Sulky dog won't leave the kitchen

[Dave Vader]

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Hello all, I have done everything I can think of to sort this, and you are my last hope.

I've had dogs for the last twenty years, and never encountered this before.

My rescue Alaskan Malamute, Sky, who we got in July will only come into the living room while we are eating, in hopes of snacks. She spends the rest of her time sat by the kitchen door.

Here's some background, when we first got her, she would sit up on the sofa with us, filled with cuddles. Then, a week or so in, she started sitting on the floor instead, I figured she felt safe enough to not need to try so hard. I bought her a massive bed for Christmas so she would be more comfortable, and she spent all December and January on it, happy as a dog on a new bed. But when I was forced to wash its cover a couple of weeks ago after an accident with an incontinent cat, she has refused to go near it. Or any of her other blankets. Just the doormat by the kitchen door. I have tried rubbing the blankets on her first, and the bed, I have tried washing it again in different washing powder, line drying, tumble drying, everything.

Any ideas will be gratefully received and tried.

Here's a picture of her when she still liked the bed.

 

[crazypetlady]

What a strange thing! I don't have any ideas, but if I think of anything I'll come back!

 

[gypsysmum2]

Is she too warm? Do you know her history to know if she was a kennel dog?

When trying to get rid of cat pee odour from your dog, or cat's, sensitive nose it is best to use a 10% solution of biological detergent. Wash. Rinse. Dry. Then agitate some sort of spirit into the area, like surgical spirit. This lifts the last of the fat deposits present in urine. Did the urine soak through into the bed's filling?

Is she worried about some sort of environmental thing that happened around the same time as the cat pee? Cat's will pee when they feel stressed so has the same thing that affected the cat affected the dog? Could be anything from a new cleaning product, paint, a new gadget that emits a noise etc etc. Being near Christmas it makes you wonder if something entered the house that worries her.

 

[JoanneF]

Have you tried moving the bed to the place she is liking to sleep?

 

[Dave Vader]

I have successfully managed to get the Spiderman blanket underneath her again - the trouble with putting the bed where she wants to be is that it is right next to the kitchen door, which is the one we use to get in and out of.

She used to sleep happily by the front door (which we never use, it's the countryside) which is where the bed is. She does like to go where it is cold (not hard in a draughty cottage on the edge of Dartmoor).

Will find better Cat pee cleaning solutions, since my elderly cat is continuing to leave surprises everywhere, which makes his 3 younger friends think that they can as well - if I had a sense of smell I'd be in the garden all the time as well.

Thanks all, hoping to get the blanket good and dog-smelling and coax her back in with that.

 

[gypsysmum2]

My latest rescue dog is very fond of taking himself off upstairs or into other rooms. I do feel a bit insulted at times too

With the cat peeing - have you tried putting out more litter trays? It is generally recommended that there should be one more litter tray than the number of cats in the household. Cats tend to do a lot of territory marking when they live in close proximity to other cats. Feliway room diffusers help too.

 

[Dave Vader]

All my cats go outside, we don't normally use a litter tray, but we had a new kitten not long before we got the dog, and my old arthritic cat decided he liked to go inside instead.

My house isn't big enough for four litter trays and a Malamute. Though I take your point

I'm glad it's not just my dog wandering off to sit on her own. I'm hoping it might just be a phase.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Point taken about all the litter trays! Might be worth giving the Feliway a go though?

 

[arealhuman]

I don't know how correct it is - and I'm a first time and new dog owner so feel free to ignore me - but I was told that sometimes rubbing yourself in a (clean!) dog blanket so that it has your smell can help. I did this with our dog's blanket not soon after we had him, and after a couple of weeks of sleep problems and moving his bed, when we go to bed, he follows us upstairs and climbs into his on our landing (cue warm, fuzzy feeling ).