October 2015 Moms

Dog acting out.

This is more of a vent than anything, but I swear ever since I've gotten pregnant my dog is out to make my life miserable. He's a 70 pound chocolate lab, so keeping up with him this big and pregnant is really starting to take a toll. I think he's just doing things out of spite now, things he's never done before. Last night, just in one night, he managed to chew up a controller to the ps4, a pair of headphones, and 3 bottles of baby shampoo. All of this stuff is put away, it's just hard to keep him away from it when he can just stand on his back legs and take it off a shelf. He's refusing to get in the car now, I had to use my entire body weight to get him in my car the other day to go get his shots, and he's obviously too big for me to put him in a crate and carry said crate. He pooped all over my living room today RIGHT after coming in from a walk. I think he hates me now. I have a kennel for him I've been considering keeping him in while we sleep so he can't ruin my house, but I really really hate the idea of kennels. Anyone else's dog acting like an asshole lately? I feel like he's really just doing it on purpose now.

Re: Dog acting out.

  • My dog has been super clingy and annoying lately too! And just today she started crapping in my basement!! I am not sure what to do either! She used to sleep in a large kennel at night, but I thought we were passed that stage.....
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  • I have an old lady black lab, she is almost 11. However, she is very deliberate with her actions too. She will refuse to use the bathroom before I leave for work or try to run out the front door. I feel your pain. My dog is also very protective of me.
  • And he's been being super I don't have to do what you say! He will get up on the couch or my bed after I move for a second then dead weight when I try to make him move. My little dog has been perfectly fine, except for the fact he's having to wear a cone right now because he started obsessively biting his back. Poor baby has had an oatmeal bath so many times this week!
  • I have a two year old lab dalmation mix and for the past two weeks he has been finding paper and ripping it to shreds all over the front room. He did this when he was a puppy but had out grown it. I guess he can sense his life is going to change soon and it's giving him anxiety. He could be destroying much worse but it sure is hard to bend over and pick up an entire shredded newspaper.
  • Is he still young? This sounds like puppy behavior, before they are trained. Have you spent time teaching him what he is supposed to do - rewarding good behavior along the way, too? Sometimes we get so busy that we forget to reinforce good behavior, our pups get bored, and then they get destructive.

