries to pet him, he starts acting like a total moron, pulls on me, and tries to jump up. he's never mean or aggressive, it's like he's so excited he forgets his p's and q's.

he's also having a problem with pulling when we go for a walk and if we see another dog, he lunges at them. it's like this dog has hit his terrible two's!!

this is what baffles me. i took a mini vacation with my kids and left town from thurs thru monday night and maverick stayed home with my husband. my husband does NOTHING as far as training goes. basically maverick is my dog and my husband doesn't have any involvement with him. during the whole time i was gone, maverick didn't have ONE SINGLE accident..not in the house, not in the laundry room, not anywhere. my husband said as soon as he fed him, maverick ate all of his food without hesitation. he also went to the bathroom in his spot without hesitation. AND, he took maverick for a walk sunday (which is a first). he said maverick only pulled a couple of times, didn't lunge at any passing dogs, and when a woman asked to pet him, he was very polite and minded his good dog manners.

guess what i found in the laundry room this morning when i woke up for work.... runny mess on my hot water heater again. can anyone offer any insight to what might be going on? i'm begining to think the problem is with me.

[Patty1231]

I've forgotten how hold Maverick is, forgive me, but the behavioral stuff could be basic line crossing to see how far he can get with you. As far as the potty behavior, I'd have him checked out by a vet - that just doesn't seem normal to me and I would doubt it's behavioral, although I'm certainly no expert.

[Jaegergirl]

patty, maverick turned 2 in april. what i don't get is that this dog acted like a totally different dog when i was gone. it's kind of like your kids, you know how they act differently (a lot of times they act better) for someone else when you're not around!

the fact that maverick didn't have any poop issues when i was gone makes me think he's not having a medical problem, but i could be wrong (i'm not an expert either). esp because other "behavioral issues" disappeared when i was gone as well. my niece is a vet tech going to school to be a vet and when i told her about it today, she was just as puzzled as i was. maybe i'll call the vet and see what she has to say.

it's quite odd.

[diddybopper04]

the elimination issues, along with not wanting to sit would have me taking a trip to my vet for a thorough once over first thing.

If there is nothing wrong, then there is time to address it as a behavioral problem.

[Patty1231]

Yea, I would call the vet just to be on the safe side, although it is unusual that he didn't have those issues while you were gone. Could be testing you because he sees you as the only dominant one above him since your husband is a non-issue with him. I'd also consider crating him whenever you're away, at least until he gets over his hissy fit or you find another resolution to the problem.

PS - I'm editing this because I just thought of something. Could there be anything he is exposed to when you are there that he is not when you are gone? (i.e. cleaning preparations, certain foods, etc.)

[bcarlsen]

Hi!

It appears to me like there may be a few issues that yo are trying to tackle. I guess I head to the vet and see what they said. Scrape some of that runny mess and take it with you. I liked Paty's thought of what are you feeding that maybe hubby didn't feed? Sometimes even 'doggie" treats given during training sessions can upset stomachs. Our Rottie has developed a sensitive tummy, but she is an older dog and it is avoidable. I am also thinking that you may be giving treats or table scraps or something as you mentioned that you haven't spent enough time with Maverick lately. Sometimes that guilt conscience makes us over compensate with treats that are not so good for the dog. How about the cat box? Have you a cat? Does Maverick dig up the flower gardens in search of cat droppings? These are sometimes considered dleicacies in doggie world. I'd also check to see if he is eating his own droppings. Perhaps Maverick spent less time outdoors and unsupervised when hubby watched him. Just throwing some suggestions out there as you search for the root cause.

As for the other difficulties. GO back to basics. That means NILIF, crate when unsupervised and strick rules. Perhaps you started out with a firm hand but again, because of time lapse are feeling guilty and allowing him to get away with "small" infractions when he is with you? No infraction is small in a Rotties eyes. And while they may go through growth spurts and periods of testing, pretty much expect that testing the limits is fairly constant and your vigilance, time and consistancy will pay off if you give attention to them. Hope this helps and please let us know what you find out and what you do.

