[NewToGoldens]

Hi,

Not sure if this belongs in Puppy or Health so I'll start with Puppy.

I have a wonderful 10 month old golden, intact male.

He (so far) has been very easy.

About 4 days go he started this very annoying habit of not wanting to stay inside. He would come in and pace the house whining incessantly. I put him back out and he would bark. Bring him in, whine. Last night I had to put him into his crate (he's been out of it at night for a month) to sleep cuz he just would.not.stop pacing the house and whining. And today, he lay in the driveway and howled! I had to put him on a leash and bring into the barn while I did chores to make him stop.

I work out of the house and am in the midst of a major deadline so this behaviour has been causing me some stress (work and I don't know if something is wrong?)

He also stopped eating breakfast. This dog has never not eaten a meal.

I took him to the vet and they said he looked good, they couldn't find anything wrong. They did say that the thought he had probably ended his major growing spurts so could just not need as much food (was getting 4c TOTW salmon, 2c 2xday).

Anyway, I don't know if I should worry that something is wrong? Or is it his age? (ie is this somewhat normal)? It's almost like he can't figure out what the heck he wants.

I should mention, he gets lots of play time. He gets lots of walking. He gets to run off-leash. He socializes as well with other dogs, just not daily (2-3 times aweek). Other than his habit of wanting to climb inside people's skin when he meets them (he loves people!) , he is pretty well-behaved.

Thoughts/ideas so I can figure out how to make my pup happy! I admit, right now he is kinda driving me nuts. (Love him though!)
Sometimes I feel like putting my hands over my ears and shouting "Make him stop!"

Is this possibly a by-product of hormones? If so, how to deal with it?
Something else?

Thanks in advance....

 

[BeauShel]

It sounds like he is doing it for attention. What does he do if you ignore him.

 

[goldencontriever3]

I am sorry you are going through this. The only thing I can tell you is I have a 3yo male that whines if he is alone in a room. Minnie and Tasha will follow me room to room. Sophia is pretty independant and likes to lay by the door to look outside. Mickey does not like to be alone but does not follow. He whines loudly until someone pays attention. At first it was alarming but now I just tell him lets go and he comes into the other room. I know he does it for attention. I wonder if your pup is doing the same thing?

 

[missmarstar]

My Sam does this all the time. He's trying to get attention, nothing is ever wrong with him. He will pace, whine, stand in front of me and stare at me. It's irritating lol but just gotta ignore it or it gets worse.

The best thing to do is really tire them out.. while he will still do it, Sam does it a lot less when he's really tired.

 

[LibertyME]

is there a bitch in heat nearby?

 

[NewToGoldens]

Hi and thanks for the replies so far!

LibertyME, no unspayed girls around that I know of. *BUT*, one of the people I walk with is a breeder and she has breeding females at home. The females are not around, but I've got to believe that she must carry some of her dogs smell on her? Good thought. Anything to do about it?

I think he gets a fair amount of exercise? At least an hour of walking in the woods every day, indudes off-leash free run time. Many periods of play during the day. Obedience work (even more as he has started really pulling suddenly when he sees people - easy walker is helping take care of that).

And he enjoys being with us, but he's not clingy. It's cooled off a bit on New England and he is very happy to sleep outside on the porch in the evening well after the mosquitos have driven us inside.

BeauShel, missmarstar, goldencontriever3, sounds like a possibility about wanting attenting as well. Why a sudden change do you think? His daily activities have pretty much been the same since we got him at 8 weeks.

Thanks and please keep the ideas coming!

I love the GRF!

 

[cubbysan]

I am thinking a female in heat too. Even if one was walked down your street, the smell stays.

When Brady was that age, I was going to class with him, and he would go totally brain dead in the building, because he could smell that there HAD been a dog in heat in earllier.

 

[BeauShel]

As long as there are not medical issues then it could be a phase. Ignore him and dont coddle him when he whines. See if that helps. since you said there is a woman that breeds dogs in the neighborhood then I bet some of the whining is that.

 

[jwemt81]

Do any of your neighbors have a female dog in heat? It's possible that could be it and the scent is driving him crazy. It also could just be attention seeking behavior. Does he get plenty of exercise every day and one on one time with you?

 

[lovesdogs]

I am actually having the same problem with my dog right now, except my dog is a 10 month old female.

Did you end up finding a solution or did the problem seem to go away over time?

One of my ideas is that since she was recently spayed - within the last few months - before we adopted her, that maybe it's a hormones thing?

 

[CarolinaCasey]

4 cups is a lot of food. My 11 month, intact male eats 3 cups and we're generous with treats/rewards throughout the day. He eats it all. He has turned his nose up at treating during our walks because he's too hot and doesn't want it. Weather may be playing a factor- when it's warm, they don't want to eat as much.

The first thing that came to my mind was-- he smells a bitch in season. Do you have any intact females living nearby? Be careful.


EDIT- Someone bumped a very old post. Lovesdogs, start a new thread and I'm sure you'll get specific answers to your problem.