barking at nothing

[priscilla]

Hi, I sure hope someone can help. My dog will be a year in april, since Monday of this week she has been acting strange. When she is in the living room she barks at the ceiling, and the wall, like there is something there. She won't settle down, she follows whatever she sees around the room with her eyes. I've never seen a dog so adimit about something, she is really upset, and positive that there is something there. But my husband and I don't see anything. She also does it in our spare bedroom. I'm kind of scared, could she be crazy. Could somebody please give me some advice?

[BCBlondie]

As crazy as this sounds, maybe your house is haunted? I've heard that dogs can sometimes see ghosts and bark at like a corner of the room or something.. Does she still do this when you take her outside and to friends/relatives homes? Or is it just in your house? Or maybe she's just trying to tell you something? I dunno...

[priscilla]

yah I've heard that but I'm still in disbelief of that actually being true. It is just at my house that she does it, and it's only in the two rooms. I think that if it was haunted that she would have started before now. Right? I've talked to a dog trainer and he suggested that maybe there is mice in the walls, or ceiling. There has to be something she hears that we can't. And whatever it is it's on the roof or in the ceiling. I really don't know, but it is rather scary.

[3CaniBellisimi]

Hi,

Your dog probably isn't going crazy. There could be many explanations for this and here are some questions that may help you start to find the answer to your question. Please realize that there is a real, scientific, physical or measurable issue taking place that is causing your dog to react in this way. Dogs are not dumb and you don't want to understimate your dog's intelligence by simply writing this off.

Is your dog a particular breed? Certain breeds can have some genetic predispositions to intense or ritualized repetitive behavior. Certain illnesses can also cause ritualized repetitive behavior.

For example, I have a herding dog who will go bananas chasing insects if ever one appears in the house. Since he doesn't have any cattle to herd at my house, he goes bananas trying to herd squirels that run from tree top to tree top in the backyard.

A friend of mine had a border collie and lived in a city. The border collie was bored in the apartment and would look for things to hunt/herd in the apartment. Since he couldn't find much, he would intensely stare and give the eye to things such as a dripping water faucet for hours at a time because that particular dog wasn't getting enough enrichment and outdoor exercise. So the dog was chasing and hunting imaginary insects in the apartment out of boredom. The owner enrolled the dog in agility classes and the dog was much more content and less bored and stopped much of the obsessive apartment behavior.

A dog's hearing is quite acute and your dog might be hearing things that you can't. I once had a dog who barked incessantly at a wall in a summer home/cabin. It turned out that the wall got infested by termites and the dog was hearing the termites chew on the wood and the damage wasn't visible at first. The dog detected the problem way before I noticed something was amiss. It took awhile to figure that out. You may want to have your place checked for things such as insect infestations or small critters.

Dogs can also predict/sense earthquakes, other vibrational disturbances, and seismic activity miles down in the earth that a human wouldn't notice until something huge is happening. Dog's detect/sense these things way, way before a human will sense them. Is your house on a seismic area or are there any structural problems in the house such as a shifting foundation? Could you have moles or other burrowing creatures under the foundation? If so, your dog will actually hear/sense the burrowing critters moving about and the dog could be trying to warn you to defend the household.

Is anyone doing mining nearby or underground excavation nearby? Is your house located in an area over old abandoned mine shafts or oil excavation areas? These underground things-- your dog would sense them and you wouldn't.

Finally, how old is your dog and in what kind of health is your dog? Sometimes an animal can develop what seems to be a behavioral issue that is directly related to a medical problem. For example, I had a cat who was 17 years old and he started to get what I described as senile, he'd forget where his food dish was and that I just fed him, and was acting, obsessive, neurotic, loud and upset. Since he was not acting like he had previously and his behavior dramatically changed all of a sudden, I took him to the vet and told the vet about his unusual behavior. It turned out that the cat has a tumor that was pressing on his brain and it was making him have 'cognitive disfunction' making him yowl, howl, and do things that seemed highly neurotic. You might want to make a vet appointment to discuss this wall barking behavior with the vet to rule out that there isn't anything going on of a physical nature that would cause erratic behavior. I'm not trying to scare you or anything -- I just hope that you'll take the example of the cat that I once had as evidence that sometimes there is a physical or chemical issue that we can't see in a pet's physiology that can manifest itself with behavioral issues. So have your vet rule out a physical cause for the behavior.

