How are all the dogs doing?

[BiteyShark]

I know I could legally drive BiteyDog to his usual off lead walks but instead I am mostly playing ball in the garden with the occasional road walk. Any off lead walks close by involve a park which I avoid at the best of times due to other owners so there is no way I am going there right now.

Whilst I think he misses daycare, the owner and playing with his pals he is actually on the whole adapted really well. I know he will go crazy when this is over and he sees them again as he used to love it when he was picked up and you just can't fake that kind of happiness with dogs.

But fortunately he is calm and happily playing with DH in the garden. No issues at night and is actually sleeping better than usual as we are all having more lazy mornings before getting up.

Amazing really for a youngish working cocker.

How are all your dogs coping with their changes in routine?

Mine is really missing her doggy friends. She is being so good and coming to me as soon as I call her so I can put her back on the lead when I see anyone, but she misses her best friend and is desperate to have a play with any dog . We got lost today so were out early two hours and she still sulked at coming home .

I think my 10 year old whippet is stressed out. Husband is essential worker, I am school based on a minimal rota and the teenagers are home throughout. He is loving his daily walks, but doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself at home and barks a lot. He’s ok in the evenings when we are all eating and then watching tele together. Last night we got a up to him 8 times. He goes out, barks to come back in, then doesn’t want to come in, won’t get back in his bed... I just don’t know how to help him. The children tell him off and I don’t want him, or any of us, to be unhappy. 🙁

@Shoutymomma I've lost count of the times ours barks to come in, then stands staring at us when the door is opened. Or runs off again!

Mine is spending a lot of time out in the garden at the moment. I think it's as much the time of year as any other possible changes.

She's taken up gardening in a big way, so spends a lot of the time digging, just generally nosing around or actually just sitting and enjoying the breeze through her fur - she loves windy weather.

She does bark from time to time, nothing major, just a single bark. When I open the door she'll look at me for a bit a then just get on with what she's doing; I think she's just making sure I'm still around. Although, where she thinks I'm likely to be off to, I can't imagine.

If she actually wants to come in, she stands right against the (glass) door looking in and does a very gentle little bark to let me know she's there.

BiteyDog has found a new game to play with me today

It's called lose the ball under the sofa and bark until I come and get it. Repeat indefinitely . Wouldn't be so bad but I am trying to work.

Stellaris22
I hear ya. 😆 Thing is, this is new behaviour. Our JRT is behaving perfectly normally; didn’t even get out of bed once last night (they share a huge, luxurious crate), despite all his ups and downs. Thinking of arming everyone with ear plugs tonight and ignoring him til he gets the message, but that feels mean.

We have a basset so less easy to ignore. Big bark for her size 😂

Good luck!

Ours was up at midnight and four am and in the morning I could see she had had an upset tummy so we can't ignore her just in case. But boy am I tired.

Hi

Any suggestions welcome!

For the last two mornings I have walked my dog for two hours at 8 am ish. Both days we got a bit lost as she wouldn't normally be out that long unless we are at her normal place and she sees her friends. We are always out for at least an hour but we have been staying out a bit more where possible due to only being able to go out once. However, even after two hours she still sulks once she realises we have left them gate and as we get nearer to home she just stops walking. Two hours! Yesterday I had to come home as felt unwell but I feel even if I stayed 2.5 she'd still sulk.

She has a big garden, furry miaowing siblings, a lot of toys, people everywhere.

I am wondering today whether to go after lunch instead of first thing but I've been trying to avoid people as quite a few seem to think the rules don't apply to them or it should be me and the dog that moves to the other side of the road or walks down the middle.

Sunshine we are finding our dog is better with a one hour walk early in the morning, then 30 minutes in the evening. Like yours she could easily do a two hour walk in one go but then she gets silly later in the day. With the lighter evenings try a walk then?

We've been doing one long walk in the afternoon, this is mostly because teen dd who is home all day doesn't get going until then!! Tbf it seems to suit him well.

Does dog coats change in the summer? Our boys coat seems to have really thinned out a lot.

Thank you. Today she asked to leave after 1 hour 25 then took me home a different way but still stopped and refused to move. Her tail was low and in so I gave her a cuddle and she walked another three steps. I tried walking and pulling her twice and she did move but I hated doing it. I just want to do the best for her as we all do but I can't take her to play with her friends .

Also, I thought we were only allowed out once and I'm the only one who can definitely walk her twice.

