I'm at a total loss why she's doing this? (new Sheltie story)

[lacy1101]

I trust you guys and rely alot on the advice I read on these boards, hence my question:

We just adopted a 2-3 year old female Sheltie from a rescue on Saturday. The foster mom told us that they weren't sure she came from the best home and may have suffered some abuse (she was found tied up outside a humane society and then placed with the rescue). She is the most loving dog (wants to be real close to us), crate-trained, housebroken - really just perfect for us! However, whenever I have to be away (she seems to only do this with me) for a little while, whether its a couple of hours or at work, when I come home, she comes to me and she's sooooo excited to see me (like she just can't hardly stand it), leaning up against me, lying on the floor on her side, her tail going 90 to nothing the whole time. Then, when I bend down to talk to her and/or pet her, she'll let out this awful yelp. She'll even do it sometimes when I don't make a move toward her with my hand. I'll just bend down and let her take the initiative. After I've been home a few minutes, she's fine and I can pet her and such with no problem. Over the last couple of days, I've tried coming in and waiting about 5 minutes before I really pay her alot of attention, and she's fine. It's hard, though, not to fuss over her when I come in after being away. At first, I thought maybe she was injured and I was touching that area causing her to yelp, but she'll do it even when I'm not even touching her. It only seems to happen, though, when she sees me for the first time after being away. What makes it so confusing is that she's acting all excited and happy to see me, and then the yelping starts. Any ideas?

 

[Nancy]

Maybe there is something internal that hurts and she just aggravates it when she's all excited. If you can pet her other times and she isn't yelping than I would guess she doesn't have any external pain. Maybe it is just an involuntary reaction too...could be previous owners would hurt her when she got too excited and she just yelps cause that is what she is used to?

 

[Rajah]

I'd have her checked by a vet to make sure there isn't anything physically wrong with her, but otherwise I think you're doing right to wait until she calms down before giving her attention, hard as that may be.

 

[Magickndm]

Maybe she's just voicing her happiness to see you?
My grey "roo's" at me after I've been gone for too long, well, as far as he's concerned anyway.
I'm pretty sure if I could understand him, I would be offended by his launguage.

 

[lacy1101]

...could be previous owners would hurt her when she got too excited and she just yelps cause that is what she is used to?

That's a fear I have. Will she ever get over that?

 

[lacy1101]

I'd have her checked by a vet to make sure there isn't anything physically wrong with her, but otherwise I think you're doing right to wait until she calms down before giving her attention, hard as that may be.

Rajah: We have her scheduled with our vet on Monday. I hope there's nothing physically wrong with her; on the other hand, that might be more easily fixed than something emotional.

 

[CookieGVB]

Sounds like a habit to me. Maybe she used to mess in the house, and her previous owner would abuse her when they got home?

Give her time...gradually wait less and less time before making a fuss when you come home. I'm sure she'll realize she's not going to receive the same treatment from you that she's had before.

 

[lacy1101]

Maybe she's just voicing her happiness to see you?
My grey "roo's" at me after I've been gone for too long, well, as far as he's concerned anyway.
I'm pretty sure if I could understand him, I would be offended by his launguage.

Believe it or not, I've considered that, too. Maybe she's just so overcome with excitement, that's the only way she knows of expressing herself. You know how you feel when you hear that though - it scares me and makes me afraid to interact with her. Hopefully, the vet can shed some light.

 

[DznyFan]

Congratulations on your rescue adoption!
Being a veteran of adopting rescue dogs and dog obedience...
All of the previously posted opinions are possibilities. If I had to guess without seeing her and interacting with her I'd say she was likely abused. Not all dogs who were abused are afraid of people, but apparently she associates people coming home with abuse. Also, the behavior you described sounds very much as though she is going into submissive posture with you, and the yelping may be more an act of submission, although it's not typical.

My 2nd guess would be the 'talking' previously mentioned. Our most recent adoptee is a VERY large Golden who taked and was very much an alpha dog when he came to live with us. His talking, many times, sounded like growling. After calls back and forth to the adoption group, and more time with him in the household, I was able to determine that it was NOT a growl, but just talking. (when your dog weighs as much as your teenager, you don't take any chances.) She may be talking, although I don't think it would come across as sounding like a painful or fearful yelp, it should be more of an excited yelp. Shelties are VERY vocal dogs.

Any negative behavior should change after she's been in your household for a while, and your behavior with her is consistant. If she's been abused, she will get better over time. Have you noticed her being fearful of any objects? That'll clue you in to any abuse as well. Be patient, loving, and consistant, and she'll come around. If it distresses her to be touched when you first get home, don't do it until later. Acknowledge her when you get home by talking to her, and let her yelp if she needs that emotional release. She'll soon learn that you are not going to do anything bad to her. I know it's HARD not to say "hi" to them and love them when you first get home, but take baby steps and it should get better over time.

Good luck!

 

[Nancy]

That's a fear I have. Will she ever get over that?

It's been a long time since I've had a dog around, but I would think if it is a learned behaviour then it came become an unlearned behaviour. Patience is the word if it is not a physical thing.

And it could be nothing...just the way she expresses herself. My dog used to piddle everytime she got excited to see us. We wouldn't pet her until about 5 minutes after we got home to give her time to settle down, or else we would let her out the door and give her all the love she wanted..who cared if she did it outside.

