I would take Hershey down to the basement on leash and do basic training with him. Sit, down, stay commands and so forth. And correct him with "No!" or whatever word you use if he attempts to run in circles, or becomes anxious. After you are done training, take him back upstairs and keep him out of the basement. This will teach him that the basement is for "class" and not an indoor anxiety track.

Do not let him continue this behavior because it will only worsen.

Also, I hesitate to even suggest this, but is it possible there are "critters" in your basement (mice)? It is possible he smells animal smells down there and that is exciting him.

Does your vet know about this behavior? If not, I think you should run it by him/her for an opinion.

You have only had the dog a month. This is a very short time for a dog to get acclimated with your situation. I could be wrong, but I believe this type of behavior indicates that the dog could be bored. Does the dog get lots of exercise? I mean the kind that he literally falls on the floor after playing. Labs, especially young ones have tons of energy that simply must be spent or they will get into sooooo much mischief.

Try inventing a game for him. He must like to retrieve. Some dogs like to make their humans part of their games, such as not bringing a ball or stick back when we throw it. I had a Lab/Shepard who did this. I solved the problem by getting several tennis balls and throwing one about the time she dropped the one she had. She always went after the one I threw. I kept throwing until I ran out of balls, gathered them and started over again. This used up massive amounts of energy, when we got home, she fell to the floor with exhaustion. She never got into trouble when left alone, we did this sometimes twice a day for a few years.

Good luck!

SG

Well, I called my vet when this started, and he suggested that I show Hershey that the cat is no longer in the basement. Beyond that, he didn't really have any suggestions :(

I hope Hershey is getting enough exercise - he is very tired after we run, but that's only once a day. He likes the walks around the block, but they're just for training and fun, not really for exercise. He seems pretty calm outside the basement, more calm than I expected for a young dog. I think you could be right about him being bored, except that I still think it's odd that sometimes when we are outside, he heads to the door and wants to go inside, then runs straight to the basement.

I don't think there are critters down there (except for spiders) - haven't seen/heard any evidence of that. I think the obedience training is a good idea - he really does not seem himself in the basement; won't come when I call, or stop barking (elsewhere he is getting good at both things).

He does not seem to have much retrieving instinct (I know, odd for a lab) but more interaction/playtime couldn't hurt! My son was hoping to teach him to play frisbee, but so far we have mostly been concentrating on teaching him to come, walk nicely on a leash, not jump up, etc.

I am missing our old dog, who was 5 when we got her and SO easy!

Does he have toys to play with?

The circling could be a habit/compulsive behavior that he had before you got him. As mentioned above, don't allow him to continue and don't let him down there unless he's under your control.

I have a rescue right now, have had him for about a year and change and he's a bit of an oddball, so I know what you are going through.

I think if you run with Hershey several miles a day that should be plenty of exercise. If there are not creatures, I think Hershey has convinced himself that the basement is the place to be excited and anxious.

For example, my own dog had anxiety issues on our evening walks. He is a coonhound/doberman mix and is very, very STRONG. The way I dealt with his excitement was to refocus his attention on something else...me. I did this by turning our walk into an obstacle course. Here, we sit, here we down...we do a sit/stay here...etc. I clicker trained him, so he gets food rewards and/or praise for obeying his commands. So, instead of focusing on his surroundings, he focuses on me. Does that make sense?

And, PS, he knows exactly where Mason is...those canine noses are worth their weight in gold.

Good luck!!

I know this my sound a bit wacky, but you mentioned that you miss your old dog. I went through the same thing last year when I rescued a 4 month old Shepard/Hound. I had numerous behavior issues with her, and realized that lots of things I was doing were just plain wrong for this dog, but worked for the one I lost and my current other two.

Dogs are incredibly tuned into the feelings of their humans. Your body language, the way you talk, everything you do tells the dog something about you. Perhaps your new pup is sensing your loss.

SG

You're using human logic/thinking and concluded that the basement had something to do with the cat because several times when dog went to basement he ran into cat. He may also have run into dirty laundry (smells good to a dog?) Exclude those possibilities and think of other reasons for being in the basement.

Yes mice is one, but I'd assign that low probability as he isn't exhibiting hunting behaviour when he's down there.

You might want to start noticing what precedes his trips to the basement. Is there a change in weather, a storm coming, wind? Any training going on that that has exceeded his attention span? A loud noise, eg car backfire. Does he run down there when children show up in the yard, or men with pink hair. Watch and listen for what precedes his trips and when and if he leaves the basement voluntarily, what was going on when he left.

The behavior: "Hershey acts odd if we come down there, panting, barking and acting very agitated." really doesn't sound at all related to a cat who is on the second floor :-) Dogs pants for many reasons: Pain, exertion, heat, anxiety. I'm thinking something is making him anxious and he's trying to get away from it.

If he only does this in the basement, is it possible he was maybe confined to (or tied up in) a basement by his previous owners? Perhaps he associates the basement with bad experiences, and that is why he becomes very anxious when exposed to it.

Just keep Hershey out of the basement. There really is no way to determine why he is doing the running there. If that is the only place, it is simple to prevent the behavior.

The advice about how you acted with former dogs may have some bearing on how he learns to fit in, but unless you create OCD behavior(which allowing him to run in the basement actually is) both of you will adapt and mesh.

Remember, every dog is different and no two dogs will act/respond the same. He will adapt and you have to also adapt.

Nothing will replace a treasured friend, but new friends can become new treasures.