Supposedly only allowed out once yes - but no one told the dogs that! Sounds like 2 hours is definitely too much for her bless her! Try an hour walk, and enrichment activities in the garden later in the day, there are lots of ideas for these online. We are doing a second walk about 7pm and it’s 30 minutes max.
I hate it when they do the lying down thing! 😩

We didn't plan the two hours, we got lost then she thinks the woods don't count if we don't go in the field as well. Even when dh took her for just the hour she still refused to walk and he carried her a bit. Today she chose to leave so I am at a loss. When I do try and leave after 45 minutes to then make the hour up as we go home she refuses to leave. She is really good and well trained so this is just baffling.

She doesn't lie down, she just stands there with her tail between her legs.

What breed is she sunshine? She sounds as stubborn as my schnauzer! My dog is a diva and very good at emotional blackmail/ manipulation. I wonder if your dog is just trying to dictate to you about how the walk is going to go? To some extent they just have to do as we tell them - although I’m waiting for my little madam to realise that!

She is a golden retriever. We are very close and she is very clever but I get teased at how I humanise her. Tbh I think I am right as I know her so well.

This afternoon my son and I took her out for 45 minutes, all of which was on the lead as we went a new way, and she did a lot better at coming home. Stopped a couple of times but I think it helped that my son was holding the lead and I could walk ahead when she stopped to encourage her. This morning I attached her lead to my bag so she couldn't get any messages from me down the lead as she does pick up on my mood if we are approaching where she stops and can sense I'm stressing.

I'm a bit stressed about going out twice in case I am reported but my hope is that if she thinks she can go out twice she won't stop in the morning.

Where it doesn't matter I let her chose where we go but when we are on our way home we need to go home. If I give in once she will expect it all the time. I do something once with her and she expects it again. Great for training, not for every day life!

My girl is behaving similar to that @SunshineCake- she normally loves going for a walk but since lockdown and no doggy daycare she just does not want to! Happy for collar and lead to go on but then she’ll go a few paces and suddenly stop. It took about twenty minutes to go 50 yards yesterday. If she goes to the park she’ll walk for longer, but refuses to walk our usual route near my house! I go through stages of being really worried about her but then things like this reassure me a little. I think she’s missing her doggie mates too.

My dog is cool with lockdown, but she is cool with most things.
I'm totally bored walking the same few routes from my front door as I don't want to drive to go for a walk, but I am so lucky to have a few different parks/woods/footpaths etc within 1 hours round trip walk, I am not complaining plus there's finally no mud to trudge through never has my dog been so valued by me.
People at my office are missing her because she usually comes to work with me, but she's happier sleeping at home I think, with everyone in the house who is WFH at the moment. She barely bothers to say goodbye to me in the mornings!

*dizzyupthegirl86 - I got excited when I saw the start of your post as thought you had some answer but yours isn't really the same, with respect, as mine is happy going out and walking through the woods and in the field but when we get near to home (15 minutes from the field) she then stops.

Yesterday she had two walks with the afternoon one being with DS1 and a completely different route. That one was much better as she only stopped a couple of times and I was able to encourage her as ds had the lead.

Last night dh and I had to get up to her three times between us so I am knackered already.

I didn’t say it was the same, but I think it’s similar in the sense that she stops every few steps when near to home. She is better when we are away from home, ie at the park, but that involves a drive. And it’s new behaviour from her, she normally has no issues walking the ‘home’ route.

Dizzy, is she stopping when going on her walk or when coming home ?

Today was better. I decided we would do what we used to do when she was younger and before we were going to the big park every morning. She was fine leaving the field and I let her carry her call home. She learnt in seconds that she could have the ball if she walked nicely but if she stopped I would take it off her. I'm hoping it doesn't cause an issue tomorrow as she learns very quickly and this wasn't meant to be a training aid as such. I didn't go out with her this afternoon as I was shattered after spending two hours doing the food shop then housework. I'm just praying she sleeps through tonight as she had us up three times last night.

For us less outside walks actually mean better behaviour.

We are fortunate to have a garden and an exercise area but I find BiteyDog generally copes better if we restrict exercise but we have had many previous episodes of this with illnesses and accidents before lockdown to understand his behaviour.

So sorry to hear of all the dogs that are struggling

Mine was very barky this afternoon. Last week I taught her to dance and she wanted to do it lots and only with me. I am an idiot.