    We kennel our 2 large dogs when we aren't home because they act out when they are alone. They know their kennel is safe and we've never used it as a punishment. I don't think it's cruel to use it at night if you need to!
  • My maltesse is acting up too she riped the side of my carpet.. Like the carpet got unglued or something because she kept on digging..
  • My dog ,Trina has been doing things like that too, pooping on the floor after she has went outside already, and just being stubborn, but I still love her, & I believe she just knows that she's not going to be the baby anymore
  • kelsojohnsokelsojohnso member
    edited August 2015
    There's is nothing wrong with kenneling if it's the right size and the length of time isn't too long. It sounds like anxiety... My vet sells pheromone collars they can wear to calm them down. (Similar idea of what a tick collar looks like) dogs are smart and she probably is having anxiety over pending changes to the household. Don't give up! :)
  • I manage a veterinary hospital so this is something we can sometimes see with pregnant clients, especially if it's your first baby and your pup is used to being the baby of the family. Your dog can sense that your pregnant pretty much right away and they also play off your emotions so if you are starting to get anxious with the new babies arrival getting closer, your dog is sensing this and getting anxious too. I know this seems hard to do when they are ruining things in your home or making messes, but try not to yell at them because most dogs have already forgotten what they did and won't understand the yelling and make them more anxious. I would suggest making an appointment with your vet to talk about the behavior; most vets have dealt with the issue before and can give you some tips on how to help prevent the behaviors from continuing as well as how to ease your dog into the new arrival of baby. I hope this helps!
  • My 75 pound German Shepherd-Great Dane mix goes through spells like this. He's always been super attached to me and when I'm busy organizing baby stuff I think it bothers him. I had sorted a bunch of her clothes in baskets waiting to be washed and he chewed up like 8 outfits/sleepers. He just turned a year old so he's still in the "must destroy everything" phase so we have a huge kennel we keep him in at night or when we leave. He has room to walk in it and stretch out. And that has helped quite a bit. Oh and one day he stood up and got some baby food and one of the newborn Enfamil premade formula bottles off the kitchen counter that I hadn't had the chance to put away. Prune baby food. The aftermath was not pretty. :-& but the kenneling as punishment has really improved his behavior. It seems to be the only thing that does. Spending more for a spacious kennel really helped me not feel so guilty about it. I think the one we got was only $150 at Petsmart and it is MASSIVE made for full grown Great Danes.
  • BBrazzini0806BBrazzini0806 member
    edited August 2015
    I have had to start kenneling both my boxer and schnauzer at night due to them having accidents in the house regardless of the feeding schedule and potty schedule which is still intact. They are both house broken. I have read that dogs can start misbehaving late in a woman's pregnancy. Both of mine have been pills lately. I would kennel them at night to retrain the do's and donts of sleep time. That's what I'm doing as much as I hate it.
  • Our Charlie Bear loves his kennel!! He is a lab too and is super anxious. He has had biting issue in the past but has become overly protective of me causing extra concern. We started working with him with a remote collar to warn of bad behavior and he is a new dog! The collar does shock but we have only had to use it once or twice. The beep and vibrate setting are enough to stop him. It's a terrible feeling when people say things like "Charlie is going to eat your baby":(. We actually think it will be the opposite and he will protect the baby and not let others around her.
  • We got our kennel at petsmart too, but it was around $250 it's hugeeee, so he only place it will fit is our basement. We tested it last night and he's good a few hours before he will start barking and whining. I'd rather deal with that than have all my things chewed though. I think he's also mad because he knows my small dog isn't being crated, I don't let him down there but it's like he just knows lol. I refuse to crate my small dog for big dogs behavior though, small dog hates crates and sleeps in his bed all night so he doesn't need to be. Hopefully he will get use to sleeping in the kennel. I'm trying to work with him but it sure it's frustrating.
  • I just wanted to add another voice saying that kennel training is not cruel, many dogs find the kennel to be a safe, comfortable space (and you should try to make it that way for them). We crate trained our Golden when he was young and he used to sleep in his crate and stay in it when we were out of the house, gradually he's "earned" more freedom but it's a good technique for both you and dog when you need some space.

    Dogs pick up on emotional cues, and he is likely anxious and noticing new things in the house and changes happening. Is he still getting regular exercise? That's another thing that can lead to behavior problems. Our dog can also be sneaky - he knows what he is not supposed to have and if he's not getting enough attention (or sees one of us packing a suitcase) he'll start to cause trouble. All I can suggest is to be patient, try to include him in things when you can, and if things are being destroyed look into training classes or try out the crate and see if it helps. Just don't use it as a punishment. He may be worried that you aren't interested in him anymore with baby on the way.
  • I have a husky mix who is being super clingy and destroying just my stuff. It's annoying but I know he has no idea. On top of expecting dd, dhs schedule has changed for work, we've moved and ds just went back to school so he has had some big transitions that have rocked his big fuzzy world. He's a good boy for the most part though and we have learned to close doors when no one is home.
  • I have a two year old lab dalmation mix and for the past two weeks he has been finding paper and ripping it to shreds all over the front room. He did this when he was a puppy but had out grown it. I guess he can sense his life is going to change soon and it's giving him anxiety. He could be destroying much worse but it sure is hard to bend over and pick up an entire shredded newspaper.
    this. my maltese is doing this with tissues. he goes in the tissue box and will shred every single tissue. he's also gone back to eating his poo (I am so sorry to anyone reading this). We usually walk him once a day but he's trained on a pad. Now I have to take him out multiple times (we don't have a backyard) and the last time I nearly blacked out in this august heat. i wonder if it is just acting out? any dog experts out there know? 
    Me: 34 DH:38
    DS: 18 months   <3
    Dx DOR AMH .2
    <a href="http://www.thebump.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Pregnancy"><img 
  • Pregnancy is weird enough without a clingy, jealous, unpredictable dog thrown into the mix. But I keep reminding myself: this is a big change for him, too. And maybe, just maybe, he’s preparing to be the best big brother a baby could ever have.
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