Negative Behavior after Neutering
My 14 month old Corgi was neutered a little over a month ago and we are seeing some strange changes.
#1: He used to have the house to himself while we were gone during the day - he never destroyed anything other than chewed up some underwear when he was younger - never any major destruction or accidents.... Over the last couple weeks he started chewing things, and I came home today to find he literally chewed a hole in our loveseat! When I found the destruction and called him into the room - pointed at the chair and said "NO" in a stern voice, he immediately ......
#2: Peed! He never used to have accidents; now he has them ALL the time! It is usually out of fear, yet he has no reason to fear us - we don't yell at him, or hit him....but all the sudden he is acting afraid! Just from calling him into the room to show him his destruction and tell him no he peed, right there in front of me - and this was right after he had just been outside and refused to go potty. Sometimes when we walk in the door and he runs to us, saying his name in a cherry voice and barely touching him and he starts to pee. We have learned over the past few weeks to not acknowledge him when we walk in the door and take him outside right away. There was even one time I called him to come on my bed and the minute I started to pet him he peed all over my bed! This is NOT his normal behavior!
#3: He knows basic commands, and before his surgery he would respond. Seems like lately I can say something simple like "sit" or "stay" and he acts as if it is the first time he has heard the word and has no idea what I am saying.
I know some of this is normal Corgi behavior to be a little hard headed and push the limits; but it just seems like he isn't himself. I hate seeing him act afraid of us - it breaks my heart! When he got in trouble the other day I pointed to his bed and said "GO TO BED" and the movement of my arm scared him, he flinched as if I were going to hit him.
I am making an appointment with the vet but I was hoping to also get some feedback from my Corgi experts :)
Thanks!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Caitlin Randolph on
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It sounds like your dog is growing up and figuring out the pack order. The chewing is likely him just being bored and entering the terrible twos.
The peeing is not fear. Its submission. Very different, and a good thing. Don't punish him for this submissive peeing, its annoying but it comes from a truly appropriate behavioral place. He will grow out of it, I know lots of dogs that did that around that age. Its submissive joy I'd say haha.
Ignoring him when you come in the door is totally appropriate. Humans love to do these big hellos and goodbyes but dogs don't work that way, it just works him up and he ends up peeing or getting stressed out!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I don't think he's challenging you at all. Destruction during the day is usually boredom or stress. I would start confining him again until he earns his freedom. Many dogs are not ready to be loose alone when they are that young, and it's not unusual for puppies who were fine to suddenly discover the joys of finding their own fun when they mature a bit.
The peeing sounds like submissive urination. Standard dog training really says you should not scold a dog for something unless you catch him in the act. You find the destruction, he sees you are upset, so he urinates to tell you he's not a threat. He sounds like a softer dog who does not need much correction. You should not call a dog to you OR send him to his bed/crate as punishment, since you want coming to you and staying in a bed to be seen only as positive things.
As far as not remembering what he's learned, this too is common at that age and just go back a few steps and reward heavily for complying. A little fun refresher should bring it all back. Their little brains change so much as they mature and usually you have to retrain them as they hit adulthood.
Again, it does not really sound like he's challenging your authority at all. On the contrary, he sounds like a submissive little guy who doesn't understand why you are upset with him.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I can assure you this is not from the neuter. He is at an age where he will start to test his boundaries. The biggest red flag I am seeing from this is that you scolded him for a behavior that he was not in the process of actually committing. Dogs live in the moment, the act of calling him and telling him "no" is probably quite confusing to him. He isn't associating the torn up couch with the "No" he is associating you calling him and him coming to being scolded. NEVER EVER EVER EVER (and I can't stress this enough) EVER scold a dog for a behavior unless he is actually IN THE PROCESSES of doing it, you have something like 15 seconds after the behavior before the dog has already forgotten and moved on to something else.
Your #1, and him being scolded is going to lead directly to problem #2 and #3. He is scared, confused, and now trying to be submissive in any way he can because he is afraid of getting in trouble for "no reason" (I know you know why he is being scolded, but he doesn't).
A way to fix this, start at square one, confine him while you are gone and make him earn his freedom again. The more you come home to a clean house, the happier you will be, he will pick up on your moods and the happier and more adjusted he will be again. He can read your moods and if you are coming home and seeing destruction you will get upset, he can tell you are upset and he will become fearful, its a vicious cycle. Set him up for success, confine him and slowly increase his space. Make sure he is still getting the exercise he needs to stay happy as well. I can almost garauntee this will fix your relationship and the destruction and submissive peeing wil stop.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Amy Wilcoxen Richard on
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So, I read all the replies and I read them to my boyfriend - we both felt horrible and very responsible for not doing things the right way.
