# Big dog in small spaces!



## sgsidekick (Sep 10, 2010)

My dog Jethro is almost 11 months old now, and today he was acting very strange!! My husband opened the coat closet up, and Jethro jumped in and curled up on all the boots and crap on the floor. We really had to work to get him out. Then he managed to get out into the garage, where he sought out the smallest space he could find to cram himself into. I actually had to go out and drag him back into the house! 

We let him out to the backyard for potty, yet when he came back up on the deck, as he approached the back door, he started slinking and acting afraid to come in!! I had to entice him with chicken jerky.

Does anyone know what might be causing him to act like this? He is a big dog who does NOT fit in the spaces he crams into!!! His appetite is fine, and he likes to play, so no slowing down there. Any ideas greatly appreciated!!


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## Mary&Stella (Jan 1, 2011)

i personally would have a look around to see what Jethro maybe got into or did !!!
Love the name by the way!!!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

There might be some noise/smell/vibration/electromagnetic field in the house that he can sense and is trying to get away from. 

It sounds like he is scared and is trying to hide.


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

That is what I was thinking too, that he is scared of something and it trying to hide. Poor baby I hope that you find out what it is.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

or spirit, gas, carbon monoxite, something coming in from the neighbors house,
something coming from the ground. i would trust my dogs reaction.
something is there.



Castlemaid said:


> There might be some noise/smell/vibration/electromagnetic field in the house that he can sense and is trying to get away from.
> 
> It sounds like he is scared and is trying to hide.


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## MrsWoodcock (Oct 21, 2010)

Dont end up on "A Haunting"!!!



Hope you do figure out whats going on though <3


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Let him do what he wants to do. Maybe it will settle him. Does he have a place in the house that is his 'cave'? My dog likes to go behind a chair, under a table or under a desk.
Does he have a covered crate to call his home?


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## sgsidekick (Sep 10, 2010)

We always joke that our last dog Elvis, an Australian Shepherd/Catahoula mix, visits to teach Jethro how to be a clown. We've not done anything new to the house, and he has a crate that he goes into all the time, so we are very puzzled. He MUST be scared of something, because he sure acts like it! I finally distracted him by getting him on the treadmill. He must be part Dachshund, as his front feet can be all the way to the front of the treadmill, paddling right along, while his back feet are firmly on the carpet! Oh well, at least he stopped acting scared.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

sgsidekick said:


> We always joke that our last dog Elvis, an Australian Shepherd/Catahoula mix, visits to teach Jethro how to be a clown. We've not done anything new to the house, and he has a crate that he goes into all the time, so we are very puzzled. He MUST be scared of something, because he sure acts like it! I finally distracted him by getting him on the treadmill. He must be part Dachshund, as his front feet can be all the way to the front of the treadmill, paddling right along, while his back feet are firmly on the carpet! Oh well, at least he stopped acting scared.


I don't understand why you couldn't let him stay in the closet. Obviously, he had a problem. If he is scared let him deal with it HIS way.


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

Is your weather going to change, maybe stormy weather coming in, I used to have a Border collie that would curl up in a small place like that when he sensed storms coming. We always knew ahead of time to shut the windows the more he acted up the bigger the storm


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I was to say the same thing- our last gsd was extremely sensitive to weather, especially storms. We used to call her Omy the Weather Dog. She also wanted to get into very small spaces. When thunderstorms were on the way she would climb on top of the dryer and fit herself in between the dryer and the cabinet. We would close her in the laundry room because it's small and windowless


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## sgsidekick (Sep 10, 2010)

The problem is getting worse. He is absolutely refusing to come into the house once let out, and curling up in front of my grandmother's secretary, making it shake and rattle. I don't make him move. The coat closet is in a narrow, dark hallway, and leaving the door open while he's in there is just asking for a black eye or a broken nose! 

We have intermediate class tonight, so we'll be asking the trainer as well. It is really crazy!!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Oh my, hope you get some insight from the trainer tonight. Poor guy


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

Our dogs did the same thing when our kids got an air horn for the football games. They only used it outside in the back field, but the dogs all hid upstairs. 

I didnot realize at first what was going on and called the vet. He said,"thats strange..his other customers that lived near us were experiencing the same wierd behavior from their dogs"!!

We stopped playing with the air horn and my dogs went back to normal. Hopefully the neighbors did too.:blush:

So, maybe its a strange sound that you cant hear...hope things return to normal soon.


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## sgsidekick (Sep 10, 2010)

Whatever it is, only affects Jethro. The border collie is her same old self, and the cats are their normal old selves. Just Jethro being odd! The trainer said he'd really have to see Jethro doing his thing. It really bothers me that he slinks away as if I were beating him. I'll just have to love on him and come up with diversions for him. Thanks for all the suggestions and well wishes!


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## Mary Jane (Mar 3, 2006)

I hope you get to the bottom of the issue with Jethro. My dear Wolf is (probably) in the closet as I'm posting. We have thunderstorms predicted later today. When a closet was being cleaned out some time ago, Wolf discovered that his 85lb long body fit. When we have threatening weather, we close the blinds in that room, turn on classical music, and he calmly goes to his closet. It is really a storm shelter for his nerves. 

It will probably be important to find out what triggers Jethro to hide.

good luck,
Mary Jane


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Did you check him all over for any cuts or injuries? Thorns stuck anywhere that might hurt him if he moves a certain way?

Poor Jethro, I hope you get this figured out. Can you try to take him to someone else's house and see if he's afraid to go in there? Just as an experiment...


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