Question:
Recently my boyfriend and I purchased a townhouse and moved in together. We both agreed to take along my 6 year old Rat-terrier mugsy.
Mugsy is a pretty energetic dog, and normally very happy. She does have the typical "terrier" aggressiveness though.
Before I moved out, Mugsy lived with me and my mother, father, and sister with two other cats and one dog. My mother also has two birds. So she is used to other animals. I was concerned that her being the only pet would upset her but she took to her new place quite well.
We have now lived in the townhouse for 9 months. For the past two months Mugsy has been acting differently. She has been very passive, rolling on her back when my boyfriend or I come up to her, yelping when he goes to pet her. She even nipped at my boyfriend. I thought she just wasn't used to him, but NOW she's doing this with ME!!!
Mugsy won't leave my side, she's always in the same room as me, but now she acts like she's afraid of me.
We don't hit her, she's actually treating like a child, so I don't understand why there is a lack of trust with her all of a sudden.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
rolling on her back when my boyfriend or I come up to her
is a sign of submission. : Anything causing that?
Are you investing the time in playing with your dog?
She has lost lots of you attention now that a man is in the house...
Answer:
She still gets attention, I still play with her at least once a day. I recently did start working again, but I'm only gone for a couple of hours a day.
I'm afraid that maybe me treating her like a baby may have taught her to act like one is the way to get attention. But now it just transformed into passive - aggressive behavior.
Is That possible?
Answer:
The Puppy's Depression or Indifference Depression: These are very serious problems. The puppy is in the stage of development and any error in its development can lead to fatal consequences. The depressed puppy is very calm. It rapidly shows indifference toward the outer world, it doesn't look at us in the eyes, runs away from visual and physical contact. The puppy does not stand being held in our arms, it howls and doesn't play.
If a dog is put in a stressful situation for a long time, or if it continually happens, there are diverse ways of behavior that will come about caused by the unbalance of the dog's emotional equilibrium. It is our job to analyze and find the problem to be able to start the adequate treatment with the help of a professional veterinarian. Never deprive a dog from the help it deserves. Remember that dogs are a symbol of love and loyalty, and that they are completely dependent on us. Lets not let them down.
May be the Move has a negative impact? The new house? the smells?
Answer:
How much time does your boyfriend spend with the dog? Do they play together? Has your dog spent time with anyone else? I've known dogs that have one experience with someone and that triggers bad times. Usually the human doesn't even understand or intend for anything bad to happen. The immediate submission seems to suggest something odd.
But that being said, I would think about going to the vet. Sometimes dogs start to act differently -- i.e. irritably -- when they are sick or injured. It is strange that your dog would suddenly be aggressive toward you.
Answer:
He doesn't play with her too much, I actually spoke to him and asked him to play with her 30 minutes a day.
I usually play with her about an hour a day. Although I've been slacking lately, but I've restarted since receiving the good advice on this site.
Mugsy just had an appointment about three weeks ago, I took her to the vet due to her behavior, the vet didn't not see anything alarming.
Answer:
Mugsy, my rat terrier (6yrs, will be 7 August 1st) is fine with me again, perhaps that yelping was just a fluke, but she's still scared of my boyfriend.
Here's A brief history:
I got her when she was one and a half from an older couple that was moving cross country. Mugsy has always been around other dogs / animals. Even when I adopted her we already had two cats, a bird, and a dog in the house.
July 2005, she hurt her back. She slipped a disc. During this time she got "extra" close and dependent on me. No surgery was needed- thank goodness- and she has fully recovered.
October of last year I moved out of my parent's house and into a town house with my boyfriend. She seemed to have adjusted fine to the change, even seemed to like being the only / "Top" dog in the house.
A few months ago she has been showing signs of fear / panic aggressiveness. Ears being "glued" to her head, rolling on back when people approach her, if everyone is standing in the kitchen she'll go in between my feet. Sometimes if people or my boyfriend go to pet her, she'll crouch down on the floor and yelp, this may also include a little peeing.
I feel bad for her because she's afraid. When I lived in my parents house with he other animals She was NOT like this. If anything, she was actually more "aggressive" in the old house. She was also very social and did not show signs of fear. She happily greeted any company.
Even when I do walk her now, she "bugs out" at the site of other dogs. Barks excitedly, pulls on leash, wants to go by the dogs. Recently, I've got to know some of the other dog owners, so they bring their dog to Mugsy, the dogs sniff, look. Nothing more. I'm trying to socialize her more. Since she's only 10 lbs I won't bring her to a dog park. I don't like them / trust other owners.
When I go to college I drop her off at my parent's house so she can have exposure to her old animal friends. Keep her social, so to speak.
My boyfriend has been in her life for four years now, but now she's afraid of him. She's also afraid of our company.
I took her to the vet a few weeks ago, everything checked out fine.
Here are my questions:
1) Does anyone think she's afraid because she doesn't have another dog around her? This is the first time she's living in a place without any other animals. Would another dog help?
2) Although she is trained (very basic commands done by myself: sit, come, stay, Up) do you think a more formal training would help? I was thinking of "barkbusters" because they come to your home. I'm not so sure about pet smart training since she gets too distracted around other dogs.
3) Would my boyfriend setting time aside to play with Mugsy EVERYDAY help her trust him? I've also been telling him to feed Mugsy when her food is out, so Mugsy sees this.
I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Nina
Answer:
I think I would get the dog to a formal group obedience class so she can be around other dogs and people. Also, you might try having your boyfriend take her out on walks. Walking can be a good bonding experience.
Good for you for avoiding dog parks -- so often they don't really take into account small dogs and you end up having problems with the big dogs.