Your dog needs veterinary attention asap. What your describing makes me think of tick-borne disease or something else equally or more serious.

Naturally, please see a vet to find out what is going on and how to address it.

Krista, wouldn’t acute onset make DM much less likely? Surely there would be some gradual signs? Jasmine was 9 when her neck issues started; one day she was fine and the next day she wasn’t. Though same thing happened with JD. He was perfectly fine, then started having problems with hind legs in the morning and by evening was pretty much unable to use any legs successfully.

The upside of DM is that it is non-painful, isn’t it? So unless further issues crop up, either secondary or it ascends, the dog should be able to hold up until the master returns?

http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.ca/2011/08/what-acupuncture-did-for-intervertebral.html

Did the vet provide some preliminary diagnosis? Do they think it’s a disc injury or something else? For example, Jasmine had neck problems resulting in pain and mobility issues,while JD had similar symptoms from what was likely a brain/spine infection or cancer. I know of a number of cases where acupuncture help with spinal or disc problems a great deal. Might be effective to address pain regardless of what is happening. Which makes me wonder why your vet is hesitant to try.

Well, it is a broad question. Here is the thing. It is possible that there is an issue with the food itself, such as a) it might have rancid fats, b) it might contain something that doesn’t agree with your pup’s system … more importantly, your pup might not be feeling well. Here is how that works – some foods are more attractive/palatable than others and entice being eaten even if the stomach feels upset. For example, we had a similar problem with Jasmine (also since she was a pup) and eventually it turned out she had IBD.

I’d starting by having a close look at the food, followed by a vet evaluation. This might not be an easy thing to figure out but it is important that you do.

I’m so sorry you’re having a hard time. It is impossible to help you over the Internet. You say you had a trainer – what kind of a trainer and what did they do exactly or what they had you do? You tried working on anxiety – again, what did you do and for how long? You tried crate training – what size/type of crate and how did you introduce it, how did you crate-train and why exactly it was a no go? Punishing, of course, never works. You say it’s one particular spot only? Is it when you leave for any period of time? Did you try a nanny cam to learn what goes on exactly when you’re not home? I would recommend finding a better trainer (not all trainers have been created equal). On the very off chance, there is one thing Dr. Stanley Coren was recommending some time back for a dog who soils on particular spot in the house = redefining the area. What he was recommending was to put the food bowl in that spot, or play in that spot … redefining the area to dining or play area. The reasoning being that a dog won’t soil where they eat, play or sleep. Migh as well try that. But likely need a good, reputable, positive trainer.

Something like that certainly can be playing a role. Kids are quite stressful for most dogs unless they get used to them. I know Jasmine, who loved kids, would get upset if a kid started screaming or shrieking, for example. It’s easy to get stressed over things one doesn’t understand.

There could be other things at play, such as more attention taken away from her etc. I always wondered what I’d do to get my dog be okay with baby crying and screaming if I had to. I always wondered whether a recording of such could be used in the same manner as desensitization soundtracks to deal with noise phobias. I never had to test it but logically it would make sense to me. Having a recording of all the noises little kids make, and expose the dog to them gradually (first low volume and short duration) and using a similar game as the Look at That (Donna has videos on that), where the sound would become a predictor of something great such as a treat or play or whatever the dog really loves. And gradually increase the volume and duration etc. I’m sure somebody more focused on training (my focus is health advocacy) might have some proven technique which you might be able to find.

The bottom line with these things, though, always is this formula: “Change the feeling, change the behavior.”

These things don’t have a quick solution and need to be worked on gradually. Find out about clicker training. And then you need to work on changing the way she feels about things step by step. Probably starting from the knock on the door/doorbell ring … get your friends work with you on these sessions. Only when you change she feels about things you’ll change the behavior successfully to everybody’s happiness. Look up Donna Hill’s YouTube channel, she has some very good instructional videos. Other things to do is to give her a safe place she can retrieve to as well as curb the amount of visitors in the meantime.

Nanny cam would tell you how much anxiety there is. And if that’s the case, you’d need to work on that.

Of course, it’s impossible to estimate what might be wrong over the internet. Dogs generally don’t advertise pain so if she vocalizing there would be a lot of it. The only way to find out what’s happening and fix it is a hands-on veterinary examination.