all of a sudden for the past 2 days Cooper has started to act weirdly he started to bark nd whine to be let in at nite to sleep wid us inside usually he sleeps outside nd is happy abt it but i don knw y suddenly he is doin this i neva had prob lyk this wid him before nd its so annoying out of frustration i hit him hard twice but he wouldn budge feel sorry for it :'( :'( once he is let in he sleeps wer im sitting waiting for hm to go out but he doesnt i try to shove him out but he is stubborn nd doesnt move wats rong wid him???? y does he do this ??? pls help im frustrated nd angry nd annoyed nd feel so bad for hitting him im in tears pls help?? is it bcoz he is sick or in pain or anxious or fearful????
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! It sounds like something may have spooked him whilst he's been outside and now he is frightened. You will probably need to reintroduce him to being outside gradually again and use lots of praise and rewards to make being out there not so scary. Try and have a look around or think about what could have frightened him whilst out.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Does it matter if he sleeps inside with you? It does sound as if something has frightened him outside. He could have a bed in the house?
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Oh Penny thank u for the reply i feel the same as u say something spooked him day before yesterday nd i think it might be the fireworks that went off due to some celebration nearby although he got used to it wen he was young but suddenly for him to get frightened is something i need to check on he has always been a timid shy nd a little frightened dog from small although he was socialised but don knw hw to bring abt his confidence back wat to do to stop him barking lyk this any help ???
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Hi Teena I think penny is probably right about cooper being scared. My dogs sleep outside. A few weeks a go we think a fox must've been in the garden and around our yard as the dogs were barking a lot. The next morning they behaved really strangely. They were vey spooked in the yard. Scout is more nervous than Scott and he was bad for at least three days. Fortunately it didn't put them off going in their pen. Does cooper go out to bed ok and then start barking later ? Could there be something about at night that wakes him and scares him like my dogs with the fox ? When you've let him in does he then sleep inside ? It's very difficult to know the best way to get him to sleep outdoors happily again. It depends how nervous a dog he is and how scared he sounds. A difficult question to answer but does his bark sound scared or like he's barking at something or does it sound like he wants attention ? Hopefully somebody with some experience will have advice. My advice would be try not to let him in while he is barking. Wait for him to stop even for a minute before you let him in, easier said than done, otherwise he might learn if he barks he gets to come in. :-\
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Hi Teena Ann, as the others have said Cooper has been scared by the fireworks and hitting him will not help at all and will just make the situation worse. You must never hit him even if you are frustrated as you could make him scared of you which would be heartbreaking for you. Would it be easier for Cooper to sleep inside, is there any reason why he cannot sleep inside in his own bed? Poor Cooper I hope he and you are OK. Helen
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Jen nd Helen i knw i shouldnt have hit him i feel really sry for him the bark is kinda a mix of both bein scared nd getting attention once let in he sleeps inside this happened for 2 days nd i allowed him to sleep inside but yesterday i let him out to sleep he did bark a few times i chose to ignore it as it was better than the previous 2 nights he barked very badly nd i thought the neighbors may get angry but then he slept throught the nite thank goodness will see wat he does tonite ??? ??? ??? i don mind him sleeping in but my grandma is asthmatic nd sick so i get him to sleep out in his bed he doesnt mind it at all except for this episode throught the day he is inside wid us following us werever we go so i prefer him bein out at nite atleast nd he watches our house lyk a hawk which im very pleased wid . 2. how do i knw if Cooper loves me or hates me???? any idea to identify it
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! It seems that it was just the fireworks that upset him. If you know there will be fireworks on another night I'd let him inside. Some dogs can get so scared by fireworks they escape or hurt themselves and I know you'd never want that to happen. I'm sure that Cooper loves you and has forgiven you for smacking him. Dogs are very forgiving. Dogs show they love you by wagging their tails at you, coming up for pats, starting games with you, lying down near you and generally being able to relax around you. Cooper has always looked relaxed in his photos
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! You have shown that you love Cooper by looking after him so well. He will forget you smacked him. He will still love you. You are probably more upset about smacking him, than he is about being smacked.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Oh yes ur absolutely right Rach jus as im typing this post Coop is resting nxt to me on the floor while im on the bed so happy abt it ;D ;D lets see how tonite goes and check if he is back to normal. 2. one ques on food though doc has tld me to feed him veggies alot but Coop doesnt lyk them how do i get him to eat it can i mix it with meat and rice jus like fried rice nd feed him or by any other method ????
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! There you go, he loves you With his food, I would stop feeding him rice. If the vet says to feed veggies you can mix them with meat. I thought though that the vet had recently told you to only feed Cooper Royal Canin?
