Carrying toy and crying

[cynnosure]

I adopted a rescue dog in September.  He's about 2 years old, he's heartworm positive, but is healthy, playful and very sweet.  His behavior has been great and he likes to play.  He had a squeaky bunny toy with him when I got him that was his favorite.  Sometimes when we were playing with that toy and squeaking it he would whine a little bit.  I bought him a reindeer squeaky toy about three weeks ago that is now his favorite.  About a week ago, he started acting strange.  He did not want to come in the bedroom with me at night to go to "bed" which is usually under my bed, or sometimes with me.  When I picked him up he was shaking badly, and as he fell asleep it stopped.  I let him stay in the living room a few nights; he would always come in the bedroom and wake me up in the morning, and then started coming back to bed.  Three days ago, he woke up and got his reindeer.  He started crying and carrying the reindeer around and even carried it on our walk.  He tried to leave it hidden under a bush, and did the same thing that night.  I do not take the reindeer with us anymore.  While he's in the house he also cries and carries it around.  He will always leave it somewhere, but if it gets moved or picked up he cries and picks it up.  I have put it away a couple of times and he has whined and looked for it.  He seems better when he forgets about it, but did go to the bunny and start the same thing.  I finally got him to play with the reindeer today like we used to.  He gets excited and chases it around, and then he retrieves it when I throw it.  He still seems sad or preoccupied and is not quite the same while playing.  He's also shaking a lot.  I don't want to do the wrong thing and make it worse.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

[sassysmompat]

In my opinion, and I have a lot of trainging and dog experience, she does not want to play with it at this time, so she is carrying it around in search of a safe place to "bury it" so to speak and she cannot find the place she wants to put it.

I have had dogs do this in the past.

[ginger899]

This does sound more like a girlie-thing, yes. My dog sometimes carries her squeaky toy around, and carries it to bed, and cuddles it. It's a mother instinct thing. I'd think it's rare for a male dog to do this? Perhaps the bunny (and reindeer) are like 'security-blanket' objects for him? Perhaps when he was in the pound, this toy was his security, a familiar thing for him. And he's going back to that feeling for some reason.
It's interesting that in a wolf-pack, most all of the pack members (I think including some of the males) are involved in care of the pups, and are protective towards them.

[April2]

Whoops, I meant to say maybe your dog thinks it's his puppy not kitten. Sorry! I had just been on the Cat forum and got it mixed up!
Have you talked to your vet about this?

[April2]

My cat does that with my husband's rolled up socks. It drives my husband crazy! He finds socks all over the house, lol. She's been doing this since we adopted her from the pound. I always wondered if she might have had a litter and she was treating his socks as if they were her kittens. She'll walk around with the socks in her mouth crying this mournful cry. Otherwise, she acts perfectly happy.
I'm surprised too, that your cat is a male because that's what I would have thought, too! That he was thinking his toy was his kitten or something.
I honestly don't know what else to think!

[maybebaby29]

Wow. I'm surprised it's a he. Sounds to me like it's a she and is pregnant.

It seems that maybe the squeek itself is reminding him of soemthing and he's being very motherly and depressed with it.

Did you ask an animal behaviorist or your vet? Poor little man