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Can anyone explain this???? Please read; URGENT!!

Claire L

Well-known member
This morning Minnie displayed an interest in playing so I gave her a stuffed toy dog. She played with it for a while an then ran off to Caras bed with it and lay down beside it. Throughout the day she has gone upstairs retrieved the toy and brought it back down to the kitchen, where she pushes it along the floor and cries. Does she think it's dead???
Should I leave it with her??

:( :?
 
Sorry I am not much help in this area... that is a rather odd behavior... did she ever have a litter of pups or anything? maybe she thinks it is her baby and needs help??
 
How odd. Is she crying because she wants to play tug or fetch with you? Have you tried playing tug or fetch with that particular toy?

When Chester wants to play tug-o-war with me he will get a toy out of the basket and bring it to me and drop it at my feet or sometimes he'll follow me around a bit while holding it in his mouth and periodically dropping it and then picking it up again all while staring at me and doing that funny fake sneeze thing he does to get my attention. He won't cry or bark, but he does just about everything else.

I can't imagine that she think the toy is dead...that seems to be a very human thing to think and I don't think dogs are capable of that sort of association...but I've been wrong before!
 
Right now she has her head resting on the toy and she is whimpering.
She normally wouldn't let me leave the room but she is not bothered to follow me. This is really upsetting and I just don't know what to do :(
 
Hello

We had the same thing with Lucas..and discovered it was because he wanted to bury the toy..eventually he worked it out and he stopped..

Hope this helps
effie
xx
 
Maybe one of the breeders will pop onto this post, but I am sure I read a dog that has gone into heat, especially ones that gave birth, can still have false pregnancies. Even if not, the fact she was breed (I think I read that before you got her) she may associate it with pups. But I would think their instincts would tell them its not a puppy? Sorry not much help am I? Its hard in your case because you dont know her whole history and not knowing what is bothering you can be upsetting. In time I think alot of these odd behaviours will gradually fade. Just give her lots of pats (like you dont already!) to show you understand even though you dont.
 
Oh that is so sad!!! :( I don't know what to say to help but that must be really upsetting! How does she act when you try to take it away or play with it?
 
It may be hormonal following the spay op Claire - when Kyla had her phantom, she adopted my husband as her puppy, she just kept kissing and kissing him, she was washing him!!

If you can sneak the toy away whilst she's in the garden or eating or something, and see how she behaves.

I must admit that TedBear often walks around with a toy and whines/cries. Sometimes he wants you to play, other times he just seems to be talking to himself.

He didn't have cuddly toys at his former abode...prob didn't have any toys at all :(
 
About once a year for her entire life my Lhasa would do this with a new stuffed animal. She had been spayed at a year old and never had puppies. She would take it to her bed, or hide it some where in the house and run to check on it every few minutes. She would take it to bed with her. If you tried to take it away or got too close to it, she would snarl. There was no playing with it as she did with her other stuffed animals. This lasted about 3 or 4 days and then she would tear it to pieces like the rest of her stuffed animals. I'm not sure if you should try and take it away. It's probably her hormones out of whack from the spay. We could never get close enough to take it away.
 
I have never had that happen. Actually, I had a bitch give birth prematurely and all pups passed away and she never had the "loss" that you would expect. She subsequently was an excellent dam.
FWIW, I would sneak the toy away and substitute some other toy (a chew or something completely different) or activity and see if it passes. Try to distract her from whatever brought the episode on.
sandy
 
Thanks guys,
I've taken away the toy now but unfortunately Cara went for Minnie and Minnie got really upset. I think Cara wants to be top dog and I've no problem with that but I can't have her upsetting Minnie or growling at her.
I'd be terrified to leave them alone together if I had to go out.

I've only ever raised a dog from puppyhood so I have no experience with this kind of behaviour :yikes I want them both to feel secure.
At the moment they are both competing for my attention - any ideas???

:? :?
 
Maybe you've had them together too much too quickly? It's not that long since you got Minnie- and now Cara as well.