 

[beckmrk04]

My dog still pees a little, submissively. When we get home, it's straight outside with her- no hellos until we get outside, and she still pees a little bit, but not much.

It's still a big thing when people come over to our house, too. She just gets SOOOO excited, and if someone so much as looks at her, she pees. She's a 70 lb. lab mix. I'd never heard of a big dog doing this.

But we have learned just to ignore her (hard as that is) until she has calmed down some. It really has helped.

It sounds like it might help in your situation, too- to just acknowledge but ignore her for a couple of minutes, and then say hello.

 

[lacy1101]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. They are very helpful. Sounds like I just need to continue waiting a few minutes before really trying to interact with her after I get home. She really is a sweetheart. I'll be glad when she feels like she can trust us completely. Here's a couple of pics. Thanks again!!

 

[Magickndm]

Awww....she's beautiful!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What makes it so confusing is that she's acting all excited and happy to see me, and then the yelping starts. Any ideas?

As long as you get her checked out physically and she is OK, I would say to totally ignore her when you come home.

Reserve petting for later after she is calm. This will retrain her and she will associate you coming home with being calm and then getting attention.

I know it is so so hard to do. I do it but my kids don't. The dogs jump all over them. Not me.....
It really is better for the dog to give affection when they are calm instead of excited.

 

[JulieWent]

As I am typing this, my Sheltie is running around the house barking at the garbage men. I swear, anyone who didn't know her would think she was truly ferocious. Anyone who knows Shelties would just laugh and think, "What a bad dog."

Belle (our Sheltie) "talks" to us in several voices. (No, they're NOT the voices in our heads.) She can be quite excitable (especially when we leave). She can actually throw a bit of a temper tantrum.

So, don't worry too much. Your new Sheltie is probably just telling you, in her own unique voice, how happy she is to see you. If you ignore her for a few minutes, you may be able to extinguish this behavior. (Good luck. We've been trying to extinguish some of Belle's behaviors for six years now. I think she's won.)

(Seriously, Belle is a magnicent pet who is so in love with us -- especially my son. But when they say, "Shelties can be very vocal," there is a picture of her underneath that warning. Our first Sheltie, Mindy, who was with us for 14 years, was so quiet and demur. This one is so incredibly different.)

Julie

 

[phillybeth]

That's a fear I have. Will she ever get over that?

More than likely she will, but it will take time. She needs to unlearn the fear, and that will happen gradually as she knows she can trust you not to hurt her. Thank you for saving a life and adopting a dog!

 

[DznyFan]

What a beautiful Sheltie girl!

 

[beckmrk04]

She is so pretty!!! How lucky she is to have you guys as a family!

I love rescued dog stories! My dog is a rescue too, and she's so precious to me!

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

OP: That dog is beautiful! What a cutie. It sounds like the yelping is a learned behavior. Like she was probably abused for getting excited when her previous owners would come home. Hopefully she will grow out of it. My doggy now used to nip at anyone who touched her tail. We knew she came from a house that had little kids. The only thing we can think of is that the kids used to constantly pull on her tail. Also she would get angry if you disturbed her while she was sleeping. (No biting, just angry.) The kids probably also annoyed the living heck out of her all the time. You will be happy to know she has grown out of these behaviors. My poor dog came to us with NO training. She knew how to sit, that was it. At 6 months she didn't even know how to play catch. Well, we found out she is an extremely smart dog (too smart for her own good). She doesn't nip anymore and you can do anything to her while she is sleeping or awake.

BTW, I also know two other dogs who were obviously abused by their previous owners (ones missing the tip of her tail!) and they are both wonderful dogs. Very gental and well behaved dogs.

My 2nd guess would be the 'talking' previously mentioned. Our most recent adoptee is a VERY large Golden who taked and was very much an alpha dog when he came to live with us. His talking, many times, sounded like growling. After calls back and forth to the adoption group, and more time with him in the household, I was able to determine that it was NOT a growl, but just talking. (when your dog weighs as much as your teenager, you don't take any chances.) She may be talking, although I don't think it would come across as sounding like a painful or fearful yelp, it should be more of an excited yelp. Shelties are VERY vocal dogs.

I had a rottie mix that would do exactly this. She would make these growling noises at everyone. We would pushish her for it thinking she was being agressive. We later found out that she was just talking to us. She would tell us stories all the time by growling. Good thing we learned that because from a 110lb rottie mix you don't take chances.

 

[lacy1101]

At 6 months she didn't even know how to play catch.

Sadly, Scarlet doesn't really know how to play either. Her foster mom told us that she is still learning how. Who knew that dogs had to learn how to play?!? Makes me wonder even more what kind of home she came from. My daughter and I have sat down on the floor a couple of times with a ball and rolled/tossed it back and forth hoping Scarlet would jump in - she hasn't yet. She will sit and watch the ball for a while, and then go do something else.

Since Saturday she has done some little things that make me feel that she is getting more comfortable with us and her new home. She has started rolling onto her back for us to rub her belly and, when we take her out and she sees our horse or the cattle next to us, she will bark at them. It's probably silly to read much into this, but it makes me feel that she's becoming more comfortable.

I really do appreciate all of the help you guys have offered. I knew I could count on you!!