Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We had a stray that came up and was very sick. We took him to the vet and got him all well and decided to keep him...he is a very good dog. According to the vet, he is a little over 1 yr old, mostly shephard mix. He has the oddest color to him, a brown that sometimes looks reddish. A lot of people say he looks like he has Pit Bull in him but the vet did not say that. He is a med sized dog. We have had him for about 7 months.
1st of all, he burries everything...toys, bones, anything we give him or he sneaks away. Once he got out of the back gate at night, the next morning, we found a baby shoe, a man's shoe, somebody's car keys, all kinds of parts and tools buried in the flower beds, all from neighbors houses. I can understand that dogs are hoarders.
I don't understand this: We always make sure he has plenty of water in his water bowl. But he will not drink out of it unless it is completely full. It can be 3/4 full and he will be drinking out of flower pots, or licking the sidewalk beside the pool or anything that has water on it. We thought maybe he was hoarding his water, maybe there was a time in his life before he came to us that water was not readily available to him. But he doesn't do that with his food. He gobbles everything up in his food bowl but will not touch his water bowl unless we fill it up.
He also will not come inside a door...not the house door, not even a large garage door. He will sometimes come through the screened porch door, but you have to hold the door a certain way or he won't. When he does, he always looks up at the door frame while he's coming in.
Any thoughts as to what would cause these behaviors?
I can't answer all of your questions but the one thing that popped into my head regarding his water bowl is to wonder if it is rather tall and narrow. Perhaps one that is wider and that doesn't feel so confining would make him happy. Or he may not care for the material it's made of. If it's metal and his tags hit the edge and jangle that may be disconcerting to him so play around with different containers and see if that helps.
sounds like he has many quirks that are a result of a very rough early start... poor little fella.... bless you for taking him in and giving him a safe and loving home.....
my bailey will not drink or eat out of ANY type of metal container.... we go to a restaurant in the summer that is very dog friendly, but i have to bring her own little water bowl because the bowls they provide are metal.... she also has to have a LOT of room in a door opening to feel safe coming through the doorway.... i mean at least a 9-12 inches on either side of her.... she also does not like the HVAC vents in the floor .... when she walks by one, she always looks sideways at it like she is waiting for something to spring out of it at her.... she is afraid of the trash can in the kitchen.... i could go on and on about her quirks.....
she went into a shelter at about 3 months of age and i adopted her when she was 4 months old.... very young, but still old enough for someone to have been very bad to her.... and i have to think that these quirks are a result of her early life.... she is now nearly 6 years old and has come a long long long way in the confidence department, but still maintains these little behaviors.....
you have no way of knowing what your fella experienced before he found you.... but just giving him the safety and security and love that every dog deserves will go a long way in making him feel better about himself and his world.... it won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen.....
My dogs both ( Husky, and Husky-Shepherd mix) do the same thing with their water bowl. I've always assumed they just liked it cold and fresh? Also, neither one of them will drink out of metal, or the thick glass bowls.... we had to get some of those huge plastic mixing bowls for them. I'm not sure why.
Maybe that's it...I will try a different bowl. Both his bowls are metal, the water bowl is bigger and taller than the food bowl...maybe that's the difference.
His hoarding things is not that strange as I think alot of dogs do that. Dazzle Collects things around the house then hides them under his blanket in his crate or under his dog bed . If something is missing those are the first places I look.
Years ago my parents had a Gorden Setter, Boogie who also like to take things and hide them inside his dog house, his favorite being ladies undies! My cousin was visiting them one weekend while she was at UCLA and she had opened her suit case and left it in the bedroom and in the morning noticed her undies were all gone..yup Boggie had struck and they were in his dog house with all his other treasures~
I agree with the others about the water issue might be related to what bowl he is drinking from. I have two water bowls at my house and Dazzle will only use the one.If it has no water he will wait rather then use the other one:
Maybe a door hit him or closed and trapped him and he is very sensitive so now is afraid of doors. Jazz knocked over a baby gate once and the sound of it frightened her and she never would go near a baby gate again....which was a good thing as this happened as a puppy when she had been jumping over the gate and this put a very quick end to that. With the door you might be able to use treats ( a clicker might help too to mark that exact behavior)and babysteps to get him over that issue and willing to go through a door. Reward him with a really good treat he loves when he gets near the door then when he is comfortable at that distance keeping upping what you expect by making him come even closer to get the treat eventually expect him to come through the door in order to get it and make it a real jack pot of treats when he does actually come through the door. you can make it a little party as you give the treats by telling him what a good brave boy he is in an excited voice as he gets the treat. Dogs love " parties"!
It is the weird little quirks that make dogs such individuals. My late dog Jazz was part Cattle dog as is LTTP's Bailey and they have tons of odd quirks and I will tell you now that she is gone it is those quirks that I miss the most, just thinking about them now is making my eyes tear up!
We had a rescued pit with most of those same traits. He would also burry his dog bowl. If it was on a towel, he would push the towel over it. If it was on hard flooring, he would go through the motions of pushing something over it.
Although he was a sweet and gentle dog who was extremely affectionate, he never did overcome his insecurities. Continuing lots of love will make a difference over time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
