I’m not sure if this is more Mundane and Pointless, or a cry for help, but here goes. My dog has started staring at the wall. For hours. And hours.
A little background info, you ask? Dog in question is a 3.5 year old German Shorthaired Pointer, with slightly nervous temperment, but overall a good girl. She has recently been through quite a bit of change, with us selling our house with backyard to run around in (4 months ago), moving in with my MIL for three months, riding in the car for 2 days, and living in a tiny little apartment for about a month. We thought she had taken the changes pretty well, until fairly recently when her dark and loony side has emerged.
About a week ago, we noticed that every time that Cortney (the dog) passed a certain picture on the wall, she would stop and look at it, but keep walking. A few days later, she started sitting in front of the picture and staring. It escalated into her crying and trying to climb the wall to get to the picture. We took the picture and hanging hook off the wall, and all seemed to be well. However, over the weekend, she found another spot to stare at. Apparently the light fixture in our bathroom is very, very interesting because if we let her, she will sit in there for hours and stare, sometimes crying, sometimes not. I actually picked her up and put her on the counter for a better look, but that didn’t satisfy her curiosity.
If we kick her out of the bathroom, she seems to just go find another spot to stare at….the sprinker thing over the bed, a random spot on the staircase, a wall in the kitchen. However, her favorite is the bathroom light. After we get home from the park, or a walk she runs over to the bathroom and plops herself down for a good staring session. Even if we make her sit by us in the living room, I can see her eyes flicker to the bathroom door every now and then, as if she can’t help herself.
Our other dog, Lucy, also a German Shorthair is pretty oblivious. She isn’t showing any nervous tendencies, interest in the same spots or anything. Just pretty chill as always.
I’m really not sure what to do at this point. We’ve tried giving Cortney more exercise and time in the park, introducing new toys, putting her in her kennel for a while to chill out (not as punishment), but she is still obsessive about these wall spots. Do you have any recommendations we could try?
We are (hopefully!!) moving in a house w/ backyard in a few weeks, but until then we are desperate for some help. Why is my dog crazy?
Cheers,
malita