# Nearly 3 Year Old Vizsla barking/growling at owners



## awrobinson (Jun 24, 2014)

We have had Finn since he was a puppy and he will turn 3 next month. He's always been healthy and happy and never had any real issues before, but recently he's started acting oddly. 

My wife goes to bed before I do, and Finn likes to sleep next to her until I come to bed. Starting last week, though, they would be lying down and if my wife moved only slightly, he would lose it. He'd growl and bark at her feet under the covers. I was out of town so I thought surely he'd stop. This week I saw it for myself. It's almost like he's confused by the movement. We have had similar issues with shadows. He is OBSESSED with them, or reflected light. It's so odd.

Another incident: He was sleeping on the couch a couple weeks ago and my wife leaned down to give him a kiss. He woke up and bit her on the face. It wasn't too hard, it was a nip, and afterward he kind of sunk down and looked up at her like, "I'm sorry..." and tried to lick her.

Let me also say, he is her dog COMPLETELY. He loves her to the moon and back, he is just attached to her. It's just so odd that this is happening.

I do have a couple theories as to why he might be acting like this. He isn't as active as he used to be, and that's on us. We recently relocated about 7 months ago and I now work from home while my wife is in school. It isn't as easy to get him the exercise he used to get. I'm actually working to remedy that with scheduled play dates and such, which has been nice, but it's a work in progress. Part of me thinks he may just be bored and maybe we need to tire him out more. He gets to go on nice long runs on the weekends and I'm sure he needs more during the week, too.

All that being said, I figured you would all have some ideas! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

There are a lot of transitions in your lives which he might be reacting to, but whenever I hear about radical departures I always think "Medical". So, call the vet, let him/her look Finn over and make sure it isn't some underlying medical issue, before we speculate on behavioral interventions.


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## emilycn (Jul 30, 2013)

I agree---something so drastic makes me think it could be medical. 

The shadows and the feet thing throws me off though. I'm in no way saying this is definitely what happened, but rather just a thought to consider: Could there be mice or something in the house that scared Finn once? That could lead him to be hyper-aware of anything unexpected (like movement waking him up).


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

While I think a trip to the vet is in order, I wouldn't rule out the change in outings contributing to the problem. Boredom leads to frustration, which can lead to a dog lashing out, and changes in behavior. He clearly loves your wife, as the bite only resulted in a nip.


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

As others have said, a vet check is definitely in order first. If everything is clear on the medical end, then you can start looking at environmental causes to his behavioral changes.


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