Chocs behaviour

Mr Chiquito is now just over 10 months old. He has always been really laid back, submissive and besides chewing everything he can get his paws on, well behaved.

Over the last few weeks he has however started some new, un-Chiquito like behaviours ...

- he poops and pees in the house, even when the door is open and he can go outside. He even walked straight past the open door to the other end of the house to do so in the office last week.
- he has begun humping Sheba. It is not continual, but daily.
- he growled (serious warning growl, turned his head to me) while I was brushing him.
- he growled at the vet (a series of serious warning growls .. they muzzled him because of it) while checking his legs. He had never done this before to any vet (or anyone else) ever.
- he refuses to come when called, and when I go to get him he growls and jumps at me.
- he snapped at my mums dog (entire bichon frize cross bitch). She is quite dominant, but he has never responded with more than rolling on his back before now.
- commands that he has known and consistently followed now only get a correct response sometimes, even with a treat in my hand.

I can 'explain' some of the behaviours (moving house, a new dog in the house, the vet hurting his legs and me brushing him the day after the vet saw him for example). He has also got quite 'chunky' and stocky lately, so I did also wonder if it's hormonal ...?

I don't want to jump up and down in a panic, should I be concerned with the changes in his behaviour though? Or is this normal behaviour for a teenage boy with a new sibling?

On the face of it I'd say that he's more affected by the house move & the new arrival than you first thought. It's upset his whole routine.

My first thought would normally be that he's unwell in some way, but as he's been checked by the vet, that might not be the case. It could also be raging hormones, coupled with the other upsets!

If you're certain that he's well, then I'd step up his training a bit, and make sure that you are firm and consistent.

Thank you for your reply Caryll

Other than his limp, which we got an all clear for yesterday (that is, I can start walking him normally again and see if the limp reoccurs) I have no reason to suspect any illness/soreness (all seems well). I do however trust your opinion, so I've made an appointment with the general vet (it was the ortho vet that saw him yesterday).

In regards to managing the behaviours, I have gone back to basics with the toileting and am happy to work on doing more training/reinforcement with him .. I am however feeling quite unsure about how exactly to deal with the growling (which he did again today - was clipping his nails, noticed the yawn and turned head so I stopped .. not fast enough though obviously because I got a growl as well).

I have advised the children that they need to leave grooming to me for now, and suggested that any growls/yawning etc mean stop and give him space. I am not sure what to actually 'do' about it though. Is it a stern 'no' that is needed, or do I ignore and reward the correct response/behaviour? Any advice greatly appreciated

Cant add much to what Caryll has said Kell, does seem like a routine change has upset him  

I can empathise with you completely, Thistle is incredibly sensitive to change or new experiences, she had a vet visit for demodex, the vet gave her a skin scrape, drew blood, of course she reacted with a growl to that, she is being treated with advocate, systemic drops, when I was putting the second dose on the back of her neck she turned her head and half growled half grumbled at me, wasn't happy, I just said EH! and quickly continued the treatment, if you read my post.....complicated dogs....I think, you'll see what else I'm going through with her now, she's just over 7 months, so I'm wondering if it's hormonal.

Sorry Kell but i cannot add too much more to what has already been suggested. With regards to the toileting inside have you tried closing the door and see if he asked to go out then when he needs to go.

Sorry for the delay in reply.

We've been working on the closed door and asking to go out method, as well as encoiraging the use of the doggy door and taking him out on lead to toilet ... no accidents for two days so fungers crossed

He has seen the vet and all is well ... he has suggested that perhaps the vet causing pain when checking his legs and muzzling him has caused some upset. We are working on touching his legs and feet without actually doing anything to see if this receives a better response.

Thank you again for your replies.

I wonder if the vet visit has shaken his trust a bit.

As you say, gently touching him all over on a regular basis might help. Has he growled at you since?

Sorry, can't help with the growling thing as have never had this problem. But can I suggest gently inspecting his ears, teeth, paws and eyes and gently running your hands over his body to as if to feel for lumps, ticks etc. I do this (as taught at our training classes where we even swopped dogs to do this) daily and it makes it less of an issue when the vet needs to check him.

Caryll wrote:I wonder if the vet visit has shaken his trust a bit.

As you say, gently touching him all over on a regular basis might help. Has he growled at you since?

The growling has occured once since - trying to get his leg out of his lead, held his front leg and went to lift it, got a growl. With the all over touching it does seem to have calmed, he does consistently lick my hand anytime it touches the sore leg though ... whether it is pain or anxiety that causes it I'm not sure.

reuben wrote:Sorry, can't help with the growling thing as have never had this problem.  But can I suggest gently inspecting his ears, teeth, paws and eyes and gently running your hands over his body to as if to feel for lumps, ticks etc.  I do this (as taught at our training classes where we even swopped dogs to do this) daily and it makes it less of an issue when the vet needs to check him.

Thanks Reuben

We have also done this with Choc since he was a pup, he has always been quite happy to be touched (or groomed) in any way .... I've gone back to how we started doing this as a pup, and treats have been introduced.

Aww kell big hugs hope hes back to himself as soon as xx