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Yes Rach i was askd to feed oly kibble but Coop eats it oly for one meal i tried feeding him the same for his 2nd meal but he wouldnt eat tats y i feed him rice but oly 75 gms as vet suggested along wid some veggies or eggs since he noticed tat he is very picky nd fussy
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Aw Teena - Cooper loves you - particularly as he knows he can "wrap you round his little finger" and hold out for your special food. I give Lilly her kibble mixed with some veggies and/or sardines for a special treat only. I thought he was taking his kibble OK when you mixed it with stock? I am sure we had advised before that, just like with a fussy toddler or baby, if you don't stick with the kibble you want to give and "give in" if he doesn't eat it, he will keep doing that as he has learned that if he refused the boring stuff something better will come along. Unless you are going down a VERY well-researched route of RAW feeding, KIBBLE is well balanced and complete and he doesn't really need anything else added. Be strong on this Teena, it is best for him. If he is hungry enough he will eat the kibble. Labs are lead by their stomach
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Of course Cooper loves you Teena Ann , you have been adult enough to say how sorry you are for smacking him , dogs are very forgivving . I agree with the others re his food , dont give in please, you have worked so hard to get him to eat his kibble with gravy , stick to it xx
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! You did the right thing ignoring his barking if it wasn't as bad as the previous nights and you know there's no fireworks or anything else actually scaring him. You may find he barks again tonight but hopefully it will be less again until in a couple of nights he will be back to normal as long as nothing else scares him. He might be barking now because it worked and he was allowed in but you need to be careful there isn't something scaring him like fireworks again or you will be back to square one. :-\. Rachael's right if you know there will be fireworks it would be better to just keep him inside that night so he doesn't get scared again. You don't need to ask how do you know if cooper loves you he just does. He's forgotten all about the smack if that's what your worrying about. Humans suffer from guilt dogs don't and they don't hold grudges.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! I cut up raw vegetables and feed them to Molly as a treat. She loves it when I throw bits of carrot for her. When I am preparing my food she sits by my feet waiting for pieces. I give her courgette, and cucumber.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Yes, he loves you. For the rest of his life, he will always, always think of you as his very best friend. Isn't that a great thought? He'll love you even if you don't feed him what he wants. The trouble is, Labs don't have any sense - so it is our job to be sensible for them. That's the price we pay....they love us and trust us so we have to make the right decisions for them! So....be strong, don't give into the big brown eyes, and get him to accept that some food is good for him and that is what he's going to get! He'll come round to it in time when he sees he can't get his own way always. Pongo tells me every day that he is absolutely starving and hasn't been fed for weeks.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Thank you so much everyone for ur words of advice really helpful im still struggling wid the food part still i consulted my vet abt the kibble oly diet nd tld him abt Cooper's fussy nature he said jus give kibble in the way im feeding now nd if im giving any home made food like rice jus give it very little nd increase the quantities of veggies nd greens as its an healthier option nd if he not eating the veggies try it in a way i feed the kibble by pouring over a lil stock eventually he wil eat as days go by jus reducing the amount untill he starts eating widout it. Im trying this method now nd its working i fed him mixed vegetables nd chicken rice tdy jus like fried rice i.e (mixed the boiled veggies wid the chicken nd a little stock along wid a lil rice) he ate it well nd loved it usually i give plain rice mixed wid chicken or beef or eggs for every alternate days but now i found a way to feed him veggies everyday using this method hope it works nd is right i found this method to be gud as it contains protein nd fibre in one go any ideas whether its gud or bad..
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! What flavour is the kibble you feed Teena ? Have you tried different flavours ? My old lab was very fussy until I put him on a kibble made with fish. The other thing you could try is mixing a little wet dog food in with his kibble. It would be a lot easier for you than cooking all these different things and you will know he is getting all the right things he needs in a diet.
Re: So damn annoyed!!!!! Dear Jen i tried changing flavours currently it is chicken flavoured kibble nd even tried mixing wet food but he wouldnt eat i let him starve for more than a week still no result tats wen the broth method worked now i have reduced the quantity of the broth im adding nd he doesnt seem to knw the difference so working my way slowly till he eats plain kibble i don mind cooking up for him as far as he eats the fried rice worked nd planning to continue the same wid diff veggies so he gets to eat the veggies more no oil or anything fat jus rice mixed wid veggies nd a lil broth... no fuss for him 2. Changing to science plan joint nd mobility food nxt month along wid some supplements hoping he gets well widout surgery fingers crossed 3. Well the barking continued even yesterday more annoying than ever and i lost my cool nd sleep tried calming him despite no fireworks around he wouldnt budge finally my sis came nd got him to be quiet but i don knw hw alas it was tiresome :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\