[Jaegergirl]

thanks for your replies and ideas....i'll try to cover everything you've suggested.

i do not train with treats so there haven't been any extra treats in his diet. maverick hasn't been getting anything out of the ordinary (table scraps, etc) and there's nothing he can get into when he's in his room. we do not have cats so there's no kitty litter to get into.

since he's not going to the bathroom in "his spot", i haven't been letting him outside unsupervised. so i know he's not getting into anything outside.

he's "crated" in the laundry room because he got too big for his wire crate and we didn't have the room for a larger another one. we thought the laundry room would be a perfect place because it's big enough to spread out in but small enough to confine him (it's gated). he's been in this arrangement for about a year. are you suggesting we forget the whole laundry room idea for now? i might be able to borrow my niece's crate, we'd just have to put maverick out in the garage at night. when maverick was crated before, he'd still have accidents for "no apparent reason."

when i told my trainer about maverick's "problem" on walks last week, she suggested i go back to the prong. i quit using it in january because the trainer wanted us to get used to using a choke in class since we can't use one in the obedience ring anyway. maverick didn't respond to corrections any differently to the prong than he did the choke when we went for walks so i figured i'd use the choke for walks. she suggested i get a heavier prong as well. i had a fine/small prong and she felt it wasn't "strong" enough for him ...according to her, that that's why the correction didn't phase him. i was considering getting an e-collar for him but she didn't feel it would work well on a rottie and therefore i'd have no one to help me train with it. i'm very curious to what she has to say about his good behavior this weekend while i was gone. i still can't believe he did so well for my husband than he did for me.

i will call the vet tomorrow and she what she says. when i called last week about the blood i saw and explained what was going on (this was the day i left for my trip), she suggested trying immodium to stop the runs. but because he only had the runs once (meaning he'd only have the runs once a day), i thought it was pointless. i'll be curious to see what she says about the fact he had no runny stools while i was gone but "started up" again when i returned home. this whole thing is very odd.

thanks again.

[rms78645]

Your kids were gone with you? Is there anything (treat wise) that they may be giving him that you dont know about?

[Jaegergirl]

Originally Posted by rms78645

Your kids were gone with you? Is there anything (treat wise) that they may be giving him that you dont know about?

yes, my children were with me. my 10 year old knows he's not allowed to feed the dog anything w/o me knowing about it. the 3 year old and maverick are never alone together.

[rms78645]

it could be totally coincidental that it stopped while you were gone. Its really odd though isnt it? Keep us posted! I could see if it were an attention thing, he didnt have to compete with your kids for your husbands attention, lets say. But hows he going to create runny stools?

[rms78645]

And with our last rot, all we had to do was put his pinch collar on when he was acting a little nutty and he mellowed right out. He listened much better with it on. Then we'd take it off when he was back in line. Usually a few days. Amazing how smart they are.

[Jaegergirl]

Originally Posted by rms78645

And with our last rot, all we had to do was put his pinch collar on when he was acting a little nutty and he mellowed right out. He listened much better with it on. Then we'd take it off when he was back in line. Usually a few days. Amazing how smart they are.

i'm hoping the new prong will make a difference with maverick. i have yet to buy one as i just got home last night, but i'm hoping a larger one will have more of an effect on him.

i'll definately keep you all posted.

[Jaegergirl]

well, i woke up to a poop free morning and maverick even when over to his spot w/o hesitation when i let him out. unless the runs are persistant, the vet doesn't think there's anything physically wrong with him. i just need to keep an eye on the situation.

we went for a walk last night and my husband walked maverick as i pushed the stroller. maverick did MUCH better for my husband than he has done for me lately so i'm still curious as to why that is. i'll see what my trainer has to say tonight at class.

[Patty1231]

Good luck - let us know!

[Jaegergirl]

i went to class last night and told my trainer the events of the last couple weeks. she definately think it's behavioral and although she didn't say for sure why she thought maverick was acting better for my husband than he was for me, she suggested i see her friend who is an animal communicator. she said she has helped her and several other people find out what's going on with their dogs and has "talked" to them and had incredible results. hmmm, all i can picture is that goofy lady on animal planet. i have to admit don't believe humans can really talk to animals in that way so i probably won't give her a call.

at any rate, maverick did awesome last night at class. since it was our last class until september (she's not offering classes for the rest of the summer), she set up a mini agility course and maverick LOVED it. i couldn't believe he had so much fun, being his first time and all. so that just might be another avenue for us to explore.