Question:
I have an almost 4 year-old Black Lab/Springer Spaniel, who we've had since she was 7 weeks old. She's always been sad when we leave her alone in the house and excited when we come home, but has never been destructive or anything.

This past week things have changed. Everytime she is alone in the house, she pushes around her food and water dishes, spilling them in our front hall. One time she pushed both of them UNDER the mat we keep our shoes on. This behaviour has resulted in a scrape on her nose, which gets reopened each time so there is a small amount of blood on the floor when we return.
This morning, she would not get off me to let me go to class and proceeded to begin to push her food dish around before I even left the house.

Any ideas as to why this sudden change in behaviour would occur?

Answer:
dogs are creatures of routine. sounds to me like something in your (or should I say HER) regular daily routine has changed. doesn't sound like SA to me at all. sounds like a change has been made that upset her schedule.

a checkup w/ the vet is always a good place to start too.

Answer:
I was going to ask the same question. Did you just start classes or a new class schedual? Have you had houseguests (animal or human) that may have recently left. Moved furniture around the first time in ages? New neighbors that may be making noise, construction near by? Sorry I'm listing so many, but things we may see as nothing to write home about may be a difficult change for a pup who likes routine.

Answer:
The dog might also be bored... Or maybe you've decreased the exercise?

What you are describing does not at all sound like SA, it sounds like a dog who wants to play

Answer: