Dog Owners, is this normal?

badasstang

badasstang

Member
I have a Siberian Husky, that is a couple months shy of being 2. Before I got her, I bought a book on them, and read that if they do not have puppies by their second cycle, they may latch on to something as a "baby" of theirs. Well awhile back we had a pink elephant toy for them, she took this thing everywhere. If you took it away, she would so very lightly bite it and try to get it away from you. She slept with it, went outside to go do her business with it, everything. Well soon enough the ear fell off and stuffing came out. So we had to throw it out. She never latched on to anything else. Well a couple weeks ago I bought two 3" squeaker balls for $.50, thinking if they don't like them I am only out a couple quarters. Well she got extremeley attached to one of these. If you take it from her she whines incredibly loud until you give it back to her. Again this goes everywhere with her. But the past couple nights she started coming down to my bed whining high pitched, loud, all that annoying stuff. We got her to be quiet, but during the night she kept having these outbreaks. So last night I have my girlfriend give her a couple treats to get away from her toy (she always will for a treat), so I could take it and hide it for the night. As soon as she was done with that treat she was on the prowl...she went back to where she left it, went to her sleeping spot on the couch, circled it, circled the living room, went to the kitchen, then came to me, went downstairs...she circled the entire house in a matter of minutes about 5 times....all while whining. So I gave it back to her because I didn't want her whining until she found it.
Not sure if she is making this as a faux puppy or not, it started out being really cute, but when I can't sleep at night, it got to be annoying.
 
dvs

dvs

Member
Hey Tang,
We have a JRT, Ali that kinda did the same thing. I bought her a stuffed cow that turned into her "baby", and yes, she took it everywhere. If we hid it on her, she would whine until you gave it back to her or occupied her in other ways, treats, attention, etc. I finally came to weaning her off of it gradually by giving it to her only when we would leave the house. Dogs can get seperation anxiety and with your Husky whining, thats a sure fire sign. Does she tear anything up if you dont give it back to her? Once we forgot to leave Cow out for Ali and she went through about $600 worth of my shoes in a matter of about 45 minutes. Try weaning her off of it.
HTH, GL...
Jen
Heres a pic of the devil herself.
 
moraym

moraym

Active Member
My dog had separation anxiety as well, would only misbehave and tear apart things when i was out of the house.
I took a similar approach to DVS, and eventually he mellowed out and stopped whining so much.
Now he's much more into just chewing what he's supposed to:
 
judyk

judyk

Member
I've had several dogs over the years. All were fixed (the rule of the house). When they were pups they would have favorite toys but by 2 most had outgrown the favorites and could control their chewing. Digging, took alot longer. For some, never. Pits and labs are the worst, but the biggest babies.
 
fishkiller

fishkiller

Active Member
yeaman, I have a 4 yr old Siberian/Timberwolf mix. They are pretty high strung when they are so young. Let her keep the sqweaker as long as it doesn't somwehow keep you awake. I think she'll grow out of it. Mine had a piece of a tennis ball that she would always carry with her. Then it was this little blue stuffed fuzzy bone thing. She doesn't like things that make noise. She grew out of it, but she still goes crazy with it every now and then whenever she finds it under the couch or in the closet, but only for 10-20 minutes. Here she is. Her name is Ariel.
 
badasstang

badasstang

Member
After class I tried something, rather funny I thought. She normally LOVES to play fetch and catch. She sat and I threw it to her, she caught it as usual...but then went back to lay down so I took it from her again and threw it for her to go get it, the whole way to it she was whining, got it walked by me and gave me the look, went and laid down. She then put her head on top of it and kept an eye on me.
 
moraym

moraym

Active Member

Originally posted by JudyK
Pits and labs are the worst, but the biggest babies.
So that's why my lab/pit mix (pictured above) makes Chewbacca noises. He can be the biggest baby when he wants attention.
Never had a problem with digging w/ him, or tearing apart my stuff. But his toys are a different story, he destroyed toys that were "100% guaranteed indestructible", so I got my money back for a lot of toys. He could chew through a tire and not look back.
 
