SF Bay Area: Anybody else's pets acting weird?

I know this is a little off the subject of gardening, but my dog has been acting really weird since about 8 PM last night--normally he wants to be wherever I am, but all of a sudden ever since last night he only wants to be outside in the yard and he acts afraid to come back in the house. He's never like this, he normally doesn't enjoy being outside for more than a minute or two unless I'm out there too or we're going for a walk, but now that's the only place he wants to be. I've heard things about how dogs and other animals are able to sense things like earthquakes before they happen even though people can't tell and I was always a little skeptical of it, but now I started to wonder if maybe he doesn't know something I don't! So I thought I'd check if anybody else's pets have been behaving strangely lately...

Normal in S.CA.....

Lived right in the middle of the Northridge Earthquake area.... Dogs didn't give a single clue, so it may be nothing.

oh, that IS weird! And I have heard that too, that animals can sense things. I sure hope it is something else!
Could it be that something has invaded his inside space and scared him?

I hope it's something else too! I can't think of anything inside that could have scared him, unless maybe the mice that lived here before I bought the house have come back, but I haven't seen any signs of them and I would hope a 30 pound dog wouldn't be afraid of mice! I really can't think of anything that's different inside the house--I haven't had anybody over this weekend and I haven't bought any new strange things, so I have no idea what his problem could be! I just hope he gets back to normal soon, it was very annoying last night trying to sleep while he kept trying to get me to let him outside!

Our dog doesn't seem to be acting any different today. Maybe there is another dog in the area in heat? I sure hope it isn't an earthquake coming.

Now I'll start watching our dog more closely.

Didn't mean to make everyone paranoid here--I don't even know if there's any truth to that dogs and earthquakes thing, I just figured if a lot of other people's dogs were acting weird too then maybe something was going on. But since nobody else seems to be noticing anything, I think it's just my dog being weird! It's not a dog in the area in heat (at least I doubt it...he's fixed and has never shown interest in such things before!) Plus when I let him out he just lays in the shade next to the deck, or stands in the middle of the yard doing nothing--so I don't think he really wants to be outside, it's just doesn't want to be in the house and outside is the only other place he can go. Oh well, he's a Sheltie and they tend to be skittish so it's probably something little that I didn't even notice that set him off, it's just he's never acted like this ever before (he's 10 now). And for some reason the first thing that popped into my mind (since I couldn't think of anything that would have scared him) was a show that I had seen a year or two ago on PBS about a guy who said he had predicted the '89 earthquake based on animals behavior (apparently the number of lost pets went way up in the weeks just before the earthquake, and he suspected something was up but of course nobody believed him, or something like that), then they went on to talk about how not many animals had died in the Indonesian tsunami, and one theory was that they could sense small vibrations in the earth before the actual earthquake hit and moved to higher ground. By the end of the show though, nobody had proved anything conclusively, it was all just theories.

There was a 4.4 up in Glen Ellen (about 45 miles NW of SF in Marin) that we felt all the way down here in Redwood CIty, the other day around 8pm.
Give your pooch plenty of loving.
If a big one hits soon, we can all nod sagely as we're scambling and picking things up, that the dogs Knew.

Yeah, I remember hearing about that one. That was a couple days before he started acting weird though so I don't think there's a connection. But who knows! I'm being extra extra nice to him and hope he goes back to normal soon!

I don't have a dog...I have 3 CATS... and they ALWAYS act weird !!!!
I talked to three of my sisters and two friends ...all in Cal. and none said their dogs are acting strangely.

Maybe it's the weather. We always had dogs growing up. When it was hot and extremely humid like it is now, they wanted to be out all night.

I firmly believe in using animals behavior as an indicator of odd things in the brewing.

Hopefully , it's nothing to be alarmed about!

Keep us posted!!!

He's acting more normal this morning, so I'm starting to think something just really startled/scared him, maybe when I wasn't home which is why I don't know what it was. He's not totally himself, but he isn't insisting on being outside all the time, he now just seems extra sensitive to noises (like if I close a cabinet door in the kitchen too loudly, he goes running--usually that stuff wouldn't have bothered him). So I think it's just him being a typical Sheltie, just wish I knew what it was that scared him in the first place because it must have been pretty big!

Right now my dog is acting differently than usual, but I think her age is suddenly showing itself (she is 13)....she's gotten quickly pooped out on her walks and gotten very cranky with a couple of dogs. (Truthfully, I'm really worried about her.)

Of course, I felt that 4.4 quake the other night quite distinctly and it didn't even wake my dog, so not sure she's much good as an earthquake detector!

Wonder what the 'monster' was that affected your dog! Mine acted that way for awhile when we were in a corporate apartment before finding this place. Between the plane ride when we moved and the trains going by the apartment I kind of understood, but there seemed to be something else. I eventually found out that the maid service (which I had canceled) kept trying to get into the apartment and the maid kept freaking out and slamming the door when my dog would come out and bark. Poor thing was really rattled (my dog I mean, not the maid - or maybe the maid was, but I could only medicate one of them so chose my dog).

If you solve your mystery ecrane, let us know! Perhaps the freaked out maid has come to your house!

Lee

Getting tired on walks and becoming more cranky does sound like old age--my ex had a Sheltie who was a couple years older than my dog, and when she got to be 9-10 she turned really cranky! And I've noticed my dog gets much more tired than he used to when we take long walks (he's 10, almost 11). He's always been sort of cranky with other dogs though so I can't tell if there's a change or not! I would take her to the vet though and have things checked out especially if things changed suddenly, it could be there's something wrong and if they catch it early it might be easier to treat it. Or it could just be something normal like arthritis which puts her in some pain, so she doesn't want to walk as much and has a shorter temper.

As far as what scared my dog, I sure wish I knew what did it--I think it must have been a loud noise of some sort, and it had to come from somewhere inside the house because otherwise he wouldn't have been afraid to be inside. I'm thinking maybe the wind slammed a door or something when I wasn't home and maybe he was sleeping right next to it? I also just found out that he has an ear infection, so it could be some normal noise that usually wouldn't scare him but it sounded different and weird because of his ear. Either way, I'm trying to be extra careful about dropping things or slamming doors. It's just really weird though, he's survived lots of stuff--13 moves in 10 years, driving across country from Ohio to here, and who knows what else and has never acted like this before for more than a few minutes (4th of July fireworks kind of had him going, but as soon as they stopped he went back to normal right away). But I suspect less and less that it's an earthquake--I didn't feel the 4.4 one here so I don't know if he did or not, but he had no reaction to it at all. And since he's getting better now and there's been no earthquake, I'm pretty sure it's something else! I'm going to chalk it up to ear infection plus a slamming door, and hopefully that's it!

My vote's on the crazy maid making her rounds :-)

Good luck!

Could be! If it is, she better come give my house a good cleaning in exchange for scaring my dog! LOL

Perhaps there was a female in season. Our dog is positively "loopy" when that happens. He is normally a laid-back big (109 lbs!) black lab, but when he get's that "whiff" he is a totally different animal. Agitated, nervous, etc.

K

Nope, don't think that was it--he's fixed and has never shown interest in things like that. Plus the second he would get outside he was perfectly calm and would lay down in the yard and relax. I think it must have been a door slamming or some other loud noise that scared him, he was weird for a couple days but gradually got better and has been back to normal for a while now except he seems to startle more easily if I let a door shut too hard.

Ghosts?

We have been joking that we have a dog ghost in the house here. We've had some strange stuff go on, like blinds that started banging as if a wagging tail were hitting them, dog toys that change location without my dog touching them, one night I fell asleep on the sofa and was woken up by a smack on the sofa in front of me, but my dog was asleep in the next chair and another night I was woken up (sofa again) by the sound of dog tags rattling, but my dog was sleeping in the bedroom so it wasn't her. And the topper.....the other night a bag of dog treats literally went flying off the counter when no one was in the kitchen.

Seriously! All of this happened! But I am guessing there are other explanations - like changing wind direction for the blinds and we have had a mouse or two in the house that could roll around the toys and perhaps even push a bag of treats off the counter. Am having a little trouble with the smack on the sofa and the dog tag noise, but will blame it on sleep.

I'm sure they are all explainable.....or are they....????

Do you live in an older house/apartment? Wouldn't surprise me if it was haunted! The blinds could definitely be the wind but I'm not sure I could explain the rest! Could the dog tag noise have been coming from outside somewhere? I know when my windows are open at night, I'll hear noises that I know are outside but they'll sound like they're inside, or noises that I know are coming from my neighbors yard that sound much closer than that!

Oh yes, this house is definitely older. I say that with a little reservation as the apartment building I lived in in NY was well over 100 years old and this house is not that old. Maybe 40 or 50 years.

Not the neighbor's dog with tag noise definitely - I do assume most noises are outside or house creaks or rodents in the roof (which irritates me but that's for another thread). All of these little incidents were a little bizarre, though like I said, probably explainable.

I broke my leg the beginning of June and while I had a splint and then a cast, I was sleeping on the sofa as it was easier to brace my leg up against the back of the sofa to keep it from moving while I slept. So it became my 24-hour home - I set up my office, watched TV, ate my meals and slept there (how glad am I to be able to leave it now!!). So the night I was awakened by someone/something slapping the sofa in front of my face freaked me out a bit. No explanation. And the blind rattling was strange because there was no wind (window closed) and the rhythm of it was not like wind fluttering. Then the tags - that was just a couple nights after the slapping incident.....you know how it can be annoying when your dog shakes her head and rattles the tags and her ears flap and it wakes you up (well it is to me anyway)? She would regularly sleep on the chair next to the sofa. So I woke up and told her to be quiet - but she wasn't there. Then I listened for a bit and heard soft snoring and so I got my crutches and went down the hall and she was in the bedroom snoring away - sound asleep. A couple weeks later, a toy that she hadn't played with (it was my late dog's favorite and was in the guest room in a basket) was sitting in the middle of the hallway. And then the treat bag flying.......

Have also had things disappear and then show up somewhere else - have chalked most of that up to disorganization and absent-mindedness, but I was in the box where I keep tools getting some electrical tape and noticed a box I didn't recognize. It was a necklace I didn't even know was missing. Can't sort that out for the life of me.

I am a skeptic when it comes to ghost things, but it was all a little weird......was fun to wonder if maybe my deceased dog-baby was checking on me and my broken leg!

That is really strange--maybe it is a ghost! I don't know how else to explain stuff if the windows were shut--I have really strong wind here, so when I have the windows open and hear strange noises I usually blame it on that but if there wasn't any wind then I don't know!

How old is your dog? I've been told that dogs go through a second fear stage at around 2 years.

He's almost 11--don't think that's it! He's totally back to normal now, so I'm chalking it up to some loud noise like a door slamming in the wind or something.

It could be someone in neighborhood had an accident and something rubbing or a kid got a dog whistle .

I think it had to be something inside the house--otherwise he would have been afraid to go outside, not the other way around. We have a lot of wind so I have a feeling the wind either slammed a door or knocked something over, maybe when he was sleeping right near it, and it startled him horribly.