playing or lack of

[tannerbimbo]

Hi, Any one any ideas on fun games/mind games for dogs.  The only 'game' my dog will play is hunt for the treat.  He will not chase anything, catch a ball, play 'fetch', 'tug' or anything else I can think of and all tried in a praising and fun way.  Around 5pm every day he starts to 'squeak' or whines constantly for something, we have no idea what, for two or three hours and is driving us insane.  We get all his toys out and get on the floor with him and try to 'play' , take him for a walks but he continues when we get back.  We give his last meal of the day around that time, there is Always fresh water where he knows.   We are absolutely lost as to what he wants.  Or is it just 'learnt' behaviour?   Until he was around three years old he would play the same as any dog with balls etc chasing them or 'fetch' and etc.both indoors and in the large garden. He is now four and a half and just sleeps all day.  he is not overweight and is checked thoroughly at the vets and there are no medical problems or diet problems.  His claws are regularly clipped at the vets. For most of the time he is a happy wee soul and is very friendly and loves people and other dogs and totally comes to 'life' when we have visitors.  We work on the praise all good behaviour way and never 'punish' but just ignore bad  or wrong ways.   He is never aggressive.    We have also tried all of the above at different times of the day including taking him out with us for the day hoping he may be too tired to start the evening routine. It never works. Any thoughts would be welcome

 

[hollysh]

Strange. You say he whines around the time you feed him. Is he whining for food or more food, or maybe a different type of food? My dog does the same. He knows exactly when its dinner time. He knows when he goes out for a pee. Its rare he whines unless there is something that he needs. It is difficult to predict what your dog is whining for as everybodys routine is different and every dog is different. Seems to be picking up on something. do you watch anything on tv that distracts him? Any unusual outside noise? Has he got any squeaky toys? You said he likes treats. Maybe a longlasting bone? 

 

[gypsysmum2]

 Yes, I would suspect he is anticipating dinner time. He seems very food orientated if he likes to hunt treats too.

The best thing to do is to make sure you never feed him after he has whined. Get him to sit, lie down, stand up, move over there etc until you are sure he has forgotten that he whined. It will only take a couple of minutes for him to forget. He may be finding that whining gets him fed.

Although he has seen the vet I would ask for a specific check up for pain. He could have a pulled muscle or a sore disc that is causing him to avoid play. If you are unhappy with their response then ask for a referral to an ACPAT physiotherapist. Some dogs are very stoical when examined and will not indicate that they are in pain.