major doggy problem! need help!

malaman

hi all,
I have two alsakan malamutes. One is a male and is almost two years old, i've had him since he was very young. the other is female and is almost 11 months. the male is a brilliant dog, the best i've ever had and is no hassle at all. the female though has started to cause me major difficulties in the last 6-8 weeks. At 6.45 am she begins to cry/howl very loudly and pound and scratch the back door. (they live the back garden) it wakes everyone up and feeding her usually stops it. but when im home from work it begins again and much more frantic. almost like the dog is in real distress. it's gotten to the point where anyone going into the kitchen has to be totally silent or else it will set this off and its impossible to stop. the dog is fed well, was brought up properly, is walked every day, but its gotten to the point that its driving me insane. I dont want to get the dog put down but its getting impossible to live with it. any advice? answers? ideas? on why she does this, or more importantly how to stop it.
thanks.

00112984

You want to have your dog put down because she's been acting up for the past 6-8 weeks?

I have plenty of advice for you but would be banned from this forum for giving it to you so I'll be very careful and say this- if she's trying to get in to get at her food, would you consider getting one of those timer feeding bowls and leaving it outside so she can have something to eat at 6.30am or a similar time?

jen_23

okay first off there are a bout a million options you can try before even contemplating putting her to sleep!! If you were seriously contemplating that I would suggest rehoming her instead as she sounds like a perfectly fine dog just a but unsettled at night.

1. do you spend time with her outside of walking her? she could well just be bored!

2. maybe it's an issue an animal behaviorist can help with? If it's only going on the last 6-8 weeks it could well be that she's developed some anxiety. A behaviorist should be able to help you with this.

3.Have you had a vet check her out? Or talked to a vet who could recommend the next course of action for you?

Maybe at night wear her out for half an hour before putting her to bed and give her a stuffed Kong to keep her entertained for when she'd awake. It might help?

ETA: this might be useful

joyce2009

ok getting the dog put down should never be an option for such a young dog so forget about that,,
what is setting her off at that time in the morning..ie does she hear you or a neighbour getting up,,by feeding her when she does this you are basically training her to whine when she wants to be fed,,,,,
How much exercise does she get, they are working dogs and need plenty to tire them out,,,
Please try and find a different solution and train your dog,,,,dont put her down

malaman

hi.
I usually would never consider getting a pet put down and im not in the business of getting rid of my dog. im a dog lover and know how to care for dogs. The morning thing isnt a neighbour waking her up. its the other way around. but also, its not a morning only problem. as i said earlier in the tread, it is in the afternoons too, and all evening if she hears anyone in the house. And i dont put her to bed. the dogs can be active even in the middle of the night at times. she gets one hour walk every day. and the two of them play a lot outside. seriously, this is a major problem. its effecting everyone in the house and also the neighbours and even unsettles the other malamute i have. can't explain it at all, she was the perfect pet up until 7 weeks ago....

malaman

00112984 wrote: »

You want to have your dog put down because she's been acting up for the past 6-8 weeks?

I have plenty of advice for you but would be banned from this forum for giving it to you so I'll be very careful and say this- if she's trying to get in to get at her food, would you consider getting one of those timer feeding bowls and leaving it outside so she can have something to eat at 6.30am or a similar time?

thanks for such an aggressive response. this is not "acting up" its seriously destroying the quality of life we have in the house. and its not only a food issue. i dont mind getting up early anyway. it also happens in the evening time.

ISDW

Has she come into season? Has she had her season and could be pregnant? Or having a phantom pregnancy?

Please, if you really can't deal with her anymore, let me know, I can find her a home. I run a rescue purely for siberian huskies and alaskan malamutes (and crosses).

Thanks.

malaman

ISDW wrote: »

Has she come into season? Has she had her season and could be pregnant? Or having a phantom pregnancy?

Please, if you really can't deal with her anymore, let me know, I can find her a home. I run a rescue purely for siberian huskies and alaskan malamutes (and crosses).

Thanks.

no, its not that. unless the vet did a job on me. we got her fixed a while back.

I'll keep it in mind, thanks. I'd rather sort out the problem than give her away though. she's a fantastic dog apart from this problem. that will be the last option to explore.

BanzaiBk

The dog would appear to be lonely or anxious. You said people creep around the house as to not alert her to your presence....if she gets excited to hear someone then I would immediately assume she wants attention.

As another poster said, she may have developed an anxiety about something 6/7 weeks ago. Either way only a behaviorist can really help you, at least take some advice from your vet.

lightening

Life might be easier if you let them live inside the house with the rest of the family. I always had the ethos, if I'm in the dogs in! I have had dogs that seemed to prefer it outside when it comes to bedtime though. Sounds like your bitch isn't one of those dogs!

malaman

lightening wrote: »

Life might be easier if you let them live inside the house with the rest of the family. I always had the ethos, if I'm in the dogs in! I have had dogs that seemed to prefer it outside when it comes to bedtime though. Sounds like your bitch isn't one of those dogs!

They really aren't indoor dogs to be honest. Most malamutes are like that. and anyways, the dog has always been fine with living outdoors and there's a large garage that they have access to. its only recently. i think ill pay a visit to the vet and see if i can get some answers.

dlofnep

Please, give the dog to someone with patience if you ever plan on putting the dog down for anything other than unrepairable health issues.

peasant

My reading of this would be:

1) your bitch has reached her adolescent phase. Very much like in human teenagers, rebellion against the status quo is part of this phase. So your bitch is trying to re-arrange her schedule to her standards, not yours.

