Uncommom Behavier

Question
Hi. My dog is a mix of maltese and pooding. He is aprox. 4 years old and I found him as a puppy outside my house and took him in. He was a very normal puppy but now as a adult he is having very uncommon attitudes. In the day he barks for no reason, he can last up to 1-3 min. barking none stop. He can stare at a window looking outside for hours and doesn't respond to his name while doing this. He responds when he wants to, sleeps all day and is getting very fat. The latest he has done is waking me up at midnight so I pick him up and put him in my bed, something he NEVER used to do. He seems scared and pants allot. If I put him down he gets mad and stars barking like crazy, If I take him outside my room he scratches the door. It is getting really frustrating because he is not letting me sleep at night. What is wrong with him?

Answer
Hi Christina

there is a lot going on here and your dog is clearly very stressed.  Firstly, if the change in behaviour is sudden you must get a vet to rule out health problems - the cause could be neurological for example.

I can't really answer specifically as i think you need someone to come out and carry out a full consultation for you.  however, think abut when he does these behaviours - is it predictable (time of day, immediately after an event etc)?  Does he cope when you go out?  Perhaps something scared him last time you left him and he now worries when alone.

Look at his diet -  if he is getting fat he is taking in too much food to burn off.   Reduce the diet and add exercise.

You need to think very hard about the trigger of this behaviour in order to be able to treat it (having ruled out health probs first).  I am fairly sure he is anxious and stressed about something so you need to be understanding and supportive when treating the problems.

Good luck

Lucy