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His stomach is tight he keeps his back arched all the time he acts like it hurts him to sit or lie down and his breathing is very labored. He is panting one minute and shivering the next. He can’t walk very fast.
He is always out by us and like to be around us but is basically mean if you touch him at all. Or sit in his chair that he sleeps on about 50%of the time that he sleeps.
do you play with him? my boy used to attack my ankles, back when i first brought him home. turned out he was bored. got a bunch of interactive toys and started playing with him and he mellowed out nicely.
this is, of course, assuming that he’s clear of any medical issues. he’s been to the vet recently, right? 🙂
How old is he? I would also say that he is bored. Especially male cats play more rough then females. As humans don’t have thick fur to protect them, it hurts us more than other cats, if they play with us like they would with other cats.
I would also say to play alot with him. Best thing would be another cat companion if he lives alone. That way he can really play like cats do with each other.
But first you need to check if he has medical issues. Sometimes pain can cause such an behaviour.,
Fish question-my fish has a white area on both sides of his tail, looks like something is on him. He is also sitting vertically a lot and hasn’t eaten lately. Any ideas?
Sitting vertically could mean he is bloated. You are either feeding him too much or he cannot properly digest his food.
Thank you Michelle p for answering. He is on beta diet so I don’t think he should have a problem digesting right? As far as over eating, he hasn’t been eating at all. I put 4-5 pellets in like supposed to, he usually doesn’t even surface to see what it is. Now he is laying on the bottom of his bowl like he is not feeling well.
I have a 17- month old male GSD. We’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is attached to me but is OK when I go out. He watches me from a window and then lays down and waits or goes to my father and sits by him. He goes into his crate with no problem when we go out and he may bark for a few seconds but that is it. I work from home and felt daycare would be good for him to combat boredom, socialize him and allow me to work with focus. My vet recommended the daycare. My dog freaked out when I left him and just paced and panted. He then boarded at the daycare for 14 days to overcome the anxiety. He came home happy and calm and obedient. I took him back to daycare after one day at home, he ran right to his favourite staff person for a greeting and then he freaked when I left. I called to check on him and the owner said he is anxious again and that we need to address this now and we have scheduled a home visit. Before the boarding, my father had a habit of yelling and didn’t see anything wrong with a snout slap and I was overly affectionate and babying. The daycare owner feels this is the problem and that my dad abuses and I coddle. However, we were models of calm and patience and positive reinforcement when our boy came home. We really want to create and enjoy a fabulous dog so we agreed to police each other and give our dog what he needs and deserves. After the drop off this morning and the call with the daycare owner I am feeling dejected and I really don’t know what to think. Is my dog too attached to me? Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?
Sounds like separation anxiety, which a trainer could give you advice on. Also, a “snout slap”..that is a form of abuse, please, don’t let anyone hit your beloved puppy!!
Not saying that you abuse your dog at all, but hitting is hitting, and some might think nothing of it but my dogs are “family”, and I’d never raise a hand to them.
Just as a follow up, I do not agree with any form of hitting, or threatening with anyone’s pets. The reason he was boarded was to combat the separation anxiety. And as I said, even though my dad is 89 and “old school” he has agreed to never raise a hand or yell and we are now watching out for each other to curb any bad behaviour on our part. My worry is that after two weeks of boarding/training to curb the separation anxiety my boy was anxious again and not happy about me leaving him.
I say skip the daycare. Your dog is happier being at home waiting for you and spending time with your dad. I really don’t trust vets to give advice on behavior – most of them have not been trained in this! I would spend the time, energy, effort and money on training your dog to entertain himself at home so you can focus.
I worked out of my home for years with 2 to 7 dogs in my house. I fenced in 4 acres of land (I know most people can’t provide that much land for their dogs) and my terriers & shelties would go in and out the dog door – hunting for chipmunks, sunning, and occasionally checking on me while I worked. They were never disruptive to my job and if I was on the phone with a client a snap of my fingers told them to be silent.
