old shih tzu terrorizes new mother

15 years ago

I have a shih tzu named ebony. She is 15.5 years old, though you really wouldn't know it to look at her, people still ask me what my puppy's name is! She has lived with me for all of that time, but for when I travelled, and I love her to unspeakable degrees. She eats raw food, goes for lots of walks and get plenty of loving.

The current health problems that she has, are that she has become a hard of hearing now, so I always have to walk her with a leash, whereas she used to follow my ankle everywhere. In the summer of last year, I took her to the vet for a cough, and found out that she has congestive heart failure. She has been on medication for the heart failure for a year now, and she is responding VERY well to it. Her energy level, her appetite (food and water), her "going out" habits and her personality have all returned to what they were. I did not realize that these were all sypmtoms of congestive heart faliure, I had just chalked it up to her getting older, but now she has her bounce back.

Here is my problem though:

In the last couple of months though, she has started really "acting up". She will wake up at around 3 am and pee on the carpet and then trot into our room and whine at the foot of the bed. We used to take her out, and put her back to bed, but she follows us into the bedroom and whines and then starts to bark. In the last few weeks, we would wake as soon as we head the jingle of her collar and run to take her outside so she didn't make a mess on the floor, and so now she has stopped peeing, but she still comes in to whine and bark. So in order to get some sleep, we've just started plunking her on the bed and she quiets and goes to sleep immediately. But the barking to wake us up is causing other problems, first of all my partner can't deal with it, second we get no sleep and third I got an elbow to the eye this morning cause she gave us such a start!

I found out about a month ago that I am 2 months pregnant. I am thinking that maybe ebony can sense this.... but it still doesn't really explain her behaviour.. does it? And though she is my favorite fluuf ball ever, I REALLY need my sleep now, and when the baby comes, her barking and whining will surely wake the new little one.

I can't really go back to having her sleep on the bed like i did years ago when i was single. But i am really unsure how to teach my dear old dog that this can't go on. Any advice?

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Comments (10)

joepyeweed
15 years ago
I think your dog is preparing you for the lack of sleep that will occur after you have the baby. ;-)

You have been rewarding the behavior...by picking her up, so of course it will continue.

Does she have a crate?
Meghane
15 years ago
Is she still peeing every morning? Changes in potty habits could mean a medical problem which should be checked out. If the medical issue is resolved, the barking issue may also resolve.
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Are you willing and able to get a diagnosis and the correct treatment for your dogs problem? It will save you time and money and your dog a discomfort if you do. A couple of reasons dogs itch: Fleas, bacterial infection, yeast infection, dust mites, inhaled allergies, food allergies, scabies mites, ringworm, dry skin. Start with fleas. They're everywhere and the timing of your dog's problem coincides with fleas wanting to come inside for the winter. All you need is a good flea control program such as Frontline Topspot, Advantage, or Revolution once every 1-3 months. Do it once a month for the next 3 months, not 3 days before or 3 days after a bath, and see if she improves. Dust mite allergies are very common, and again the timing is correct with the onset of your dog's problems. Dogs tend to stay inside more often during the winter and are therefore exposed more often to dust mites. Not much you can do about removing dust mites, short of removing all the fabric from your home (although I did remove the carpet in my bedroom for one of my allergic dogs- it helped). But antihistamines may help control the itching. You may have to try a bunch of different ones to find which one works best. If antihistamines don't cut it and she is uncomfortable, see a vet who is good at dermatology and get allergy testing and immunotherapy. It's worth the time and money. You can do a food trial. But food allergies are not seasonal, so I don't see much point, unless her symptoms coincided with a diet change. If that's the case, simply change her food back to the old one, and her symptoms should disappear in 6-8 weeks. A vet can diagnose bacterial, yeast, ringworm, and scabies infections relatively cheaply and easily. A tape prep of the affected area would show bacteria and yeast. A skin scrape could show scabies. And a hair pluck and fungal culture would diagnose ringworm. All of these are easily treatable too. You already got good suggestions on treating dry skin. I had a very allergic dog, Aleksander (the one I removed the bedroom carpeting for). He was allergic to foods (lamb, beef), bugs of every type (fleas, dust mites, ants, cockroachs, etc), pollens (pretty much every tree, grass, and shrub that grows in NC), and molds. I put him on a special diet, but not that special since he wasn't allergic to poultry (Natural Balance duck and potato). He had allergy testing and immunotherapy shots once weekly. I didn't bathe him as often as I should have because he was a Husky and took forever to dry; it was suggested to bathe him every 2 weeks and follow with Humilac bath oil or conditioner so his coat wouldn't dry out. He still needed antihistamines during his worse season (fall here in NC). It was worth it though because he was so much more comfortable and didn't get ear infections any more. Some dogs need immunomodulating drugs such as prednisolone or cyclosporin to control their allergies as well. But if she has a different underlying problem that doesn't get addressed such as flea allergies or scabies, their isn't a thing that you can do at home to help her. By all means, do what you can at home, but if she does not respond or gets worse, please see a vet interested in dermatology to help you out. Good luck.
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I suspect he does this when you're not around because he knows he's not supposed to be doing it. He may also be doing it because he's on the wrong side of the fence, and it's just easier to do it where he's at than returning to 'his' area to relieve himself. You may want to put a pad in the forbidden area as well, since he seems to be able to get to it. That being said, I don't like pee pads and wonder if he was trained to the outside before you got him. You didn't say. If he was, and you are using pads, you may as well say you are retraining him and he may be confused. Regardless........I hope you are taking him outside to run off his energy and letting him relieve himself there. Is that an option? Taking toys away won't accomplish anything. Reinforcing the positive is the way to train him, whether he's attention driven or food driven. You say recently but how recent is that? He may be acting out a separation anxiety or massive change of habit and environment. Have you considered crate training? This is not an impossible situation, but you may have to sort through a lot of variables to work out a useable routine and for sure you will have to invest some time and patience into the solution. The inside fence bothers me when you are not around. I have seen dogs literally hung up on them and dangling when the owners are absent.
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mazer415
15 years ago
Your dog trained you to respond to her bark...so now she does it to get attention. Silly humans, we are so easy to train. First things first, I would take her in for another check up - often personality changes or changes in behavior are signals that something is amiss physically - if everything is okay, I would start either ignoring her, or using (brace yourself) a squirt gun to keep her from barking. You can use an empty soda can filled with dried beans but if she is going deaf - it wont do much good. The squirt gun is simple, painless and very effective. Good luck with your pup, these are the hard times in their lives...
annzgw
15 years ago
I'd also research info on the meds she's on and see if they have any side effects. Did these changes start after she started the medicine?
Also, old age can cause changes in a dog's daily ritual. My poodle, who lived to 17 yrs, developed strange habits and confusion in his last 2 years. He was deaf, partially blind and would often wake in the middle of the night in a confused state.