badasstang

badasstang

Member
My dog used to chew stuff up ALOT. I have a recliner downstairs that the one arm is almost all gone, my couch she took the cusions out of and tore the back of the inside (so not noticeable)...who knows how many pairs of shoes. 3 wallets, 3 purses, anything left out. Not sure if she grew out of it, or we got smart and don't leave anything. Every once in awhile we leave an empty box on the counter and it will end up outside.
Here is a picture, I guess the only one I have of her on the computer...also shows my two other dogs, and my kitten. Oh yeah, the girlfriend is there too sleeping with the rest of them!
 
moraym

moraym

Active Member
man, seeing everybody's pictures of Huskys makes me really want one. My dog is just over 3 yrs old, and the live-in GF wants a puppy. Maybe i can convince her.
 
fish4eva

fish4eva

New Member
That is normal. I use to have a dog. She use to have 7 dops. She use to nuzzle them try to feed them. Let her have those toys. Maybe buy something less noisy. My new puppy trys to do that with my guines pig.
 
rich1515

rich1515

Member
Haven't had that situation. My husky is 8 months old but he is a male. If we buy him a toy he eats it. :mad: It's actually kind of funny because we bought him the one of the toys made of a "fireman's hose"...he ate it in a week.
He really hasn't "bonded" with any toy that he has gotten. He just flat out eats it.
 
fishy411

fishy411

Member

Originally posted by rich1515
Haven't had that situation. My husky is 8 months old but he is a male. If we buy him a toy he eats it. :mad: It's actually kind of funny because we bought him the one of the toys made of a "fireman's hose"...he ate it in a week.
He really hasn't "bonded" with any toy that he has gotten. He just flat out eats it.

that dog scares me. If u havent named him yet i would suggest "satan"
na just kidding but i personally would not want to wake up to that guy breathing on my face.
DVS i like yur JRT my mom wants one. Unfortunately i dont think it would get on so well with my Yellow lab ozzy. I told my mom we shoudl get a girl so we can name her sharon.
 
dvs

dvs

Member
Hey Fishy,
JRT's arent that bad, just really active. Ali has a Napoleon complex and thinks she's the big dog on campus. She'll bark at any dog, even the 100 pound + dogs, lol. Shhhhh, she doesnt know she's little!

Jen
 
takia

takia

Member
I'll play the "Vet". It is very normal and, for the most part, only female dogs have this reaction. If you were to bring a new small child into the home it would act in the same protective way. Dogs have an inate ability to nurture. Ever notice the dog is around more when you are sad/ sick? There is a sientific name for it, which I forget. My Dog are the same way. I moved home when my father was ill, and the dog became attached. After he passed (removal of the emotional attachment) the dog suffered, grieved. The same happens with material things. They do not know better then to grieve for what they do not have. And, being on this board you know all about the stress that pets go though, your dog goes through it too! Get it a silent toy. If not you are going to need Prozac for the dog, yes, they do have it. There is this really great line from AKC that Petsmart is carrying, and they seem pretty indescructable. Double sewn, denim. Now back to my real job!
 
liontamer

liontamer

Member
Dude, that husky is sticking its tonge out at u. Anyway, weve never had problems like that. You see, wen we got our mutt, we already had a really old dog, and they became pals i guess. Well the elderly one passed away, and the mutt wandered around the house looking for him. He searched and searched and whined in his sleep. Well, then we got the black lab and weve never had problems. They ahve each other and dont even need toys, cuz they always hang out.
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
My JRT has a different reaction to separation anxiety. He chews/licks himself till he makes sores. We keep him doped up on benadryl. :eek:
 
rich1515

rich1515

Member
His name is Bodie which is short for Bodazepha's Caribbean Blue. He is the funnest dog I have ever owned but he definately has a mind of his own.
 
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