For what you pay in daycare you could afford to have a trainer come to your house and work with you, your dad, and the dog! Or, you could take the dog to training classes to expose him to more dogs and people (this will be even less expensive than daycare!). Letting your dog be with his pack, and giving him a strong leader (a well trained YOU!) is going to make for a happier dog in the long run. Believe me!
What do dogs really want? They want their pack, their familiar space, a strong leader, and routine.
PK
My almost 5 year old Chihuahua/dachshund mix bit my 8 month old daughter in the face a few days ago. He is currently “quarantined” at home for 10 days. He is a normally good dog. He has always been very protective, hyper and a bit jumpy of new people. He has growled at people before but never attacked. My 8 month old daughter and the dog have never had a problem, but this day they were sitting next to each other and she was petting him, and then she grabbed his tail and he turned around and bit her in the face. I can no longer feel comfortable with the dog in the house around her. I do not want to put the dog to sleep as I feel this was a pretty isolated incident but she is too young to learn from her mistake so I feel it is very necessary to find him a new place to live. I am weary of trying to find him a new home in the chance he bites again, and I do not want to have that guilt over my head. Also, he is showing no signs of rabies but he has become more anxiety ridden since the attack/barking at all noises/people outside (with being quarantined though, I believe he is feeling depressed and scared). *Side note – I have a 9 year old son as well, who has been with the dog since a puppy (and my son was 4) and they have never really had any issues. The dog would get upset sometimes but he has never bitten my son. *Another side note – we recently moved (About 3 weeks ago) into a new home, and he has shown more anxiety/jumpiness since the move. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I do care about my dog a lot and want him to have a good life as he is not that old yet.
ANY sudden behavior changes should be met with a vet visit first to rule out any medical problems. please, take your dog to the vet and get him checked out. i’d also talk to a veterinary behaviorist about this situation.
DO NOT TAKE HIM TO A SHELTER! Doing so will condemn him to death. Even shelters that say they are no-kill often turn over dogs that have bitten to other organizations that then put the dog down. This allows the first place to keep their “no kill” label, but does not save the dog. These are highly strung dogs. You have made a lot of changes in his life, adding stress upon stress. I am not surprised that he defended himself in this way. The rule in my house is that NO CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF THREE gets to touch a dog, sit beside a dog, be allowed in a room alone with a dog. And – I do not approve any home with a child under the age of 7 to adopt one of my fosters since I feel 7 is the minimum age of reason in a human child (in other words at that age they can understand to LEAVE THE DOG ALONE).
If you have to remove that sweet dog from your home, call a reputable rescue in your area and try to find a good home for him. Perhaps his tail was pulled harshly and it was just a warning to your child, but I understand she is too small to know better. You can take him to a behaviorist and see what that say but please don’t put a family member in a shelter. Can you imagine what he would feel like after only know your family all these years. Best of luck to you!
Thank you for your honest advice.
This is one of the hardest situations I have ever had to deal with. He is definitely a family member, and this is why it is very conflicting for me. I have family members telling me to just send him to the humane society but I know what would happen and I cannot do that without feeling extremely guilty. If it was just me I would do anything to help the dog, but my husband does not agree. I am in a very difficult situation and heartbroken. I thank everyone for their honest advice and will take this all to heart and continue to soul search in which road I should take. I do not believe he needs to die in any way shape or form.
This is one of the hardest situations I have ever had to deal with. He is definitely a family member, and this is why it is very conflicting for me. I have family members telling me to just send him to the humane society but I know what would happen and I cannot do that without feeling extremely guilty. If it was just me I would do anything to help the dog, but my husband does not agree. I am in a very difficult situation and heartbroken. I thank everyone for their honest advice and will take this all to heart and continue to soul search in which road I should take. I do not believe he needs to die in any way shape or form.
i can’t imagine how difficult this is, but please, do the medical checks to make sure there isn’t something else going on. it’ll make it easier for a rescue to place him, as well.
