Tiga odd new behavior 5 weeks post op

[Tiga's_mom]

Ok, so I'm really freaked out right now. Tiga was out for his morning walk/potty break at 8:30am this morning. Nothing unusual. He had his breakfast, went to potty. All normal. Did his PROM with him and he's been pretty much just laying around all morning. At lunch time I took him out to potty again as usual. We got outside, he walked a bit past the house and then turned around with his tail between his legs and tried to run back inside. I barely was able to get the sling on him to get up the first 2 stairs to get into the porch. So I brought him back inside and he went to lay down. I thought maybe his paws are bothing him from his allergies, so I soaked them in burosol. A little bit later I tried again. This time we didn't even get past the house and he tried again to run back inside with his tail between his legs. This time I couldn't even put the sling on, I had to use my arms to support him up the 2 stairs into the porch. We came back inside and he went to lay down. I called the vet, they have no idea.

 

He seems fine otherwise. Although I did notice that he did seem to be limping a bit more after we got back in the second time. He's been laying down ever since. I have to work in a couple of hours and I don't want to keep pushing him, but he always goes out to pee around this time. His next chance won't be until after 6.

 

I'm very worried. This is a new behavior. He has NEVER had any problems going outside. In fact he loves being outside. Any clues as to what's going on? He's still on metacam and has been since his surgery. We are supposed to continue that for another week and then just if needed after that. He's also taking reactin for allergies as per the surgeon's instructions.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Tammy & Tiga

[PSmitty]

A couple of thoughts: did something bite/sting him? Or maybe something out there scared him (any loud noises, strange smell, anything different)? It seems like something is making him not want to go back to the yard.

 

Can you put him on leash and take him in another area to see if he's ok there?

[Tiga's_mom]

Nothing scared him that I saw. My SO and I just both took him out together. I carried him out to the grass and we did get him to pee. He seemed ok up until we got back close to the door and then he started freaking out again. I'm stumped. He does seem like he's using his leg a little less, maybe limping a bit more but not a huge difference. There's only 1 way out of here is the problem. I don't get it.

[muttlycrew]

My boarding dog has a certain area he refuses to walk in. He gets all freaked out and crouches down and looks around frantically. This area happens to be the doorway. I thought perhaps our type of door freaked him out, but then I realized what was the trigger -- the ground! There is a black door mat and it gets super hot in the sun. Poor pup. I've now put a towel down over the threshold and he is OK. In the evening when the sun is gone, he doesn't have an issue.

 

It sounds like something must have happened in that particular area (like an insect bite, strange smell, scary noise). It could be something as little as Tiga may have stepped wrong or walked funny and that hurt him, so now he associates that area with being hurt.

 

If I couldn't find a reason for my boarding dog, I would've just leashed him and walked out there like there was nothing wrong OR I would've found another door to take him out of. It does sound like something may have happened that's causing him to not want to go in that area vs a new odd behavior.

 

Good luck. I'll be interested to see what others have to say.

[ErinKate]

I agree with the others, something happened there. As was said, as simple as him stepping wrong. Could you try slowing him down, or putting a treat trail in the area?

[Tiga's_mom]

I'm starting to think he may be hallucinating from the medications he's on. A few times in the last few days I've noticed him suddenly looking on the floor. I thought there may have been a bug but there hasn't been either time. He's also pretty noise sensitive it seems. Every car that drives by he kind of looks up. My SO took him out this evening while I was at work. I guess he was better but pretty skitish by the door outside in the same place. He was pretty OCD about smelling every little thing. He did ok and peed but was pretty anxious to get back in and scratched at the door in the porch. My SO tried distracting him with carrots when they were back inside because he was just on very high alert. Sort of worked, but not really. I know he is miserable from his allergies as he's been off the vanectyl p for about 6 weeks now and nothing is helping.

 

He's also done great with his PROM all day but I really do think I see a bit more of a limp. Not a huge difference, but I am a major worry-wart and I do over-react and may be seeing something that isn't really there.

 

I'm going to take him off all meds. I'm also going to bring some carrots out with us on the next potty break before bed to see if I can distract him that way. I do think something triggered this but I just can't figure out if it was a hallucination or something physical. He only gets freaked out once in that area. Not at all on the way out and once he's back inside he's ok again. Once he decides he's scared, there's no slowing him down, which isn't good so soon after surgery.

 

Thanks for all of your input. I hope we can figure this out and soon.

[2 Devils]

If Tiga has bad allergies I would even consider not giving him carrots. They break down into carbs or something and can make yeast worse, etc... This is what I was told with regards to my borderjack who has severe food allergies. He is not supposed to have anything grain and pretty much no carbs/breakdown into carbs.

 

For the problem outdoors - upgrade the treat and take him out there and work obedience, PROM, etc... If this is an area he must pass then he needs to work through it.

 

And yes taking him off the pain meds would probably be a smart idea. We don't know what kind of reactions these drugs can cause a dog.

 

Good luck

[Tiga's_mom]

Interesting. I had no idea the carrots would be bad. The vet has always told us they were ok. He had major allergy testing done a few years ago and we diligently avoid the things he's allergic to. So if he can't have vegetables (which he LOVES), what do I give as treats? I had been cooking liver, cutting it up into little cubes and freezing it, but I stopped because he needed to loose weight.

 

Last night and this morning he seemed to be a bit better outside. We walked to the right instead of the left and we did not give him any meds this morning. He's still been a bit anxious in that area, but not bolting to get back in so we'll see how the rest of the day goes. I have been taking treats out and trying to distract him and trying to work him through it. Something seems to be working. Not sure what but we're going to continue what we've been doing and hope that's the end of it.

 

ETA: We had another pretty uneventful trip outside. Again, just a little bit of anxiety on the way back in, but the OCD smelling is gone and the flight response also seems to have dissipated for the most part. We're pretty convinced it was the meds.

[Jedismom]

Something similar to this happened to Jedi this morning. We're doing our usual morning fetch and all of a sudden he bites at his back end crouches down and refuses to move. I checked him all over and found nothing. Something must have tweaked but he wasn't limping, he could walk ok, he was just looking at me with his Jedi worried look. He just wanted to go in and hide in his crate. I had to run an errand. I came back and then had to leash him to get him out of his crate. I took him out, he brought me his ball, and I thought ok we're done with that. Threw the ball a little ways, he turned around and just looked at it.

 

So now I really had to put my "border collie acting weird" thinking cap on. Don't we all have one? Ok here was my conclusion...he doesn't want to run after the ball because in his mind something bad might happen. So I thought, I'll just play his favorite game. I'll toss it against the wall and he can catch it from there and he doesn't have to run after it. It worked!! After a couple of minutes of that I snuck in a fetching throw and he went after it as if nothing ever happened.

 

I have to say though, if he wasn't really motivated to get back to playing, this may have taken much longer. I hope Tiga gets better very soon. It's so worrisome when you're not sure what's wrong.