Hi all

I have a red SBT bitch she is nearly 6 years old and has been the pretty much perfect dog, she is dog friendly unless the other dog wont leave her alone, very people friendly with a tail that never stops when she's getting effection.

However over the last 6/8 months she hass been acting very strange, she has twice growled or barked at my grandson and then either sat upstairs out the way or somewhere else in the house where she cant be seen. Then last night she did the same to the wife when she was told to get down stairs( she had sneaked updstairs and was asleep in the corner of the bedroom). She will sit in a corner just staring at the floor, she will go and hide in the bathroom when the house is busy, not her normal self. When she is out with me she is a normal happy dog that has loads of energy and wants nothing but to chase a ball.

So for obvious reasons i am somewhat at a loss to why she is doing this but i need to as soon as possible resolve the matter.

Her history is as follows,

Nearly 6 years old
Had a near death drowning when she was 2 years old and spent some time in a veterinary hospital. Is now petrefied of water.
had a litter of 3 pups at the age of 3 and half years old, one pup died after4 days (this appeared to be a very stressfull time for her, she actually growled at me when i tried to take the pup away!!!)
was mated again this summer, again a planned mating but no pregnancy.
She lives at home with another dog, myself wife and grown up son
we have 3 young grandchildren

Any help on this would be greatly appriciated

manthanks

Dave

If you would prefer to email me or call with suggestions please feel free to do so
dave.austin@westoxon.gov.uk   or   07990578542 i will call you back as i appriciate it may be a long telphone cobnversation 

First thing I would do is get her checked out by your vet if you haven't already. Also if you don't want her going upstairs can you use a baby gate to stop her. Best avoid confrontations if possible until you have been to the vet.

You could also start looking for a behaviourist as it's difficult to give advice without seeing the dog.

This is a good starting point http://www.apbc.org.uk/ you can search by area.

Good luck with her

Sounds hormonal to me and could well be related to the mating -could she be having a phantom? I have two bitches that both get bad tempered for a full 2 months before a season, after the season they are like different dogs. Plus of course when pregnant some bitches do get bad tempered in general. As she didn't get pregnant I'd seriously consider spaying her.

1.   My first suggestion is to take your bitch to the vets,  she may be ill but showing no signs of it.    Staffies especially (and dogs in general) aren't very good at showing they are in pain or feeling unwell.   Even if she is acting normally on a walk, this could still be the case.

2.   I would expect any bitch to be protective of her pups at first, and three days old is still 'at first', so growling at you when removing a dead pup, I would consider perfectly normal.   Not all bitches do this, but I wouldn't see it as a sign of badness or something wrong with the bitch.

3.   I'm surprised that despite the changes you have seen in her, you still mated her this summer ?   Only a bitch in top condition should be bred from, and only if she has been fully health tested - with excellent results.

which brings me to 4.    What health tests has she had?   Has she been DNA tested for L-2-HGA ?   a read of the page will also give info on other health tests which are relevant for breeding dogs.

As you will see on reading the page, your bitch's behaviour could be related to health, not necessarily known health problems, but a health problem in dogs is often first noted because of behaviour changes.

I do hope that your young grandchildren are  being supervised around your bitch and being taught to respect her as a living being, and not allowed to prod, poke, pull her about?   I also hope that she has somewhere to retire to that is away from the children when she wants some quiet time? Despite being known as the 'nanny dog', they shouldn't be expected to put up with being treated roughly, or their patience tried too far.   

NOT saying that this is happening in your case, but so many people see nothing wrong with it, and indeed expect a dog to accept any treatment from children, no matter how unreasonable.   And then the dog gets blamed if/when the inevitable happens ;-)

Hi Dill, many thanks for this, to answer a few of your points

Vets, this is happening toinight

After the death of the pup ( non thriving syndrome, this is what the vet put it down to) two years ago she was fine (well appeeared to be fine) within a 4 or 5 hours, she reared the other two as any mother would, this at the time did not bother me as i had seen it in my clumbers many years ago and after the grieving process had run its course all was fine.