2) she is doing so by being a bloody nuisance

3) a normal course of action would be to ignore her until she gives up. In your circumstances, that is not possible

Sulution: keep her inside and keep a lid on her antics out of earshot of the neighbours.

ISDW

malaman wrote: »

no, its not that. unless the vet did a job on me. we got her fixed a while back.

I'll keep it in mind, thanks. I'd rather sort out the problem than give her away though. she's a fantastic dog apart from this problem. that will be the last option to explore.

Even if she has been spayed, she could still have a phantom pregnancy. One of my bitches still goes through something similar to a season every 6 months or so. A bitch that I used to have also had 'false seasons' and phantom pregnancies. Eventually the vet opened her up again, and found a tiny bit left that they hadn't taken out. Problem solved.

Yeah, I'd agree that you should take her to the vet and see if theres anything medical going on.

You're right as well, most mals and siberian huskies do prefer living outside. I don't suppose theres anyway that you could have a dog flap installed? I know it would have to be a pretty big one:D and it might not be secure where you're living.

malaman

ISDW wrote: »

Even if she has been spayed, she could still have a phantom pregnancy. One of my bitches still goes through something similar to a season every 6 months or so. A bitch that I used to have also had 'false seasons' and phantom pregnancies. Eventually the vet opened her up again, and found a tiny bit left that they hadn't taken out. Problem solved.

Yeah, I'd agree that you should take her to the vet and see if theres anything medical going on.

You're right as well, most mals and siberian huskies do prefer living outside. I don't suppose theres anyway that you could have a dog flap installed? I know it would have to be a pretty big one:D and it might not be secure where you're living.

Ill bring her to the vet on monday. could be something like what you've suggested.
no chance of a flap being installed. it would have to be big!! big enough for a man to crawl through, not that anyone would go near my garden with the male I have. he's over 30 inches at the shoulder and is a fearsome character when he's in one of his moods. and I certainly don't want him gettin in the house, he's like an elephant in a china shop when indoors.
thanks for the advice.

malaman

peasant wrote: »

My reading of this would be:

1) your bitch has reached her adolescent phase. Very much like in human teenagers, rebellion against the status quo is part of this phase. So your bitch is trying to re-arrange her schedule to her standards, not yours.

2) she is doing so by being a bloody nuisance

3) a normal course of action would be to ignore her until she gives up. In your circumstances, that is not possible

Sulution: keep her inside and keep a lid on her antics out of earshot of the neighbours.

keeping her indoors is not an option. that would only be giving into her which is certainly re-arranging things to suit her.

malaman

dlofnep wrote: »

Please, give the dog to someone with patience if you ever plan on putting the dog down for anything other than unrepairable health issues.

i have a LOT of patience. the behaviour of the dog has been quite extreme. believe me, anyone would be at their wits end with it.

star-pants

malaman wrote: »

i have a LOT of patience. the behaviour of the dog has been quite extreme. believe me, anyone would be at their wits end with it.

If the dog is too much - would you not rather rehome it than get it put down? Seriously ,the fact that thought even crossed your mind isn't nice.

I would suggest seeing a behaviouralist and seeing what they think, people here have suggested ideas as to what it might be or how you can try to fix the problem but as you don't seem to be including the dog into the house at all that might be a little difficult. (I understand you don't want big dogs tearing around the house)
Do the dogs get played with? walked? or are they left to their own devices?

lightening

malaman wrote: »

They really aren't indoor dogs to be honest. Most malamutes are like that

Looks like this one isn't though! Come on, sneaking around the kitchen so she doesn't hear you? She's obviously sitting at the back door listening intently to you, she wants to be with the family. Either you lot move out to the back garden or bring the dog in. You might as well try it for your sanity. What's the problem with having her indoors anyway? Yeah, fair enough a bit more cleaning up to do, but it will mean a quiet life for you. Please, give it a try.

I'm not judging or getting at you Malaman, a friend had the same problem with an "outdoor dog". She was very resistant to having the dog indoors, but once she tried it the dog settled down after a week or so and you would barely know the dog was in the house, just crashed out on a dog bed once she was in.

There are pointers that don't point, retrievers that don't retrieve and husky's that don't want to be out the back all day and night.

Paul91

pack animals want to be with the pack leader, that would be you, so would be strange if she didn't want to be with you?

BanzaiBk

Malamutes in the house aren't that much trouble once they are exercised from my experience. My oh has a 5 year old malamute that is mostly a house dog (sometimes she prefers to be outside at night etc) and she largely spends her time inside lying on her dog bed. Ok they are kinda big and clunky but I'd imagine that after a few days it wouldn't be much bother. The OP said the dogs are walked every evening so I wouldn't imagine that they'd be destructive.

Phenix

could something outside upset her? you said she's only acting up the past couple of weeks, maybe somethign happened one night which scared/upset her. Just becuase she is a dog dosn't mean she is fearless. my parents dog who is now 16, for her first 10 years slept in our garage connected to the kitchen....then all of a sudden she just refused to go in there anymore.we figured maybe a mouse/rat or something scared her so now she sleeps in the front room
my own rescue, when we got him first used to sleep down stairs but then started to bark and howl at 4am!! solution? move him to the landing to sleep! now we dont hear a peep from him! she could just want more human company than you are giving her and if you dont mind me saying 1 hours walk a day for a working dog does not sound like enough for them.

lightening

OP, many bangers going off in your area lately?