Worried - Sudden Behaviour Change

Hi everyone hope you are all well. I have a problem that has just occurred with my Staffy. He is desexed and we rescued him from Big Dog Rescue bit over 1 year ago, he is a lovely boy and was very well trained by his previous owner, he gets lots of outside time and sleeps inside at night. When we first got him I was feeding him PAL dog food with either fresh Kangaroo or Chicken mixed in (not cooked). I changed his food about 4 weeks ago to Chum Crunchy for no real reason other than a change for him, he has had about a 20kg bag and 1/2 since that change. Has a lovely nature and is very friendly to kids, adults and other dogs, not keen on cats! He is not a fast eater and will often leave half of his food until the next day.

Anyway about 3 weeks ago I was out in the evening and received an call from my neighbour that he was going crazy, wimpering, barking, hitting and scratching at the side gates and the back screen door, so I come home and found him to be in a very distressed state and panting, I was looking for what had changed environmentally and the only thing was I put up a sensor light in the back yard. Anyway I turned it off and thought that might have been the cause. Tonight (about a week later) he started again whilst we were out, I came home and he wasn't as stressed as before and he got into trouble, he settled for about 10 mins and then done it again and then a third time. I thought it finished then so I went back out and I was informed he was doing it again.

We come home and I tried to discipline him again to settle him off and this didn't work despite around 10 attempts, he was hell bent on getting into the house and was jumping up approximately a metre high to see in the window, up on the outdoor table looking around seemingly for us. Each time I went out he was trying to barge into the house and was becoming more stressed each time and discipline had NO effect.

At the end I went outside and he was basically sitting on my foot and was quite warm as you would expect, I stayed with him until he seemed to settle but when I opened the door he barged past, normally even if excited, he will SIT on command at the door until invited.

So I am at a loss this has suddenly happened and the only environmental things is the light which I have now turned of and the food which I thought I would mentioned as it is noted in the forum regularly.

Am at a loss, I have an audio recording from my neighbour, not sure if I can post it but will send this message and the audio to Big Dog Rescue after I speak with them tomorrow.

Thoughts?

It sounds to me like something has spooked him while he was outside and he feels safer indoors.

Yes that is what I thought initially and thought it may have been an isolated incident, only seems to happy when we are not here (and only just started) he was outside most of the day today with not a peep out of him.. other than snoring. lol

I just heard back from Big Dog Rescue and they suggested a possible cause could be health related. Will call my vet tomorrow.

Health is certainly a possibility & any change of behaviour should start with a trip to the vet to see if there are any causes of pain/discomfort.

It certainly sounds like anxiety, but whether that's caused by something that's happened to him, or an allergy to the food, I can't say.

If the Chum you feed is the same as the Chum in the UK, then it isn't a good food and could be causing a hyperactivity reaction or an allergic reaction. You could try giving him the old food, or go for a hypoallergenic food.

When you say you 'discipline' him, what exactly do you do?

Oh disciplining is gentle with stern words which normally works very well for him but not this time. He is very well behaved and was provided some quality training by his old owners before we rescued him. I will stop the CHUM from now and put him on fresh until my mobile vet visits and also get some premium dry tomorrow..

He had his annual check 6 months ago.

I would give him a good look over (if you can't get him to a vet soon); check his teeth, legs, eyes & ears. Look at the way he walks & runs & if there's any stiffness when he gets up from rest/sleep.

Sometimes a Stafford will show strange signs of anxiety resulting from a pain/ache that he's probably had for some time. Their problem is that they have a very high pain threshold and will often not show signs of discomfort until it's virtually unbearable! Teeth and ears can often cause anxiety behaviour.

I also wonder if he's had a fright when nobody's there? A series of loud noises, for example? Does he have somewhere 'safe' outside that he can retreat to if he feels uncomfortable with anything? A kennel or such like?

You could try him with a thunder shirt to see if it helps to keep him calm.

Thanks Caryll, have checked him over and he is fine when we are here, I spoke with my vet and she said almost certain behavioural and has given me some things to try. I also thought a fright of some sort as this has only just happened and he has been left alone at night many times with no issues. My vet suggested a DAP collar as well so will see if we need that one as time progresses.