Why might a dog suddenly change behaviour and become destructive overnight?
It started four days ago and our online consultation was yesterday.
Crumble has had a couple of these manic sessions during the three months they have had her. Now it’s nearly constant unless she is restrained somehow.
Destruction around this house.
“There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Crumble will suddenly jump up and frantically destroy a blanket, the footstool or sofa.”
“Overnight she just flipped into a different dog.”
What four days ago could have changed the 2-year-old Staffie mix so dramatically? Nothing they can think of. They had her spayed about three weeks ago. Could it be some delayed effect to that? They changed her food at about the same time. A few days ago they put a flea collar on her. Could it be that?
Vet check.
Before they do anything else they must check with the vet for pain. The vet may see nothing obvious. They might then eliminate the possibility of pain being behind the behaviour. This by putting her on painkillers for a week or two.
If that doesn’t work, they can discuss some medication to calm her down.
The young couple can’t live like this and want her back to how she was. Unable to use their lounge due to the destruction, they have spent the last four days in the kitchen. They can only relax when she’s shut in her crate at night.
An ear infection!
I received this message later in the day:
‘Just seen the vet, she’s got an ear infection, poor thing! ….He said it will take 28 days to fully heal’.
That sounds quite severe doesn’t it.
If clearing up the infection also improves the behaviour, which I believe it will, they can still take good advantage of our consultation.
The ‘aim’ of our online meeting
Their aim is for Crumble not to have the sudden need to destroy things. She doesn’t do it to be naughty. She does it to make herself feel better in some way – to find relief.
Arousal will be the underlying reason. We need to find the causes of the arousal and deal with them. It could be a build-up of several things.
We looked at various ways they can further enrich Crumble’s life. They can remove as much stress and arousal as possible.
I taught them basic clicker training. They can show Crumble (great name!) when she does something that they do like – with a click followed by food.
So, if the cause of the problem indeed turns out to be the ear infection, they will have gained some good strategies from our online meeting.