Can you separate them at night, have them separate when you're not in the room, and spend plenty of time with them separately? I had issues with Holly and Amber a couple of months ago and that was how I got round it. The phase really didn't last very long, and now the hierarchy is well and truly established- Holly is Top Dog. No question about it!
 
I think in your situation, the normal bringing another dog into the house is going to be a little harder, take a bit more patience and take longer than others would experience. You took on two great dogs who have had their share of misfortune and that makes your situation different.

For now I'd try spending time with one while the other eats, take one for a walk or backyard play while the other sleeps etc.. When you husband is home, you can split if off. Ofcourse I am not suggesting they should always be separated; you want them to learn to love each others company and it would make more problems in the end - but for a bit till they both settle in and trust each other and their surroundings.
 
No advice on the toy thing sorry, it is really sad though. To me it sounds like an I want to play thing ? But who knows with a rescue exactly whats in their backround ?

I would not be worried or tell Cara off for growling at Minnie as this is a warning and the desired outcome if the next step is snapping or attacking. The warning (as i'm sure already aware) is the back off bit before the next step which may be a snap. Obviously if the growl is followed very quickly by a snap well you need to take the correct measures to keep them apart when one of them is in this mood, or to try and get in and divert their attention before it gets worse. Unfortunately my men don't have certain toys or food together due to a similar thing as they don't play nicely OR GIVE MUCH WARNING.
Could Cara of been resource gaurding when she went for Minnie ?

Also with the top dog stuff I would not encourage it, as in don't always pat the top dog first or feed first etc, only give attention equally or alternate between who goes first for things, this way the dogs will learn good/desired behaviour gets them the attention not attacking or dominating their brother or sister and you will have two equal dogs and not rallies for status.

Sorry thats not really much advice just possible approaches mixed with a bit of my opinion. I hope it makes some sense amongst the ramble. Good luck.
 
Just a thought you said that Cara went for Minnie after the toy went it could be that she might think that Minnie had it I would take your time with them give them time most dogs will work it out with out fighting ----Aileen and the gang ( Jazzie --Barney--Sam )
 
Claire, you need to be following some basic guidelines for bringing a new dog into the house as basically you have two dogs who don't know each other and they are BOTH needy at the moment as both are relatively new. Do NOT reward unwanted behaviour by fussing over them if they do things that are not acceptable. But they will need managing so as not to get into situations where they will try and fight. This means avoiding sharing toys, eating treats close together, even eating close together -- feed them in crates or at opposite sides of a room. They simply need time to gain confidence and adjust to both their new home and each other.

All this is normal behaviour but two dogs do need to be managed especially as both are unknown quantities and also need to establish where they fit in the hierarchy.

If they bicker then just take each gently, individually, and give each a time out in a separate room for five minutes or so. Don;t talk to them, scold, encourage, NOTHING, just quietly take them in for a time out and close the door and leave. Then after 5 or 10 minutes, release and do NOT look at them, greet them, fuss over them when you let them out. Just ignore for anpother five minutes or so then back to normal.

Also: it is perhaps better not to make too much of a fuss over either of them, generally. Too much attetnion can make them very dependent and expectant of your attention all the time. It is better to just ignore them and try not to make up for what you may feel has been their hard lot in life. If you respond to them all the time and give constant attention and sympathy, they will become very manipulative to have that level of attention all the time and it can even be quite overwhelming for rescues, though it is our natural instinct to want to do lots for them. But this is a mistake and will not pay any benefits as ime goes on. Better to have them be a natural part of the family with good behaviour expected, not demanding behaviour; ignore them totally when they are not doing what you expect.

I'd recommend having a read through some of the material here

http://rescue.cavaliertalk.com/rescue/your new rescue dog.html

And here:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2317

and also this info on fostering applies equally to adding a second dog to your home:

http://rescue.cavaliertalk.com/rescue/fostering.html
 
Also Claire: it would be a very good idea to get these dogs into obedience classes. Neither has been, and this will help them build confidence and self control. They should not be in the same class together.
 
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