Help Needed

[Isabel964]

We rescued Lucy at Eater time after we had to say goodbye to our beautiful 15 yr old Kelpie Punpunya. Lucy was nearly 5 months old, - Kelpue-staffy cross. All we knew was she had been dumped in St Kilda, a vet nurse took her in and fostered her for a month. She was brought back after 1 night in a trial new home and we got her.

She is a typical Kelpie type, energetic, smart, beautiful. We do regular dog obedience and progressed well. She goes to Doggy day care twice a week for socialization and physical/mental exercise, lots of walks, lots of love. She had Jindi our Westie as a companion until we had to say goodbye to her in October due to a tumour ion her spine.

We now have another dog that is 4.5 months old and the two get on great.

The issue we have with Lucy is that once every two weeks she barks at a member of the family as if to say 'Hey who are you who are you what are doing in my house?!?!!?!'

It very loud, very focused on the one person, not scary, not agreesuve, it's as if she is confused or forgets who we are.

It's happened with me in the garden, with my husband in the currufir, with my sons 21 year old girlfriend who practically lves here and with my son. It's as if she forgets who we are.

It's really weird because she knows the 4 of us well, really really well. My husband walks her a lot in his own, we both walk her, I train her,my son walks her with his girlfriend, my son trains her.... she knows the 4 of us very very well.

Has anybody come across this?

Is a veterinary behaviourist the right sort of specialist for this issue?

[RuralPug]

It might not be a behavioural problem.

Your girl's eyesight is best for moving objects at a distance and it might be that she simply does not recognise familiar people if she is downwind of them and cannot scent them.

Or it might be an article of clothing, like a hat, that they do not usually wear that changes their silhouette into that of a stranger who needs to be alarm barked about.

Think about what was done on those occasions to make her recognise you - was it come closer, or speak to her or take off a hat??

[Loving my Oldies]

Gosh, RuralPug’s post brings back a memory of a post by a DOLer a long time ago. Hopefully, there are DOLers with a better memory than mine who might recall it too, because I can’t remember who posted. From memory, I think he came around the corner of the house to where the dog was and the dog didn’t know who it was. Again, if I remember correctly, the sun was behind him (the person) and so he would have been just a black shape to the dog.

ETA: what does the person who is the focus of Lucy’s barking do when she displays this behaviour?

Edited December 3, 2016 by Dame Danny's Darling

[Isabel964]

It is usually voice, we speak to her and say 'Lucy its Mama,' & then she wags her tail and all is good again. Yes it's clothing, I wore a new all white top fir the first tine and she barked at me as if she didn't know me. In the garden she want ecodcting me but she barked for more than a few seconds, even thought th I spoke to her.

It ddid occur to me her eye sight might be an issue. But she can catch a treat as small as anything that flies through the air.

Also tonight she was in the master bedroom when she started barking loudly. She wouldn't stop. I opened the door to let her out to see what was bothering her and it quickly became apparent it was hearing my son and his girlfriend getting ready to go out that set her off. So that was an auditory one. And she she is very familiar with hearing them do this. They are putting cups in the sink, grabbing coats, they have their shoes on so hearing shoes is a bit different because normally we are bare foot or in slippers .... but we all always have shoes in before we go out.

I'm going to get a vet check done. Il will asks for eye sight to be tested. But is there anything else you think I should specifically ask for?

I'm kinda thinking maybe it's a mental thing?

I've had dogs all my life and never experienced this.

Not sure if it's related but she does also have some separation anxiety issues though she is not a 'needy or clingly'dog.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Isabel964

[mr.mister]

Gosh, RuralPug’s post brings back a memory of a post by a DOLer a long time ago. Hopefully, there are DOLers with a better memory than mine who might recall it too, because I can’t remember who posted. From memory, I think he came around the corner of the house to where the dog was and the dog didn’t know who it was. Again, if I remember correctly, the sun was behind him (the person) and so he would have been just a black shape to the dog.

ETA: what does the person who is the focus of Lucy’s barking do when she displays this behaviour?

That may have been me. I was toileting my BC of an evening and had the outside spotlights on. When I came around the corner the lights were behind me and he panicked and warning barked, was quite agitated. As soon as I started talking to him he started wagging his tail and was fine; I would have looked like a looming black shape so I can understand the reaction!

He had nothing wrong with his eyes, dogs just don't have the same detail / shape definition as we do with our eyesight.

He would also sometimes get set off by sounds - usually people roughhousing, friends laughing or children squealing / crying. To him I suppose they sounded like distress sounds.

Edited December 3, 2016 by mr.mister

[Papillon Kisses]

Given your further description of being set off by little environmental things, I do think it would be wise to see a veterinary behaviourist. It could be Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

First up though, full check up at your regular vet. Full blood count, thyroid, etc. Checking for physical illnesses that may account for or be contributing to the behaviour. If there's a vet interested in behaviour near you all the better. They'll better know what to test. I'll send you a PM. :)

Keep a diary of incidents. Date/time of when it happened, who was there, preceding events. If you can get footage of the behaviour even better (best done by a bystander).

My dog has GAD and he does something similar. I don't think he's confused as such it's more that he becomes distressed by noises in the environment, movement, 'novel' (to him) things and just the world in general and he wants it all to stop. Speaking to him gently can short-circuit it if he's not too aroused. It seems to remind him that it's just us and he's safe or something.

I hope it's not this but if it is, know that you're not alone and that with treatment things can get better. I'm here if you ever want to talk. :)

[persephone]

our dogs do this often - so hopefully it's just a case of being a bit surprised ...

[Isabel964]

Thanks everyone. I do think she has a fiorm of anxiety, well I know she does. I just thought a dog with anxiety would be needy but she is a strong confident girl. Her environment is very stable. But yes she seems concerned/distressed/anxious by noises - especially when a Neighbour in the distance has a party and extra guests - that sort of thing unsettles her.

She also gets super hyper anxious when if drive yo the shops, walk away from the car and into a store. She absolutely freaks out and barks/whines/screams as if someone is repeatedly stabbing her as soon as she loses sight of me. So I'm not taking her to the shops at the moment until I find the right person to help to make sure I do it properly. I know to stop the carry on, but what I want to do is be sure to address the cause of the anxiety as well,