The Humane Society should not even be on your radar! It is a sure death sentence for this poor boy. They take in so many dogs each year that they can only save the ones that are most adoptable! And a dog that has bitten is usually considered unadoptable by the HS. Your family members may mean well, but they don’t understand that by giving this boy a home you made a life long commitment to doing what is best for him – not just your human children. The only way to be sure he is not put to death is to keep the dog yourself (and work with a trainer to resolve the issues) or to surrender him to a Chihuahua Rescue. The Chi people understand the personality of this breed and will work to ensure he gets a home that understands how to work with his stress – helping him to be the best dog he can be. It comes down to how much time, energy and effort you want to expend to keep your family (dog and all) together. If you can’t make the time and spend the money for training then you have to find the Chihuahua rescue. Another option may be a ‘small dog’ rescue. There are some that specialize in small, feisty, dogs that have fear aggression issues.
Thank you, I will be looking into the Chihuahua rescue to see if they can assist me, I truly appreciate your help and honesty!
I don’t know where in the US you are located, but doing a quick search I found http://www.Chihuahua-rescue.org that is working out of the midwest. And there is a request form for more information on the Chihuahua Club of America at this link http://www.chihuahuaclubofamerica.com/contact-the-cca/contact-breed-rescue that may lead you to a person in your area for rescue.
Totally and absolutely agree with P K here. The brutal truth is you allowed this to happen by letting an 8 month old baby pull your dog around, and how many times has she done it before? Look at it from the dogs point of view, if someone was constantly poking you and pulling your hair what would you do?
You would retaliate. Which is just what your dog has done.
This is honestly not your dogs fault. You shut him away now and you are compounding the problem, I’m not surprised hes stressed and barking….dogs pick up on our emotions very well indeed.
Please don’t rehome this dog. Rather be sensible and keep your baby out of his way for both their sakes. Again I agree with PK I would not let a dog go to a home with a child under the age of 7 years when they are old enough to treat a dog with respect.
I had a problem like that, sometimes the Humane society won’t take a dog that has bitten before, also you would be killing that dog, also I believe I made the wrong choice by putting my dog down he was still a puppy (9 months old) but he had bitten and had drew blood, and I just didn’t feel safe around him, and like I said we put him down which was the hardest decision of my life, so I don’t want you to make a decision like me, be good and caring person and do not let that dog go, like you aid you had recently just moved and some dogs aren’t good with stress, and when you moved you cause your dog stress, don’t make the same ,mistake that I did and keep that dog, other wise whreveer you take him he will probably just die anyways, because not most dogs find good forever homes and live happily ever after your dog could likely get beaten or killed by others, so NO MATTER WHAT KEEP THE DOG.
Hey Brittany,
I just came across an article in The Whole Dog Journal about getting your dog ready to deal with a baby – this article mentions a company Family Paws Parent Education in Cary, NC which has a program, “Dogs and Toddlers” which is available to families through a worldwide network of more than 200 licensed presenters. Jennifer Shryock developed this program in response to a huge number of families that wanted to surrender a dog after an incident (bite) had already occurred with a child in the home. This program takes an in-depth look at helping the family dog successfully live with kids (and since he has been living with the 2 boys successfully I don’t think you have a big leap to hurdle!).
I can’t encourage you enough to give a trainer a try – they can help you design a training plan to keep everyone safe, while minimizing the dog’s anxiety.
One of the techniques recommended in the article is to teach your dog to be calm and happy in a room that is gated away from where the baby has access. This works best if it is a room where the dog can see your family. For example gate the kitchen so the dog can be in there with you while you cook and he can peek out and see the living room or family room. Since it is dangerous for babies to be in the kitchen anyway (hot food or knives falling, reaching for pot handles…!) it makes sense to let the dog be in there, but not the baby. The older boy can let himself through the baby gate to interact with the dog but the younger children are kept safely away in an area where they can be overseen but not touching the dog.