What happens if you close her off from the bedroom?
heyrady
Original Author
15 years ago
hmm.
i don't have a crate for her anymore.
she is not peeing in the mornings anymore.
i guess you could look at it as rewarding, but she just doesn't stop. we have tried just lying silently until she leaves or quiets herself but she whines, then growls, then barks and will not stop. the squirt gun is an idea, but i would feel so terrible, she is older then my grandmother (in dog years).
i have researched the side effects, and none seems to apply. some are relevant but only if the congestive heart failure is not treated, which it most definitely is being, by the pills.
if we close her off from the bedroom, she sits outside the bedroom door and does her whine, growl, bark routine.
her problem seems to be based around not sleeping through the night anymore, which i guess just happens when you are old. she used to come to work with me at my last job, but she can't anymore in my new job. i used to take her for walks during the day at work, but that has ceased since having the new job, which i started 5 weeks ago, and her behavior has been going on for longer then that.
mazer415
15 years ago
Is it possible for you to take her out on some long slow walkies before bedtime???
caliloo
15 years ago
"the squirt gun is an idea, but i would feel so terrible, she is older then my grandmother (in dog years).

She is a dog, not a human being. You have elevated her to the alpha personality in the house and she is taking full advantage of it. Do yourself a favor and nip this behavior soon, it will only escalate when the baby arrives.

Alexa
olga_d
15 years ago
Honestly, at that age I'd probably cut her some slack. This is not a bratty 6 month old puppy we're talking about so the same methods don't apply. Unfortunately changes happen as they age and this is probably more distressing to her than to you. :(

Also, since she has lost some of her hearing, I'm not surprised she's barking a lot - that seems to happen a lot to pets who can't hear themselves well anymore. Personally I think squirting her would be cruel.

As someone already suggested, a nice slow walk to help her relax before bedtime is a good idea. Also, it sounds like some changes have been happening in your/her life and that can bring stress. And in her case also decreased activity (due to reduced walks and staying home instead of coming with you). If you can, I would increase her walks again - and being pregnant regular exercise is important for you so you can be in shape for giving birth.

Another thing we've done with our dogs is teach them "go lie down" or "go to bed" which is essentially their cue to lie down on their dog bed - no pat on the head, no other talking, and we turn our back and ignore them. Unfortunately behaviours like these typically have what's called an "extinction burst", which means it gets worse before it gets better. And each time you give in "just this once" will be starting the process all over again. You need to sit down with your partner and talk about this - it needs to be ignored consistently for a while. And in the meantime you'll lose some sleep in order to get it fixed. As someone said, tell him it's practice for when the baby comes. ;)
Gina_W
15 years ago
I would cut the old lady some slack too, dog or not. Old dogs may become "senile" too. Can you mover her bed into your bedroom next to you and see what happens? It seems like she is trying to tell you something. Poor thing.
acorn
15 years ago
I don't think this is a training problem. She may be getting senile and may be loseing vision. She could be confused when she wakes up at night. The squrit gun may scare her more.

old shih tzu terrorizes new mother

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