We vowed to follow everyone's advise and work with him and get through this.My 7 year old daughter sneaks into our room during the night frequently and to avoid us making her go back to her room sometimes she brings her pillow and blanket and sleeps on the floor next to my bed. I usually wake up to find her and the dog asleep together next to my bed.
Last night I wake up to the sound of PEEING, at 1:30am! Sure enough I turn on the light and there is my dog peeing RIGHT next to my daughter!
We were SO angry but somehow held it together because we went to bed feeling so bad for contributing to his bad behavior by not training him properly - - so we said nothing to him and took him outside while we cleaned it up.
I find it hard to believe this was submissive peeing as well - - we were all asleep!
Now I am worried about having to determine when his peeing is an accident vs submissive peeing.
How can we tell?
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Also - when he was peeing he was NOT lifting his leg; so it wasnt like he was marking!
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Has anything changed in your routine? His feeding cycles, exercise routine, getting let out, bed time, etc? If he is getting to a point where he can't hold it at night and is peeing at night you can a) withhold water a few hours before bedtime and take him out right before you go to bed to make sure he empties his bladder or b) may want to consider the possiblity that he has a medical reason (such as bladder infection) for all the inappropriate peeing. Submissive peeing is going to be more when he is responding to stimuli like excitement or scolding, if everyone is asleep and he is peeing then that's something different. If he is getting into the habit of peeing at night I would definitely crate him. Puppies do regress and sometimes changes in their environment or routine will cause them to regress and you have to start over. I know he isn't so much a puppy anymore but if he is going to start behaving like a younger puppy I'd treat him like one and make him earn his freedom again. Try to think about all the minute details of your daily routine and see if you can find any changes such as later exercise times, going to bed earlier, etc.
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The one big change is that he no longer gets to "hang out" with his brother!
My son (who is 18) has a male from the same litter. He lives with us but has a seperate living area, so the dogs aren't interacting as much anymore.
About a month prior to our dog's neutering the dogs started fighting, in a vicious way that caused injuries and a lot of blood! So we seperated them, tried to reintroduce them in a controlled setting but they always seemed to still want to fight. So we have pretty much kept them apart - now it has been about a month since his neutering & when we try to have them in the same room they get along but occassionally a growl or stare downs forces us to seperate them again. So I am sure that is hard for him - he is used to being around his brother; but for both of their safety they remain seperated 95% of the time. The part of the house we live in & our dog is in are his space and my son's corgi doesnt' come to.
We let him outside before bedtime and lately he hasn't been going - he sniffs around and even if we stand out there telling him to go potty he just doesn't. So I was not shocked that he had to go last night I was just shocked he did it like that.
I do have an appt for him; and I was wondering if the neuter somehow caused something like a UTI, who knows, I am grasping at straws. I guess I just want there to be an "answer" other than he is just regressing :(
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I would definitely try to rule out a UTI, it does sound like it could be a possibility if he's just randomly peeing when he was previously housetrained.
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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I used to do the same thing as your daughter! Funny, but I don't remember where our dogs slept. Of course, that was a few, well maybe more than a few years ago.
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Permalink Reply by Lemmy Winks on
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My first thought " how would you feel if someone chopped your b@lls off!?" haha but anyways...
I'm assuming you were more forgiving with him after the surgery? "Babied" him ( I did haha) because you felt sad for him? But how long did you do it for? Being to "sweet" with him may have given him the wrong impression about pack order. Corgis are to smart, they see an opportunity and they take it, then build and ego from it if it works out haha. Just go about normal, don't hesitate, just act like you expect him to do as told, and maybe exercising him more will help sink it into his head that you're still in charge.
This is my opinion, even if it's not this then hopefully its of some help.
Best of luck!
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This happened with Franklin as well after his neuter. He started acting out because for the 10 days after his surgery he couldn't get exercise and he was a SUPER high energy boy. He started chewing stuff at the house if I left him home alone so I had to start taking him to work with me or crating him when I was gone until I could go back to our normal exercise routine. Maybe he burned off a lot more energy while getting to be around his brother and now that he's not you need to find another outlet for that energy? Longer walks and more playtime?
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