As for the changes in her and arttempting to have a 2nd litter, Marni is in top condition physically, very fit and active and still is when out and about and as i stated a bundle of fun, she is our family pet, not a show dog or anything else (been there with my clumber spaniels for many years)  she is fully health tested for L-2-HGA and is clear.

These changes have happened and become more frequent since the 2nd mating, its not a normal process that a bundle of fun becomes a dog that simply either disappears when the house is full or sits in a corner looking at the floor like a statue.

As for my grandchildren, yes they are always supervised, i have bred, shown, worked and trained dogs for many years and fully understand the possible damage they can do in such a short amount of time. No they are not allowed to prod, pull tails or anything like that with either Marni or our other dog Midget (Shih tzu) and are never intentionally left alone with them, yes there is a possibility that one of them has done something to Marni when she has maybe walked pass them, i simply dont know and cannot be 100% on that. I can also not be 100% sure that Marni has not been hit by a toy by one of them, they are toddlers and its possible.

Marni is a loved family pet, as is Midget but for obvious reasons i need to try to sort this problem, interim steps will be that she is kept away (behind locked gates) when the grand children are at there, not something i have ever wanted to do but something that i will need to do, this is not just for the sake of the grand kids but for Marni also.

I am hopeful in some respects that the vet will find a problem, whether this be hormonal or physical, at least that way there is a chance of sorting it. 

Dave 

Thanks Goldmali, this is something i will discuss with the vets this evening

The getting short tempered and acting oddly, hiding away etc is something my lab does if her ears are playing her up. she seems to get deep down inflammation that really distresses her, even though the vet could never see much wrong.

>over the last 6/8 months she hass been acting very strange, she has twice growled or barked at my grandson and then either sat >upstairs out the way or somewhere else in the house where she cant be seen. Then last night she did the same to the wife when >she was told to get down stairs( she had sneaked updstairs and was asleep in the corner of the bedroom). She will sit in a corner >just staring at the floor, she will go and hide in the bathroom when the house is busy, not her normal self

>was mated again this summer, again a planned mating but no pregnancy.

>These changes have happened and become more frequent since the 2nd mating, its not a normal process that a bundle of fun >becomes a dog that simply either disappears when the house is full or sits in a corner looking at the floor like a statue.

I'm sorry,  you have me confused.    At first you say that the changes have happened over the last 6/8 months,  which is why I queried mating her again.

But then you say they've happened and become more frequent since the second mating.

I didn't suggest that her current situation is a normal process,  only her reaction to your removing a pup at three days old ;-)

In asking about the children,  supervision,  and whether she had somewhere to escape to,  I wasn't criticising.   Many people read these posts without ever posting or joining champdogs,  so just making sure that the question gets asked,  for the benefit of others as well as you ;-)

Hopefully the vet will be able to find the cause of the problem and treat it.   Hope it goes well.

>These changes have happened and become more frequent since the 2nd mating, its not a normal process that a bundle of fun becomes a dog that simply either disappears when the house is full or sits in a corner looking at the floor like a statue.

Dave
Not trying to diagnose over the internet!  But your words have struck a chord with me.  My normally happy, fun loving terrier had altered for a long while before I got answers.  I insisted on tests, and I do appreciate that vets test for common complaints first, before progressing to more obscure diseases.  It took me ages to sort it, and I was very insistent that we keep going to find her problem.  She was so unhappy, and I hated seeing her with her face hidden in a corner.

She has Cushings and has to have regular blood tests to ensure that her medication dose is spot on.  I'm not saying that is the problem with your bitch, but it sounded so like my girl.

Jean

Just adding on the end, I have a 4yr old red/white SBT. She has been spayed now for 2yrs as she had changed in temperament more in that she was fine in the house but a nervous wreck outside when walking past people,she had blood tests done and confirmed that it was hormone imbalance. She never ever had a litter tho hth

Nessa