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Wyot will be a year in three weeks....great milestone, amazing times and what a smart, smart wonderful part of our small pack he is! I have become a little concerned, because for about 5 days now, his behavior is very strange. Not like the excited litltle pup he normally is. He curls up in one spot that has become his place to sleep day and night, in the middle of the house, where I'm guessing he can see and hear everything. He doesn't seem excited to play, walk or even when I walk in first thing in the morning, which he used to stretch and greet me excitedly, following me into the kitchen while I made coffee. He eats the same amount of food, is eager when he hears the sounds of his food being prepared, drinks normally as well. He is excited to go in the car when we go to our favorite river beach spot, where he freely roams around and sniffs, jumps, plays and fetches. Except now, when we go, he pretty much doesn't wander far, hangs his head, and watches me walk the shoreline. He won't exactly come to me when I call...I lay down, and he lays next to me. He has leaned heavily on me, and does so with hubby as well. It almost seems like an insecurity of sorts.

 

The only incident I can really see affecting him, was when a dog he always played with when we went over their house, came to the river beach, and he was SO excited. He stood erect, tail up, ears perky, and waited for Cooper to come swimming over to our side. He jumped in greeting, lay down (he always does that with other dogs) in front of him, and was ready to do the usual jumping over, running around each other in circles, and running up and down the shoreline. Instead, Cooper completely ignored him, and didn't even give him the time of day. He lunged into the water, and was a pest to his owners, wanting them to continually play with a stick they threw in the water. Wyot hung back, a little confused....I threw a stick for him to go get, which he excitedly went for, and guess who took that stick away from him? Cooper!! That totally dumfounded Wyot, confused him, and made him stand and observe. Cooper kept barking, and looking for attention from his human parents...Wyot hung his head and eventually gave up and sat dejectedly on the sand by my towel. Ever since that incident, he has been mopey and very unmotivated! Could this be related? I have no idea, since my first dog was always hyper as a black lab usually is.

I'd appreciate any feedback, and ideas on how to make him snap out of it...

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Hmmmm, don't know what to say on that one, especially since health doesn't seem to be an issue. Kim did say that these dogs are extremely sensitive, and that even in raising them one has to be careful about how they are taught. As we know, a short time of separation from the pack, being ignored, is a most effective correction technique for these dogs, they DO care about love and acceptance. Was that the first time Cooper came to the river to play? The river seems to be Wyot's special happy place. To be rejected by a playmate on his own turf may have been pretty rough on him.

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Yes, it was the first time Cooper was at the river at the same time as Wyot. It IS tough to be rejected like that....he does get all excited and does his AIdog song and dance in the car when he sees we are parking by the river...he knows its adventure/playtime/exploration time. It's the first that I've experienced with such an almost "human" reaction from a pet...thanks for your thoughts on this.

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Our dog Kai has displayed that behavior twice before. The first time was after he was kicked by a horse, luckily the hoof only grazed his face but until after a visit to the emergency vet I didn't know how serious it was. For 3 days he would just lay around and a lot of that time he'd face away from us. He'd stay in the same room but act distant. He had no joy. My daughter and I were distraught that something was wrong, that he'd never be the same. I remember the moment he came out of it and what a relief! The second time was when we drove to Oregon to pick up the puppy. He moped a lot in the car on the way up but as soon as we got Jesse puppy to the hotel room Kai completely shut down. Again he'd lay nearby but always facing away and secluded himself from us and Jesse all the way home. Poor Jesse tried to snuggle up to him but was completely rejected. My daughter and I thought we had destroyed his world, LOL. He was blue for about 6 days total that time till he came out of it. I now know that Kai is on the ultra-sensitive side, he feels everything! Sometimes to the point that he can become overwhelmed, even in fun situations. I bet Wyot will just snap out of it in his own time. :)

