# Dog Behaving Strangely-Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778 "2012-10-05T05:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/1 "2012-10-05T05:49:17Z")
Our 8 year old Australian Shepherd bitch (Daisy) has been doing some odd things lately. She has been hiding under the dining room table (hasn’t done this since a puppy). Also, she sometimes won’t come into the kitchen (where her food and water bowls are). I wonder if a supernatural entity is taking over the kitchen? Last night, I had to feed her in the dining room-she would not enter the kitchen. Post dinner, we usually watch TV in a room off the kitchen, but Daisy stayed under the dining room table-weird!😕 ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/2 "2012-10-05T06:20:55Z")
What kind of floors/floor coverings do you have? If her nails are a bit long, or her feet slide a little on hard surfaces, if she’s getting arthritic, she may be avoiding potentially slippery surfaces that bother her joints. Is there a rug under the table? Carpet in the living room? When was her last vet visit? Might be time for a checkup. X-rays can reveal arthritis. She may need some supplements and pain management. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/3 "2012-10-05T07:34:00Z")
Maybe she thinks she’s a cat. As we all know, cats is weird. Sorry, that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/4 "2012-10-05T09:09:25Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > What kind of floors/floor coverings do you have? This was my first thought. Second thought was that you’re using something on the kitchen floor that is burning her feet. If you rule those out, then your house is most likely haunted and you will all probably be killed in your sleep by the undead ghost of an unhappy chef. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/5 "2012-10-05T12:27:28Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > you will all probably be killed in your sleep by the undead ghost of an unhappy chef. Or the ghost of whoever carpeted your kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/6 "2012-10-05T14:53:11Z")
Do you have a fly in the house? My dog used to catch and eat flies as a puppy now as a 10-year-old she is crazy afraid of them and it makes her act weird for days. Jumps up and begs to go outside if she gets buzzed by a fly inside, won’t come in w/o bribes, won’t go in the room where she was last buzzed, seems edgy all the time. Now she freaks out if you mention the word “fly” :-/ Lots of times I don’t see them but she does and I’m like “WTF dog??” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/7 "2012-10-05T15:02:46Z")
Anyone in your family bitten by a werewolf lately? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/8 "2012-10-05T15:35:54Z")
Who puts carpet in the _kitchen?_ Maybe that’s part of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/9 "2012-10-05T15:46:06Z")
Last night I sprayed some cleaner on a spot on the floor where the cat had peed. Before I wiped it up, though, I opened a can of cat food and dumped it into the kitty bowl. The dog likes to lick out the cat food can (she’s careful not to cut her tongue). So, as I do, I held the cat food can out to the dog to lick. Because the smell of the cleaner was so strong (like lavender), she was very suspicious about the cat food can. I was standing right over the spot I’d just sprayed. I had to back up a few feet so her sensitive nose wasn’t so overwhelmed with cleaner smell before she’d clean the cat food can for me. So maybe something smells funny in your kitchen to your dog. Are you using a different cleaner? What has changed in the dog’s environment since she started acting this way? ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/10 "2012-10-05T15:53:57Z")
Certainly this may be of no help, but my Australian Cattledog gets to acting like that once or twice a year. Now it’s well known that the Cattledog is a strange critter–usually blamed on his dingo side. Is the Aussie Shepherd puzzingly weird as a matter of course? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/11 "2012-10-07T03:34:37Z")
Anybody in your house willing to admit to having dropped something on the dog in the kitchen lately? “Heck, no, I’m not going in there… just to be safe, I’m gonna hide under this table here.” ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/12 "2012-10-07T04:24:02Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Our 8 year old Australian Shepherd bitch (Daisy) has been doing some odd things lately. She has been hiding under the dining room table (hasn’t done this since a puppy). Also, she sometimes won’t come into the kitchen (where her food and water bowls are). > I wonder if a supernatural entity is taking over the kitchen? > Last night, I had to feed her in the dining room-she would not enter the kitchen. > Post dinner, we usually watch TV in a room off the kitchen, but Daisy stayed under the dining room table-weird!😕 Gas heat in the rooms she’s having issues with? Check for CO? (This happened to me with a cat we once had.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/13 "2012-10-07T05:58:22Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Gas heat in the rooms she’s having issues with? Check for CO? (This happened to me with a cat we once had.) This is a good suggestion. Here it’s only been 2-3 weeks since we started using the heat ourselves. Have you as well, OP? Even if there’s nothing wrong, the newly returned noise or smell might be bothering her. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/14 "2012-10-07T07:21:16Z")
Another vote for the floor cleaner irritating your dog’s paws. It’s quite common for the pads on dog’s feet to be irritated by tile cleaners. Have you recently changed brands? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/15 "2012-10-07T11:08:20Z")
My bad-backed dachshund doesn’t like the kitchen because the floor is too slippery, especially if I have not trimmed her nails recently. She prefers the carpeted areas where she has less sliding risk. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/16 "2012-10-07T12:19:16Z")
It was her nails-had the nails trimmed, and Daisy returned to the kitchen! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/17 "2012-10-07T14:33:17Z")
Well, that’s good news! ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/18 "2012-10-07T19:48:49Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > It was her nails-had the nails trimmed, and Daisy returned to the kitchen! Glad to find out what was going on and that it’s now solved and there’s a happy puppy! 🙂 (Still, if you have any gas appliances, I hope you do have a CO detector.) ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/19 "2012-10-08T03:58:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > It was her nails-had the nails trimmed, and Daisy returned to the kitchen! So, that freed the ghosts in her nails? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778/20 "2012-10-08T04:03:27Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > So, that freed the ghosts in her nails? Nah, ghosts just hate getting snuck up on. So long as she was click-click-clicking along, they would hang around and mock her. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-behaving-strangely-why/636778.md?page=2)