Do dogs have "off days"?

Question

Yesterday my German shepherd just would not listen for anything. She usually listens very well and when she I praise her she usually gets all excited and waits for her treat, but yesterday after I would release her from like 'stay' she just left and went across the room or something. So is this normal? Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Oh yeah, they definitely have off days. We do, so I guess they are allowed a few as well.  

Answer 2

I would say it's not uncommon for a dog to have an off day...Mine have days when they won't listen work a hoot!  Other days they are good as gold.  I think it has to do with the amount of excitement they've had in a day, the amount of time they've been alone, etc. all effects their behavior.  Just like kids!

Answer 3

Definitely.  Sometimes they just don't want to listen.  They could be tired, hungry, bored.  Sometimes they have too much energy to sit still and listen.

Dog classes can be interesting if one of them is off.  They feed off of each other, and all of a sudden, you have 6 dogs that don't want to listen lol.

Answer 4

yes, especially when they are younger  she may have not been feeling herself either which can cause them to have an off day  

Answer 5

Yes dogs can definitely have off-days. Mine are especially off when they don't have a good night's sleep or when they get woken up by a loud noise. When one of them is away (e.g. at the vets), the other will get depressed and mope around and not want to do anything. They may also get grumpy with each other when they are tired. I love dogs - they are forever changing and forever interesting.  

Answer 6

Dogs definitely have 'off' days - usually because they want to teach you a lesson!  If you own Border Terriers, owners will tell you that their dogs can sulk if the owners have done something they don't like - and they can be very funny at times.  I had great amusement talking to old boys who own these dogs when writing a book about them - and finding out how their dogs would totally ignore them if they didn't like what the owners had done!  

Doesn't happen very often though - Borders are usually sunny tempered.

Verite R