Strange Behavior
Giving a shelter dog a good home can be one of the most rewarding things a person can do in their life. But it doesn't always work out as you'd imagine.
Sometimes, an adopted dog's behavior surprises or even shocks its new owners. When this dog brought bizarre habits into his new home, the young couple was left without words. They were freaking out.
A New Family Member
The young couple understood how important it was to adopt a new dog instead of buying one, so they decided to visit their local pound in search of a new addition to their family. The dog they ended up choosing seemed happy, affectionate, and sweet.
Little did they know, the dog would begin to show its true colors soon enough. They were about to experience something they had never seen before.
The Perfect Dog
The new pup seemed to love his new home. The couple named him Max, and they couldn't be happier about him. But it wasn't long before his owners noticed that he had a very unusual habit.
During the day, the pup acted normally, but at night he would show his true colors. The couple realized that this strange behavior wasn't normal. But what could they do?
Escaping
It all began as soon they brought Max home. From the first night he spent in his new home, he would stand at his new owners' bedroom door while they slept. No one knew why.
The couple even installed a childproof door to hold him, but it didn't work. The dog just didn't seem to understand that he was supposed to sleep in his dog bed in the other room. And that wasn't all. His strange habit would get even worse.
Staring All Night
While it was peculiar to be watched all night, the couple's biggest concern was that the dog wasn't getting any sleep. Max would stand and stare at his owners for hours while they slept. Every night without fail, he would watch over them. The couple didn't know what to do.
They began to wonder why their dog was acting so strangely. Was the dog's behavior a sign of a more serious problem? Or was their new dog trying to tell them something? The real answer would leave the couple heartbroken.
It Kept Going
After a few more weeks of this strange behavior, the young owners knew they had to find a way to help the dog break it.
Although he napped throughout the day, surely the poor dog wasn't getting enough sleep if he spent all night staring down his new owners from the doorway. But what could they do to make sure that their new family member was getting enough sleep during the night?
No End
The owners let their new dog have total freedom over the house during the day. But they believed it important to keep him out of their bedroom at night. They had owned dogs before and realized how crucial it was for him to have boundaries and a special area to sleep in.
But what was the dog's routine in his previous home? What were the rules, and how did they affect him over the years?
Disturbing
The couple realized that the strangest part of their dog's staring habit was that it was done in complete silence. Usually, when a dog stares silently like that is when it's waiting for something.
But this dog's behavior was not the same. Max didn't want anything from his owners and seemed okay to just watch them as they slept. It was becoming increasingly disturbing, and the young couple knew they couldn't go on like this.
A Different Approach
The couple had run out of solutions, so they decided to set up hidden cameras in the bedroom. They needed to find out what their dog was doing during the night.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of new information in the recorded footage. As they suspected, the dog continued to stare at them while they slept. And he didn't move or make a sound for hours while watching them. They weren't getting closer to an answer.
Becoming Desperate
The dog's owners were now becoming desperate. They had already explored every possibility. They thought that maybe the dog's diet wasn't right for him, so they changed the food and treats. When that didn't work, they bought him a new and bigger bed. But of course, that didn't work either.
Nothing they did seemed to stop Max from his weird nighttime habit. Until one day, something unexpected finally put an end to it.
A Visit To The Vet
The couple eventually took Max to the vet. The vet looked him over and gave them an answer they didn't want to hear. She had no idea what was wrong if anything. The dog appeared to be perfectly healthy. He was also happy, reactive, and highly obedient for a dog his age.
His owners were utterly baffled. If it wasn't an undetected health issue that was causing their dog's strange behavior, then what could it be? Would they ever get the answers they were looking for? That's when they decided to visit the shelter that the dog had come from. But what they discovered there left them speechless.
Looking For Answers
The dog's previous owners had realized that they couldn't handle the responsibility of caring for a dog while they were also expecting their first child.
To spare the dog some heartbreak, they had packed him into the car carefully and dropped him off at the shelter while he was still asleep. But this would later prove to be a terrible decision.
Left Alone
Taking the poor dog to the pound while sleeping was a traumatic experience for him. When he had gone to bed the previous night, he had been safe and comfortable in his home, with the humans he loved dearly.
When he woke up, he was in a cage at the pound, surrounded by strange people and dogs he didn't know. It was far too much for the poor dog to handle. No one deserved such a fate. After his new owners learned about his tragic story, they knew they had to be extra careful about his feelings.
New Routine
The couple decided to show their new dog that he didn't have to worry about them abandoning him in the middle of the night. He was safe with them. So, they gave in and let him sleep in the bedroom with them.
Although the dog seemed reluctant to lie down and go to sleep at first and preferred to continue to watch his owners, he began to fall asleep earlier and earlier at night. But would his new routine be enough to make him change his ways, or had his past trauma changed him for life?
Settling Down
Letting Max sleep with them in the bedroom was exactly the change that the dog had so desperately needed. Now, he was sleeping soundly. He had given up on his unsettling habit of watching them while they sleep.
This story just goes to show that dogs are very sensitive to their environment and that they have a high level of emotional intelligence. All dogs need and deserve special care and a loving home.