Sick GSD confined indoors

Question
Hello Dawn Spoolman,

I have a 8 month old male German Shepherd that last week came down with pneumonia.  He had to be hospitalized for 24 hours. He was in serious condition. Since he has been on anibiotics, I have been supplementing his high quality food with missing link and using probiotics and walking him along our 4 acres of nature trails and beginning tracking. He is beoming healthier than I have ever seen before. His coat shines like a mirror like never before, he even eats like never before--like food never tasted so good. I feel that getting him out with nature and excercise will help build his immune system faster. He has become active and has in the last days gained weight now up to 89 lbs.

The fact that his health is tremendous is encouraging! I don't know what to do about his mental state. He is going absolutely bonkers being isolated from his neighbor friends that come over to play everyday--he loves them so much and breaks his heart not being able to run and play with them.

Since being confined to the house and by my side, he is showing signs of aggression and stress being isolated from his neighbor friends and friends at puppy daycare. Today, Konan even bit my husband's face. He has always been so sweet and lovable with kisses never bites---ever!

I was told by the doctors of the emergency hospital to keep him isolated from other dogs for 2 weeks!

Will this time expand of 2 weeks of isolating him from other dogs make him agressive of other dogs or permently damage his happy puppy come play with me aditude?

I don't know what other activites to cheer him up. I've taken him on daily walks, playing ball,and letting him track animal scents through the woods alongside our path which he loves. Its amazing how much like a wolf he looks all black in the shadows tromping through the branches in pursuit of wild animals.


Here's my question. Do you think I am handling his isolation the right way? Is taking him out for walks and play enough? Is there anything else I can do to cheer him up from his depression and is it normal for a working dog to be depressed and stressed when they are isolated from sickness? Do dogs know when they are sick and that their masters are doing whats best for them?
Look forward to your reply.
Thank You, Julia  

Answer
Hi Julia,  First a confined dog should never bite a person in the face.  Especially someone he knows.  You have something else going on which is a lot more serious than pneumonia.  2 weeks is not that long for a dog to go through isolation, so again something else is going on.  Is he neutered?  How old was he when you got him?  Did you meet the parents?  Where did you get him from?  Describe in detail what happened that led up to your husband getting bitten in the face.  Including the dog's body language, i.e. hair raised, growling etc.  Let me know the answers so we can figure out what is going on.

Dawn

Hi,  I am sorry I didn't adequetly answer your question for you, I was more concerned about the fact your dog bit your husband and that is what I focused on.  First off, I am not a bookshelf expert.  I have been in the business for over 26 years and have studied canine behavior in real life as well as in college (have even worked with wolves) intensely to understand them.  I have raised GSDs for 20 years, and have had dogs from germany as well as czech. dogs.  So I am not getting this info from books.  Now on to your questions:

Dogs do not have a sense of time.  In other words, if you have noticed, you can leave your dog for 2 minutes, come back in the room and they act as if you've been gone for 2 hours.  So the 2 week ordeal to them can be an eternity but it can also be a short time.  They don't judge it the way we do.  Since he is young, it shouldn't really affect him with the other dogs.  You are doing the right thing in working with him every day as the attention can keep his spirits up.  Yes, working dogs do get depressed if they are constantly worked before they go down i.e. ranch dogs, police dogs etc. so giving them very light work can help to bring their spirits up.  If the dog is on anitbiotics, that can also depress them a little.  Some dogs are affected by anitbiotics that way and some it doesn't even phase them.  Just depends on the dog.  Dogs, like any being, know when something is wrong, and do understand comfort from a master.  They don't always understand it is the best for them especially when you are trying to do something very important like give them medication and they don't want to take it, but they do understand comfort.  Hope this answers your questions, and I hope your dog is doing better.


Dawn