Pacing
He seems to be adjusting fairly well to our home life and going outside to do his business- we have had on average maybe one accident a week since he has been home. We are keeping an eye on him like a hawk. He is crated at night and I let him out right before work at 6am. He then gets up with the kids for school at 7am. He eats and goes outside and then to the bus stop. He is out of the crate intermittently for a few hours at a time most of the day with my husband watching him. We try to keep him out a long as possible. But if we can not watch him closely or have to leave the house, then he goes back to the crate. He does well in the crate and does not have issues with going into his crate- no barking or whining or fighting us to go in the crate. He has toys to keep him entertained. We walk him at the minimium twice daily. My question after all of the above rambling, is he is a pacer. At night, when I get home from work, and after we have walked and played for an hour. We come home and he just paces the livingroom/kitchen area constantly. I will try to sit with him on the floor and just pet him and he can not sit still. He will sit for less then a few mins and then get up and pace the livingroom and kitchen (the only two rooms he has access to). He will lay down and play with a chew toy in the crate with the door closed for an indefinte period of time. But when he is out of the crate in the evening, he just paces and paces. Is this common? |
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| Pacing is a sign of stress, pain or boredom. That seems like a lot of crate time, followed by a very limited area for Winston to explore.
We crated the dogs when we left the house, but they had access to the house when we were at home. At night, we closed them up in our bedroom with us and their toys. Some people have tried keeping a leash on their dog in the house, hooking it to their jeans. The dog goes where you go, you can watch for signs that he needs to go outside and you can prevent chewing/destructive behavior. It's more attention for the dog, a good thing, and the velcro dogs love it. |
| Try and involve him with things if he natrually doesn't follow you everywhere already.
Talk to him almost constantly (if you don't already) A bit more, fun play at various times during the day if possible, in the yard/garden with the family only about 15 mins at a time though. Let him think he is one of you. |
| A few suggestions=
If he is pacing, take him outside even if he has just been out . If he does not do any business, take him back in and offer him toys . If he does not engage in toys, offer him a place to rest that is quiet, dark--but where you can see him. He should not be in the crate at this point. Try to keep the noise level in his area minimal. If he pops up like a piece of toast,offer him a small snack not a treat. He may be a little hungry even if you have given his meals. Try to get him on a predictable evening schedule. If he still is uncomfortable get him checked at the vet. He may have something medical (in our case anal gland infection) that may be causing the restlessness. Been there, done that.. Good luck! |
| Thanks for the tips/suggestions. Win is left out of the crate when we are around - which is most of the day and nite (someone is home the majority of the time). If we are going to bed or will be out of the house - then obviously he goes in the crate if he can not come with us. He has long walks twice daily and of course the girls have him outside running around and playing each evening after school. We live in a ranch style house - so he has access to the rooms we live in. We have a cat who has complete access down stairs in our family room to have an escape from Winston. I am beginning to think some of the pacing may be due to Winston walking back and forth looking for the cat. The cat intially intimidated Winston and he was afraid of him. Now that Winston is no longer afraid and wants to play with Monroe, Monroe is afraid of the size of Winston and runs from him. He actually tires me out just watching him pace. |
| I think he needs more vigorous exercise and playing with other dogs. Just a walk or two around the block isn't enough. Good luck. |
Just wanted to say Yuki is an endless pacer at times. She gets SO MUCH excercise too. Is it close to dinner time b/c that's when it starts. Then when she wants to play which is ALL the time except when there's food in her mouth, and at night ...her legs are still kicking in her sleep. 
Hopefully yours is just pacing b/c he wants to play. It's extremely annoying after awhile.  |
I really have no advice but we have had a new girl here (she will be 2 in Nov) she gets lots of exercise and has 4 other dogs to play with and we are home most of the day as my husband and I are retired She is a pacer.... She will settle down at night to sleep on the bed while we watch TV . Hopefully as she ages she will slow down  |
Pacing can also be a sign of medical issues as well. I do not want to frighten you but my white shep started pacing just before she turned 1, and unfortunately I put it down to just her way; it turns out she had the onset of epilepsy  a trip to the vets might help.
Good luck Debsx |
I have two female yellow labs. Lillie is 3.5 and Reilly is 2. They are very active in the backyard and I (off leash ) train them 3-4 times week after work. They get a good 4 mile hike nearly every weekend. As they are big and more of outdoor dogs they come inside to sleep maybe 3 times week. Issue: Lillie started pacing about 1 year ago daily around early evening. She will find different areas but always a pattern. Her tail is wagging during the pacing. Both dogs are very close.  I have never had a dog that paced. Any suggestions?  |
| I would mention the pacing to your vet next time you go, just to be on the safe side. Our Rudy paced like crazy when he first got here. We figured out his was anxiety. (Okay, the behaviourist helped us a bit with that one.) She suggested a few things. 1. Mental stimulation. Things like a kong with treats, or one of those balls you put a few pieces of kibble into and they roll it around like crazy and they intermittently pop out. Also, some training (sit/stay/come, etc) would be a good mental workout. 2. Really clear chain of command. Make a point of establishing yourself as a pack leader. We did that, and Rudy stopped pacing. That was like a miracle cure. We just made sure that we took control of everything. He had to sit before the kibble was put down and wait until he was told to eat before eating. (Yes, he was a year when he learned this, but we taught Hudson the first week we had him, and that was at eleven weeks. Took two feeding times to learn and one more to get it perfect...so a day and a half. This was the same timeline with both dogs.) We taught sit/stay and enforced it until we said release. (Not like he can never move without permission, but this was a good one to do several times a day.) We taught him to sit by standing in front of him and making eye contact. He sits, and quickly lays down in calm submission. We don't even need words. What a joy that is! 3. The second he started pacing, we approached him, told him to sit, and waited for him to sit and then submit by laying down. That invariably relaxed him, and when "released" he wouldn't go back to the pacing. He'd often sit down again, right there, and take a nap or just lay down and relax. I really believe he had all sorts of anxiety around having to be on top of things for us. Once we stepped up he calmed immediately. I can't say for sure that this is what's happening for you, but these are easy things to do and may be worth a try. And even if anxiety isn't the issue, these are all great things to do with any dog. |
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