Do you have nearby neighbors -- a nearby neighbor using a sonic anti bark device which emits hi frequency pitches can definitely upset your dog and make it bark at the walls. Or, if you are near anything that is causing hi frequency pitches outside that your dog can hear that you can't-- that will make your dog bark at the walls too! A hearing aid emitting feedback is something that your dog could hear (in an apartment building) that you wouldn't. Or if a neighbor is using amplified instruments or items that make feedback -- your dog would hear that and you wouldn't. Again -- you didn't mention how close your neighbors are so maybe if the are close -- this could be possible. Are you near radio equipment or telecommunications equipment (cordless phones/baby monitors) that could be making a disturbance that the dog can hear but you can't?

If it isn't a physical medical condition, then have the house and environment checked for things that could be amiss. And you could always invite in an animal behaviorist to figure this out because I'm sure that there is a logical, measurable, and factual explanation for your pet's behavior.

Good Luck. I'm not a vet or anything -- I just have had many pets over the years and much personal experience with raising dogs.

Best regards,
Anna Lisa

[priscilla]

Wow, you have no idea, how much what you said made sense. You have definetly given me some things to look in to. She is a border collie shephard. And I think you might be onto to something with the bordom. She usually spends her day in the kennel, but since she's started the barking fits, we have let her roam the house, while were not home. In the past four days she has calmed down a considerable amount. But will still bark. The neighbors do live fairly close, and the lady next door is deaf, so maybe she has a hearing aid, and that's what she hears. Thank you so much for your help. I will keep you posted if I find out anything.

[Karen]

Hi! I moved this into Dog Behavior - Today's Dog is just for discussion of today's Dog of the Day, okay?

I would guess boredom as well, especially concidering her breed! More toys! Peanut-butter filled Kong, perhaps!

[3CaniBellisimi]

Priscilla,

Of all of the dogs I have had experience with, the smartest breeds I personally have encountered are Border Collies and German Shepherds. If your dog is a cross of these 2 breeds, she is no doubt a smart and highly capable dog.

Border collies are so smart that if they aren't given an outlet for their intelligence and if they aren't provided with stimulating activity/environment, they get bored and will make up games or make up their own excitement. Border Collies and shepherds are highly intense, self-motivated, and extremely smart and independent thinkers (that is why border collies excel at herding sheep and also why Germ Sheps are used in search rescue, bomb sniffing, and police work). They love to have a job (agility work, searching for things) or goal to accomplish. Without some type of work to do or if they don't have a 'job' in the home or aren't given enough enrichment as far as exciting exercise, games, toys, etc -- they get bored. And a dog can also bark out of boredom.

I agree with Karen, she is correct in saying that one of the best toys you can give to the dog is a Kong stuffed with Natural Peanutbutter. (Natural peanutbutter is the stuff that you have to stir that is just ground peanuts that you can get at a health food store or any organic food section of the grocery store. Avoid commercial peanut butter like the kind you give to kids beacause it has too much sodium and preservatives in it which are very bad for dogs). But my dogs love to have a Kong toy stuffed with Natural Organic Peanutbutter and they will work at the toy to lick out all the peanut butter and it occupies them for hours. Make sure she has plenty of water accessible when you give a peanut butter kong. Kong toys are made of a safe durable rubber that a dog is highly unlikely to chew up. You can also soak the Kong in chicken or beef broth or put cream cheese, neufachel cheese, or dry dog food or wedge a dog biscuit inside of it so that the dog has to work out the treat.

There are other toys at the pet store where your dog rolls this ball that you load with dog food and the ball will release a kibble of dog food here and there. There are other games you can play with the dog such as hiding a loaded Kong toy or a couple of them (filled with dog kibble or peanut butter) and having your dog search out the toy with the "Seek" or "find it command". You can look on the web for games and toys used for a house dog to make their day more interesting while you are out of the house so that they don't get as bored.

Another tip, if the dog is tilting its head like its ears are hurting it like it is in pain when it is barking at the walls, then that is a clue that feedback or something that the dog is hearing that is hurting is ears may be triggering the barking. But, if the dog is acting like its ears are fine/aren't hurting and it is alerting you to something in the walls or ceiling that the dog senses, then my advice is to check for critters. It very well might be a boredom barking issue.

Please let us know if you solve the barking situation or figure out what is triggering the behavior.

Best wishes,
Anna Lisa

[priscilla]

hi
You are correct, she is definetly smart, but she gets bored with the kong, even if it has peanut butter in it. I've never paid attention to her ears when she barks, that is a good thing to know. She is definetly confident (by the way she barks) that there is something there. I am afraid to look in the loft, afraid of what I might find. Its also a rental, so maybe I should contact my landlord. I appreciate everybody's feedback and I'll keep ya posted. Thanks

[buddy's mom]

We had a Cocker that was acting very similar to that and he had a form of epilepsy. Check with your vet. Medication made it stop.