GSD behaving oddly

[mimififi30]

Hi there guys,

I wonder if I could pick your brains about my darling GSD. She is called Rosie and we rescued her 2 years ago from a sanctuary. I think she is now 4 years old. She was spayed nearly a year ago and apart from incessantly barking whenever the door bell rings, she has settled down like a dream and is a real companion. She loves being with us all the time and I think sometimes thinks that she too is a human, ha ha.

However, since about thursday last week, she has taken to locking herself away in the utility room. Admittedly, we do shut her in there (It's quite a large room and she has her bowl, and bed etc in there) sometimes if we have guests that don't like dogs, or if we have the door open for a long time loading the car or something, but never for very long. if we do go out for a long time, she has the run of the downstairs as I have a stair gate on the stairs. At first, I thought she was accidentally shutting the door behind herself, which she sometimes does as she turns the corner, or that it had blown shut or something until I tried to pin the door back with the hoover then Rosie actually went in there and physically tried to shut the door with her nose and started crying cos it wouldn't shut. Now she has resigned her self to it being open but still goes in there and curls up in ball and sleeps or just ignores us all and this is becomming very worrying.

She used to be such a people person and follow me everywhere. She is still up for her walk and play with her ball, but when she gets back she just takes herself off. Nothing much has changed over Christmas it's just as if she has become elderly overnight.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
mimi
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[kita1]

My GSD's used to be like my shadows too - it is a trait of the breed and I would certainly be concerned if one of mine suddenly started acting in this way.

Unless you can think of anything happening (like a change in the household or something like that) that has scared her then I would get a vet to give her a quick check over.

It may be something medical affecting her that is not obvious to you as her owner. Is she drinking/eating as normal? Try and measure how much she is drinking, this is one thing the vet may ask.

Once the vet has given her the all clear then you can start looking for other reasons for the change.

[bananie]

could she just be wanting some peace and quiet to sleep, seeing as she's getting a bit older. My x mastiff/alsation was like a limpet for the first year but now she goes and lies in her bed to get away from everything!

[jasmin26]

i have got 2 GSD and every night one of them takes himself off in to the bedroom and closes the door behind him. when he 1st started doing i used to get up and open the door thinking he had locked himself by accident but he just closed it again. i just leave him now and he lets me know when he wants to come out.apart from doing this he is perfectly healthy and well behaved. i think he just wants some quiet time.

[mimififi30]

thank you so much for all your innput, I really appreciate it.
she is eating and drinking as normal, so I will wait and see how she goes, maybe she does just want some peace and quiet!

She has her jabs in a few weeks time, so I will mention it to the vet then and see what she says.

thank you again for all your help, I have certainly taken on board your comments...

mimififiXX