bad behaviour but out of character

[cantfindamnnickname]

I have a Jack Russell who is almost 2 - a dog that has not yet been spayed.
Anyway - when we first had him he did a lot of biting - play biting with the children - but it stopped and he's a pretty good dog.

We recently bought a caravan and we took him away with our other dog and he turned into a psycho dog - whining constantly, biting everybody that went past him except for dh and was obviously very unhappy.

He calmed down a little bit and he enjoyed the lots of walks he got.

Question is what do i do about it? Do you think he will get used to it? I dont want to not take him - that doesnt seem fair.

Would getting him spayed help?

bump

I would always recommend neutering dogs, for many reasons. There are no guarantees regarding behaviour, but it often does help, and it will eliminate the risk of things like testicular cancer.
Is the behaviour specific to the caravan? Are you able to do some training with him in the caravan when you're not on holiday (presumably depends on where you store it!) It may well be anxiety related, and allowing him to spend small amounts of time in the caravan should gradually build up his confidence.
Does he have any other anxiety related problems that you've seen?
Sorry to answer you with mostly more questions, but it will help get to the root of the problem!

thanks - well he has had the snip he is still trying to ride our other dog so hopefully he will soon realise

The caravan is stored at home and this doesnt seem to be the issue - it is outside where he is all the time.
He doesnt have any other problems although we live on a busy road and he doesnt like walking towards vans and lorries but he just jumps around a bit.

It take upto 9 months (or was it 12? It's a long time anyway ) for the testostrone to go away, so you won't see any behavioural impact of nuetering for quite a while.

My dog still humps when he gets overexcited and he was done almost two years ago. I stop him with distraction and he is praised for stopping.

I should think he was just insecure in his new surroundings. Seeing the caravan in the garden is very different from being in the caravan away from home, surrounded by new smells and sounds. Taking something familiar with you will help, such as his favourite blanket or something else that smells of 'home'.

Also maybe try sitting in the caravan with him for a short time everynow again giving lots of praise and treats when he is behaving calmly might help. Rope the whole family into doing this, so it more closely emulates what a holiday would be like.

There'll be other things you can try, but Minimu is the resident behavioural expert, so your best off waiting for her to reply.