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How much does a dog notice when someone isn't around anymore? I don't mean if the dog's alone. I mean if there are several people who see him on a regular basis, and one of them stops coming. My dog was behaving pretty well, but since my ex moved out, he's been...well, extremely unruly and unmanagable. I don't think I've changed how I treat him, but he's become a lot more destructive. It's possible that it's just because he's getting bigger, but I was wondering if anybody had ever had a dog who "acted out" because he/she might have missed someone's presence.
posted
I knew a couple that had two rottweiler sisters. The couple broke up, the guy moved out. The dogs were puppies, but they were definitely more unruly after the guy left. Since the former couple was on decent terms for a while the guy would still see the dogs sometimes and they were always really excited to see him. I don't think he sees them any more, but the dogs are fine now.
It just takes time for a dog to get used to the new situation. Dogs are like humans that way. He'll get over it. You might have a few rough weeks or months though.
Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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The dog that's in the house I'm living in now hates me and is absolutely horrible when it's owner is gone but chills out when he's around - maybe it's a similar absence of an "alpha dog"? Was your ex more stern or master-like with him/her?
Posts: 299 | Registered: Jan 2007
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My ex spoiled him rotten and let him do whatever he wanted, which made life difficult for me when he was gone because unlike him, I am not strong/heavy enough to hold the dog still until he calms down when he gets extremely excited/rowdy/destructive. But the dog definitely has more respect for men than for women.
He's also started pooping in the house. I took him for a walk last night, and he went to the bathroom, but as soon as we got back in the house, he pooped again.
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Huh, could be he's testing his boundaries with you, even not try being more intimidating and commanding. If you can put it in your voice it shouldn't matter or not if you can physically restrain him. I had to start doing this when the dog I live with freaked me out by biting at me then throwing garbage everywhere followed by laying down right outside my bedroom door - and it's effective, even though it means sometimes I have to yell at him, but I never have to touch him.
Posts: 299 | Registered: Jan 2007
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The sheltie rescue I work with gets quite a few dogs that have been through divorce and they don't get along with the owner that gets them. Lots of the time they go to the owner they were the most bonded with and no longer are close after the divorce, also it has been that they go to the person who they never liked, regardless of how that person treats them.
He's not that old and you haven't had him that long (right?) so I'd bet it ends up being ok, may have just set you back a few weeks.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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My old roommate lived with me for the first 5 years of my Lab's life. When he moved out with his golden retrieve, my Lab was definitely depressed. My dog still misses having both the roommate and the dog around. To this day (two years later) he is more dependants on me for a little entertainment each day. If I play fetch with him for 10 mins when I get home he is fine. He still gets very excited to see my old roommate when he comes around.
Posts: 555 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Dogs definitely notice if someone they love is no longer around, and it affects them emotionally. I went on a 2-week vacation when I was a kid. When we got back, my dog was beside himself with joy. There were people around at our house (grandparents), but *I* wasn't there.
There's also a friend of mine whose dog thinks that I am God. Anybody else comes over, she ignores, but when I do, she's so excited she claws me like she's trying to get in my wonderful skin. I dog-sat her when she was a puppy, but I didn't think I treated her *that* well!
Posts: 544 | Registered: Mar 2007
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Our dog freaked out when my brother left home for college. There were still five people in the house, but the dog sat in front of the window for about three hours a day around the time that my brother used to come home. He was definitely sad.
When my dad and brothers moved out and my stepsister and her children moved in (long story), the dog went into fullon rebellion. He stopped being housetrained and was horribly depressed. My stepsister ended up taking him to the animal shelter (I was gone. This is still a sensitive subject. I wouldn't trust my stepsister with a goldfish.) because she couldn't handle it and no one knew what to do - they didn't even know enough to know that they didn't know what to do. They blamed the dog. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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My dog flips out when I'm gone more than a few minutes. Five minutes or five days, the reaction's pretty much the same. I haven't tried a longer period of time, nor do I intend to.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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This is what brought up the myth that dogs have no sense of time. My dog definately act more excited to see me when I am gone for couple of days. So some how I think he can has some sense of time.
Posts: 555 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I took him for a walk last night, and he went to the bathroom, but as soon as we got back in the house, he pooped again.