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Our dog Kai has displayed that behavior twice before. The first time was after he was kicked by a horse, luckily the hoof only grazed his face but until after a visit to the emergency vet I didn't know how serious it was. For 3 days he would just lay around and a lot of that time he'd face away from us. He'd stay in the same room but act distant. He had no joy. My daughter and I were distraught that something was wrong, that he'd never be the same. I remember the moment he came out of it and what a relief! The second time was when we drove to Oregon to pick up the puppy. He moped a lot in the car on the way up but as soon as we got Jesse puppy to the hotel room Kai completely shut down. Again he'd lay nearby but always facing away and secluded himself from us and Jesse all the way home. Poor Jesse tried to snuggle up to him but was completely rejected. My daughter and I thought we had destroyed his world, LOL. He was blue for about 6 days total that time till he came out of it. I now know that Kai is on the ultra-sensitive side, he feels everything! Sometimes to the point that he can become overwhelmed, even in fun situations. I bet Wyot will just snap out of it in his own time. :)

Thank you so much for sharing this! I do feel a deep sensitivity and amazing intuition from Wyot....to me it makes sense what you say. I do see him slowly breaking out of it. It's been a week since the incident on the river beach. I am a little upset that it happened where he LOVED to roam, play and explore, and his exploration has been low key, more staying with us and just laying on the sand with us, and almost possesively putting his paw on my arm, laying his head down over it as well, and the two of us just snoozing a bit. He is very alert to any sound, will get up and chase a chipmunk, but then comes right back to his low key, mopey-ish way. I am hopeful that he will snap out of it and become his fun, playful always trying to outsmart us dog, LOL!

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He's snapping out of it, thankfully. He is greeting us in the morning when we come downstairs, he is starting to snatch toys and follow us, coming for his morning cuddles and pets on the head....he is getting excited to go out again.

 

Nothing much had changed except for that encounter on the river beach. In between that, we had business to attend to, and had to leave him longer than we usually do, two days in a row, which I'm sure added to his mopey behavior.

 

Thank you for helping me with detective work, and any experiences any one else has had with this kind of thing... it helps a lot!!

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As long as Wyot is still pooping as usual and eating & drinking normally, from what you said it sounds like he got his feelings hurt and a bit depressed.

 

I can share similar stories of a mopey AI dog ... luckily Tayamni takes to puppies right away. However, she was depressed for a year when my sister's Terri-Doxie crossed, and for at least 4 months when my cat Nicole crossed.

She went through the mopey and moaning and sighing around the house for a couple of weeks and then saw her slowly coming out of it and the sadness and looking for the animals at their normal places. They way I know she is over it is when I can finally say their names and no groan from Tayamni. She is VERY sensitive.

She also will get that head down and solemness and not be near me if I don't pay attention to her within a few minutes of getting home.

It's not that she is demanding, she just gets SOOOO excited about me coming home every day.

 

I know it sounds weird, Kelli says she starts looking out the window - oh she must be looking now and waiting and if I call home before getting home .... I have heard joyous howling sometimes when I am on speaker.

So, I still put my stuff down first and she has to wait - I do acknowledge her with a small head pet or a hello and tell her in a minute ... then she is wiggles and giggles!

 

Both Tayamni and now Coffey is the age, around 2 yrs old started having some fear issues of thunder or lightning and by 2.5 Tayamni had grown out of it. Coffey should too. I think it's an awkward teenager thing phase our two went through down here.

 

They both meet other dogs in the manner you described!

Coffey is more overt and hasn't gotten 'depressed' like Tayamni or the others.

 

Hey, Since Wyot's Birthday is coming up can you spoil him with a canine friendly pumpkin or peanut butter cake or muffin????

I bet he would love that!

 

When Tayamni starts coming out of her funk (when she's depressed about something) I go back to the tricks that she has been taught and treat and praise her when she accomplishes the trick successfully. It seems to help her regain her zest and confidence. she likes performing the tricks she was taught ..... she loves getting treats for it ..... heeee heee heee

 

 

 

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Wyot had a bang up great day at the river beach yesterday!! There were two other dogs at the beach, and they ALL played SOwell together!!! He was the biggest dog sizewise, and the youngest, but you wouldn't have known that looking at the three of them. He herded them (from me, presumably, because he protectively came by my chair, and made sure he led them away from there), they ran back and forth along the shore together, all with tails wagging, running, jumping and NO barking at all...he is now back to his old self, and the confidence seems to be back again! I guess he needed that boost. Thank you for sharing your insights, and now I truly see how smart and amazing our AI dogs are. :wub:

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