She's Gone Crazy!!!!

[Jade'sMommie]

Okay...not sure what's exactly going on with my baby, but she's lost her mind and she's been acting very out of character. Last week I posted about her sudden seperation issues, and now she's kind of displaying some ocd characteristics. Here's the story

Like any boxer she's naturally playfull she loves to rough house with my step-son, and she's a good girl who doesn't show any aggression, and rarely barks. However, lately she's taken it upon herself to "low-crawl" back and forth under our bed barking very loudly and continously. Nothing too abnormal I suppose, but there's more.

Today we had some workers fixing our fence in the backyard, and my husband said when he went to let her out to potty she freaked when she saw the workers which is odd, because she loves to meet new people. Anyway, my husband told me she bolted upstairs, went under our bed and refused to come out the rest of the day. She hardly ever passes a meal, but today it went well pass 5 pm before she finished her first bowl of the day. She's also been throwing up her food a bit lately and I'm not sure if she doesn't like her food or if its growing pains.

Being the over protective mommie that I am, I've scheduled a vet appointment for latre this wee, but I was just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Very Worried Mommie

 

[boxer]

Well, that's quite a few problems. A vet visit is a good idea, a physical check up can never hurt. Not sure how old your dog is - but I'm guessing she's an adolescent? Puppies do go through a second fear imprint stage in the adolescent phase, somewhere between 6-14 months. If she's in that age group, that could be a part of the cause of her shy behaviour. If that's the case, it's important that you treat her fears nonchalently - neither coddle her nor force her to face things. She'll take her lead from you, and if you treat things as no big deal, then gradually she'll come to believe that to be the case. Coddling, or forcing, conversely, would each serve to reinforce the idea that there's something to be afraid of.

As for the vomitting - could be a food that doesn't agree with her. What are you feeding her?

 

[Jade'sMommie]

Thanks for the input! She's 5 months old, so what you were saying about the 2nd fear imprint definitely makes sense! As for her food, we've been giving her Purina Puppy Chow which she was doing well on, however, my husband bought the wrong flavor a few weeks ago, and that's when her appetitie slowed a bit. I read somewhere that its not good to switch the brands alot because that's what creates fickle eaters, however, I want my honey to be healthy, so are there any brands in which you suggest?

 

[boxer]

Sure - food suggestions are no problem I'm afraid to say that Purina puppy chow really is a rather low quality dog food - it's full of animal by-products and grain fragments that don't offer quality nutrition for a dog. There is some very good information about how to choose a good quality dry dog food on our feeding page at www.boxerworld.com/feeding That page tells you what to look for in a dog food, what to avoid, and why. In the end, a food can only ever be as good as the ingredients that go into it, so it is worthwhile paying attention to that.

The foods I'd suggest instead will be somewhat more expensive per bag BUT they offer far better nutrition and use quality ingredients that will pay off in your pup's long term health. They are also all far more nutrient-dense - so you will feed a far lesser amount. So don't be worried by the per-bag price - read the feeding guidelines as well. When you end up feeding two cups of food a day rather than 4-6, it usually works out very little more expensive (and in some cases actually cheaper) to feed a premium food versus a cheap supermarket brand like Purina.

Note also that you won't find decent food in a supermarket, and not necessarily in a petstore either. But there are store locators on almost all food manufacturers websites. And feed stores usually carry the good stuff too.

So. Here are some suggestions, all of which are popular foods amongst members here:
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul: http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Fromms Four Star: http://www.frommfamily.com/products_fourstardry.asp
Canidae: http://www.canidae.com/
Wellness: http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_overview.html
Innova and California Natural (same manufacturer): http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

If you want more suggestions, you could take a look at this thread. It contains the current list of quality dry dog foods that is put out annually by the Whole Dog Journal (WDJ). They are independant of any food manufacturers, so give good independant advice - and they use a selection criteria that is similar to that given in our feeding guidelines here. Any of the foods they list there would be a good quality choice
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66384

Incidentally - the advice we usually give here about switching foods is that it is a good thing. Periodic changes in food give the dog some variety in it's diet (nature never intended any animal, dogs and people included, to eat the same thing day in and day out for extended periods - and you'll never find a nutritionist recommending that). It helps to ensure that no deficiencies or excesses occur over time, and there is some evidence to suggest that being fed a wide variety of different foods, especially different main protein sources and from an early age, helps to prevent allergies developing. It also helps to prevent the dog becomming bored with it's food. So lots of good reasons to switch occassionally.

Food changes should also be accomplished gradually, in case your pup is one with a sensitive tummy. Start with a 75% old food, 25% new food blend, feed that for a few days, then as long as there is no tummy upsets/loose stool, you increase to a 50/50 mix. Again feed that for a couple of days. If all is well, you go to 25/75 and then finally to 100% new food. If there are loose stools at any stage, you just don't increase the % of new food until the stool firms back up. That's just prudence - many dogs have no trouble with cold-turkey switches. But some do and loose stool is very annoying, so it's worthwhile making changes slowly to avoid that. Good luck