help with dog behaviour

Mollyd90

in the last 2 -3 weeks my dog is playing up. He is about 7 years old. Not sure what mix of dog sheepdog x gundog I think. Normally a brilliant dog and would do anything you ask and a lovely temperament. He would never leave the garden without one of us. At night he sleeps inside in the utility. When we are not there we put him in a run outside with a dog house as I don't trust him not to wreck the house. Once we are home we let him out of his run and he is either comes in or stays outside for the rest of the time, whatever suits us/him.

Everything was fine with this until about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Now he goes into his run no problem as normal but within a fews minutes of us leaving he breaks out. We went away yesterday for about 2 hours and came back and no sign of him. He was gone wandering. I came home this evening and he broke out again and there was paw marks on the backdoor like he was trying to break in.

There are dogs in heat locally so that's not driving him nuts. I'm looking for advice on how to deal with this. I am worried he will cause/get blame for causing harm or get knocked down or stolen.

thanks

andreac

Is he getting out of the run? If so, how? Is he neutered? How do you know the bitches in heat are not driving him nuts?

Mollyd90

sorry I ment there are no dogs in heat locally.
He broke the mesh where it is attached to the frame and get out so we repaired it.
He was able wriggle the top clasp attaching two fence walls down by jumping at it then jump up and squeeze out through the give if that makes sense. Took us a while to figure out what he was doing there. So we reinforced the run with more clasps. I haven't had a look yet to see how he got out today.

andreac

Can you not get a better and more secure dog run? Like a proper one that is fixed to wall etc or permanent structure as that one doesn't sound very secure and strong if he can do that.

DBB

OP, the first thing that springs to mind with me is thunder storms? There have been a LOT of small, localised thunderstorms around the country this past few weeks. If he has any sort of noise phobia (and these tend to get worse with age), or has a history of being worried about thunderstorms, then he'd try to get away from it.
His escape from the run, coupled with the (perhaps panic-stricken?) paw marks on the door... and the fact that this is out of character for him, suggest that something out of the ordinary has happened here.
What is the likelihood of this, do you think?

muddypaws

I wonder if there is some new noise that is scaring him? Are there are any bird scarers going off, or someone shooting nearby? New neighbours? Anything that is different that he may be struggling with?

nancicreedon IAABC

Is he neutered or no?

Was it around the same time as the bad weather?

Has his diet changed recently?

Has his lifestyle changed (time of feeding / members of the household / work shifts / time of walks etc.)?

Does he appear distressed in the run now?

Has he had any medical issues recently / come off medication recently?

Are there any new cats / foxes / young wildlife in the area luring him out?

Can you 'leave the house', carry out the normal routine, one of you leave the house and the other stay and spy on him (you can get cheap security cameras online or set your computer / camera up to record him. We might be able to see the trigger then that encourages him out.

He may have just learnt that he can now get out, and being out is more fun than being in, so he's just repeating the behaviour that works for him.

Mollyd90

He is not neutered.

I put him in his run yesterday evening and went upstairs and spied on him. He watched the house for about 5 minutes and then started barking and he jumped up and climbed over the 7ft fence and came straight into the house. (I was pretty impressed with the jump I have to say) I could see nothing or hear nothing that would have upset him. So obviously we need a more secure run.

I was watching him a bit more closely in the last few days. He doesnt seem to want to go out of the house anymore unless we are with him. When we are outside he is happy to go off doing usual dog stuff around the garden. We have a very big garden so he is not near us when doing that.
There were crow bangers going off all summer, that didnt bother him and they have stopped now anyway.

Nothing in his routine has changed but I have noticed that he is not as picky with his food, but that may be because he more hungary now after his adventures.

Is it loneliness maybe? He doesnt see other dogs that often and We are usually gone from 8.20 in morning to 6 during the week.

andreac

Thats a long time to be left on his own. Have you tried walking him before you go to work to tire him out? How much exercise does he get in general?
Maybe try leaving him a Kong in the run to occupy him.

Is there no way you could leave him in the house when you go or even get someone to call in to him during the day?

Pretzill

I reckon he is bored and also suffering seperation anxiety probably always did but has now learned how to get out of the run.

It's a long time to be left on his own but I'm sure you have no choice in that. A good long walk in the morning may tire him out. But to be sure, to be sure he, or noone else comes to any harm if he escapes again I would consider bringing him inside. Remove any possible items that may be destroyed if you can limit him to one room at first with toys and a kong and although he'll still get bored at least he won't come a cropper out on the roads.

Have you someone who could call by during the day - maybe a dog walker?

KittyKat76

What about getting one of those Pet Safe Collars for him, they work well and ensure the dog knows the boundary that it is allowed in.

muddypaws

KittyKat76 wrote: »

What about getting one of those Pet Safe Collars for him, they work well and ensure the dog knows the boundary that it is allowed in.

Please don't, using pain to teach your dog is very unethical and unnecessary.