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Behavior Change

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  dmartenvt 
#1 ·
My wife and I recently went on vacation for 5 days. Our son stood home with Tessa, our 5 month old female GSD. When we got back there were 2 things that had changed in her daily behavior pattern. Any ideas???? Our son said that she started the backyard thing mentioned below a couple days after we were gone.

1) Before the vacation Tessa used to lay at the foot of our coach right at our feet. After vacation, Tessa now lays down closer to the front or back door. Never at the foot of the coach.

2) Before the vacation Tessa would calmly go to our backyard through a doggy door and do her business or play. After the vacation, when someone walks in the direction of the backyard doggy door, Tessa immediately gets up from where she is at and bolts to the doogy door, runs to the backyard gate which exits to the front of the house and barks as if someone is there. There is no one there.

We got Tessa when she was almost 4 months. She is crate and potty trained. She sleeps the whole night through from about 10 pm - 7 am in her crate at the foot of our bed without a fuss. Oh yeah, she loves eating shoes, but it seems that she has recently lost interest in shoes.

Thanks
 
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#4 ·
I would stop the bolting issue. Blocking any unnecessary bolting and having your dog sit at a door when it's open or when someone is using it is a good all around idea. I don't know if you should be worried but some basic obedience training would help you get her to calm down.
 
#5 ·
When I travel for work, my dog's (particularly the Shepherd's) behavior changes, and most of their changes relate to waiting for, and looking for signs that I'm returning.

I can't help but wonder whether she started sleeping by the door to listen for signs of your return, and the bolting out at the sound of anyone was somehow a behavior she learned related to anticipating your return?

Just a thought...
 
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