Mood swing?

Hi there, I have a lovely pup of 5 mths. He has always been active and playful, but last week, he began to show signs of uneasiness, he refuses to play and all he wants is to sleep in a most unreachable corner.(like hybernating) Nothing I can do to lure him out of his corner

But he will come to me when its time for his meals. Does anyone has the same experience?? I am worried sick about him. This behaviour will last for about 30hrs before he is back to normal again.

He is in one of his mood swing again today. What should I do/or not do?? He sleeps so much that he does not even drink or pee for many hours. How can I get him out of this? :-( Does it have to do with him not been neuter yet?
Cecilia

• I think you should talk to your vet. Maybe he's sick?
  Jackie

• I think you should take your dog to the vet. This sounds like very unusual behavior for ANY dog. The dog may be ill or in pain. If this was a child, you would probably take her to the pediatrician. My advice is do the same for the dog.
  Cathy Brown

• Hi Jackie & Cathy-thanks for the advise. I brought Bubble to the vet. Guess what? The vet said that Bubble's health is perfectly alright. He thinks that it could be the thunder and the rain that is upseting Bubble. It has been raining heavily for the past four days in Singapore. He also said that dogs can hear thunder from afar even when it is almost inaudible to the human ears.(he thinks that puppies are afraid of thunder). I think this is a very interesting info to share with the rest of the people that visit this site.
  Cecilia

• I have found that the Maltese breed can be prone to sulking. My Zoe, if in her eyes you have done the wrong thing, can sulk for 2 days.
  Barry

• Glad the baby is OK. My last dog, a silky terrier, alerted us to storms hours before they arrived. He absolutely hated thunder. It didn't scare him, he barked at it! He would start barking at the window well before the storm arrived. So your vet may have something. Maybe you should try playing with him and distracting him or cuddling him up a lot when you know a storm is coming? Thanks for sharing. I hope you can help the baby through this.
  Cathy Brown

• Hello Cecilia, I am glad to hear that your puppy is ok and was taken to the vets to be checked out. Now about the problem with the thunder storms. DO NOT try to calm your dog by petting it, talking baby-talk to it, or snuggling it. This in the eyes of the dog is positive reinforcement. Meaning that it is getting praised for being afraid. SO you can bet that your puppy will always behave this way when the weather changes! You must teach your dog to ignore the storms by playing with it or distracting it. Another good thing is to get a tape of a thunder storm and play it every day and I mean every day. Start out low and continue each week until the volume is high. This will get your dog so use to the noise that he will consider it "white noise" or background noise. If your dog starts to whine say "enough" and when it stops the crying praise it alot.

  Maltese are a nice small size but they can still do some serious damage if you try to coax your pup from a corner, or under a bed. Try to close off access to these areas and leave the door of the crate open so he can feel safe in there. Be aware that if your dog is fearful enough he could bite you. Signs to look for: tail tucked in, ears flat back, glassy-eyed look, drooling etc. All dogs go through different growing spurts and stages of their life. This could very well be the onset of a fearful stage your dog is going through. Help him through this by lots of praise for "correct" things he has done. Good Luck,
  Pug