Do not know what is up with our girl...

[tracyaesaert]

Hi peeps,

I don't know what is up with our girl. Since a couple of days she is crying like mad everytime on of us comes home or when we have visitors... It is really strange, usually she moans a bit when we get home but after 5 minutes (and no we do not give her any attention when she is moaning) she seems to calm herself down. Then we give her all the attention we can possibly give.

She stays with us every evening in our living room and then at night to go to sleep, she goes in her basket in the hallway (this has been a ritual since the day we got her). She usually does not moan a bit, but lately she even cries when we go to the toilet at night. She even cries when we are next to her. I really do not know what is up with that. What I also noticed is that her breathing is reasonably heavy. She does not seem to be able to relax her breathing (or is this normal for a GSD).

Is this normal or am I starting to see ghosts?

[rblanshan]

My question would be how much excercise is she getting? What kind of mental stimulation is she getting? My guess is she's bored and this is her way of trying to "tell" you she wants to play.

[tracyaesaert]

Problem is that she will NOT play with us, we have tried everything from a ball to a rope to hiding things and make her search that.... The walks are usually a good 20 minutes before I go to work (which is this week in the middle of the night), then a good half hour when hubby gets up and then a good walk of at least an hour in the evening or late afternoon....
Besides with me she does not play at all and walks are usually very hard. In all honestly she is testing my nerves and I am getting a little frustrated with her. Guess she's feeling that too (Please forgive me for saying this, but I never had a dog like her, I do everything with her and I would die for her, but I am at my wits' end... )

[tracyaesaert]

Wo do go for obedience training once a week, and do her excercises she learns there every day at home too... So do you guys have tips for mental stimulation? Cause I am all out of ideas and I do not get much help from hubby (except for the morning walks)

[nitemares]

You mentioned she breaths heavily, maybe a trip to the vet is required? She might be in pain.

[tracyaesaert]

Originally Posted by nitemares

You mentioned she breaths heavily, maybe a trip to the vet is required? She might be in pain.

Called the vet yesterday and it seems that my little girl is in perfect health, he is now gonna check her blood, but he is quite sure that she is fine... Cause you can "feel" all over her without any response...

He is not sure why she is crying all the time, that could be different things, she could be able to come in heat soon, she could start to be a little too much attached to her boss or she could be bored.... He is gonna look (together with us) how we could get her to play, he still finds it very strange she does not even like a ballgame :-)

[Dooney's Mom]

Mine doesn't really like to play with a ball either- but she LOVES to tug, and I got her a teaserball that recently we have started playing fetch with.

Mental stimulation: Best thing I have found is "find it" I hide her treats and then we go "hunting" for them. I also take her to PetSmart and we work on obedience. I will take her to the dog park and work on obedience OUTSIDE of the fence- then we go INSIDE the fence and work on obedience some more, then I will let her run around and play for about 15-20 minutes (usually she will play with another dog for a few minutes but she'd rather play in the pond or stick close to me)