Jealousy

Question
My husband & i are looking after our grandchildren ages 8 & 5 for 10 days. since they arrived my Male, Neutered fully trained 9 month Yorkie has started behaving badly and I can only presume this is due to some form of jealousy, even though he knows the children well.
He is very excitable and has pooped in the house. Last night he just wouldn't settle and cried and barked on & off for most of the night. He normally sleeps soundly throughout the night in his own "'gated off " area downstairs. I have kept to his normal routine throughout this time. I am just not sure how to deal with this new situation. I don't want to get cross with him but my frustrations are kicking in - especially with lack of sleep!
Please help
Kind regards, Hilary

Answer
Greetings, and thank you for contacting All Experts!
Many dogs do not do well when there are abrupt changes in their routines. The presence of your  granchildren could be making him somewhat stressed, excited and a bit anxious too. Jealousy is more a human emotion (even though studies now show dogs may show a form of envy), therefore, what may look like jealousy is more likely to be his inability to adjust to the recent changes. It could be he is over stimulated by your grandchildren's presence and this is keeping him awake.

It is good you are keeping his routine the same. Dogs crave routines as this helps them feel safe and secure. However, as much as you try to keep the routine as usual, he senses a whole lot of changes. He may be used to a certain amount of quiet when it's only the two of you, and now, he very likely is aroused by the kid's voices and kinetic energy. Dogs are very sensitive to these changes and the pooping in the house, and crying and barking on and off the night is simply a manifestation of him reacting to these changes.

Give him some time to adjust. If he is having a hard time falling asleep, tuck your grandchildren in bed and go for a nice evening walk. This may tire him out and get his body ready to rest. Allow him to find in his gated-off area a stuffed Kong, a bully stick, or a durable chew toy once back. Gnawing on toys or other goodies help release beneficial endorphins which help dogs settle down, and often, also fall asleep.

Do not let him interact with the kids before going to bed. Children may over-stimulate him and when he is then put in his area he may too ''wound up'' and therefore have a hard time falling asleep. Try to ignore the barking, if need be, wear some ear plugs. If you get up to check on him, you will reinforce the barking as it gives him attention. With time, he will adjust to kid's presence which at this time, sounds still quite a ''novelty''.

Are you allowing him to interact with your grandchildren? If so, limit his interactions and remove him before he is ''over the top''. He needs to learn to be less excitable and practice self control. Praise calm behaviors when you catch them and reward responses to simple commands. If he seems to be starting to get too aroused and cannot respond to your commands or accept treats, he is ''over the top''.  Try to engage him in some calming activity to redirect his attention. Invite him to his area and give a ''time-out'' where he can calmly chew and relax a bit. Tell the kids to leave him alone during this time.

Don't put him up to fail: avoid exposing him to your grandchildren when they are running around and screaming, or simply being a bit vivacious as many kids are. If possible, keep his interactions with the kids low key. If possible, involve the kids by having them ask him a sit and if he complies, allow them to immediately give him a treat. An overly excited dog acts that that way because he was never shown that he can also practice self control. This self-control generally comes from training, by working under the threshold. This means, you work him in gradually more and more distracting environments. Therefore, it would be fair to reward self control around the children acting calmly for now, but it would be unfair to ask him to demonstrate self control when the kids are talking excitedly, moving fast and over stimulating your dog.  Of course, quite obvious, but always worth mentioning: never leave him around the kids unsupervised. You can read more about arousal levels and sub-threshold and over-threshold here:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/glass-water-analogy

You claim he is used to being around your grandchildren, but perhaps he is used to them for brief visits. Now, that they are part of the pack for 10 days he has to learn to get used to their presence. If he tends to be easily excitable and prone to hyper-activity, consider that dogs as such have a harder time to get used to the presence of people or other animals in the household. According to the Steven R. Lindsay in his book ''Handbook of Dog Behavior and Training'' such dogs ''display a pronounced inability to habituate to such stimulation''. Take a deep breath and give him some time. Things should gradually get better. Investing in a DAP pheromone plug-in may help in the process. Sending you best wishes and kind regards, and while I am at it, a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Adrienne Farricelli CPDT-KA

Disclaimer: if your dog is exhibiting behavior problems please consult with a reputable dog behaviorist for a thorough assessment and treatment plan. You are fully responsible for any of your actions. By reading this answer you are accepting this disclaimer.