Ways to keep the dog happy in this space is to interact with him there, and when you are not interacting give him toys and chews to work on. A Kong stuffed full of goodness and then frozen will keep him content for hours. A trainer can help you with this!
I am just so worried for this sweet little guy! My best wish for him is that he stay in the home he has known his whole life, with the people he loves. But if that is out of the question I wish I could come scoop him up!
Great chart and videos about dogs and toddler supervision: http://familypaws.com/fpaw/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/5-types-Supervision-HR1.pdf
Thank you again for this information! I am full-heartedly trying to convince my husband that we can help our dog and keep him at the same time. He has had no prior aggressive behavior towards anyone in the family or anyone I bring into the home (the only aggression he has ever showed is to strangers when he is outside in the fenced yard – but I just think this is because he is very protective of his territory)…. I really do appreciate your opinions, help AND suggestions (rather than just being told I am at fault for everything).
I have 4 Khaki ducks, 3 female 1 male. We have seen them mate. I have a nest with 14 eggs in it. Can I candle them before she is done laying to see if they are fetile or do I have to wait until she goes broody and sits on them?
Wait.
Hi Cassandra,
Def wait…most of the time you can’t really see much until around day 8-10..
Good luck!!
~kelly
My Pekingese’s name is stitch and my grams Jack Russel is Petey and Petey has bitten stitch but he does not understand and still won’t leave him alone and I sit there for awhile just telling stitch to stop and then I say ” Bad boy” and put him in the cage. Help me please.
Please help someone. I just want him to stop being so obsessed with Petey and I want him to stay in my room. I’ve given him well over enough chances with Petey and yet he refuses to stop and I really need help.
leash him to you – the second he tries to go for Petey, the leash will stop him. don’t use the crate as a punishment, that’s a fast track way to get him to hate the crate.
Thank you Laura!
Honestly, it sounds like it could be caused by two things. Sexual maturity is one cause, and a possible solution is getting the dog fixed but in some cases it doesnt work. Another reason could be dominance. It’s common in dogs, and even females do it. You can try to focus your dogs attention on play or like my friend get the dog a toy to dominate instead.
Yeah I gave him a toy and he humps that lol but even when I’m sitting in bed giving him tons of attention he kind of tries to get a way and jumps off the bed crying and when I let him out he runs across the house to sit by my grams door crying so I pick him up and say ” No ” and then put him back in bed he just repeats this over and over and it’s almost like he doesn’t want me or anyone but Petey and Petey doesn’t want him at all and even when I let him out, he runs down the steps and just walks around and runs back up the steps without going to the bathroom. He won’t even play with me anymore he just wants Petey and it’s sad
And I want to get him fixed but Idk i just think that after getting bit a few times he should’ve learned to stop but he won’t.
he’s still a baby.
leash him to you when you can supervise, crate him when you can’t, and get him neutered. it won’t FIX the problem but it may help.
Thank you
Two days ago all my cat Morgan did was sleep and eat and I thought he just needed alone time so I ignored it. But during the night my cat started to vomit a green-yellow liquid and just sleeped. He wouldn’t eat or go to the restroom until the afternoon.During this time he was starting to act normal and eat. But then when he walk he had a small limp. As the hours past he couldn’t even walk or move. When he tries to sit up all he does is cry in pain. He hasn’t eaten since the afternoon and is currently sleeping. He has not been yet neutered or gotten all his vaccine since we barely found him in the street and are currently working on getting them done. He has an appointment tomorrow with his vet but am scared that he won’t survive the night and don’t like seeing in pain. Is their anything I can do to lessen his pain. And how would one transport him to the vet since with any movement his in pain.
Hello,
Sorry your cat is not feeling well.
To transport him to a vet, you’ll just have to be gentle with him. He needs to go so just take your time. Maybe slide a towel under him and wrap the sides up around him like a burrito,,then gently lift it and place him in a cat carrier. He will probably howl or hiss, but you’ve got to take him to be seen. Just do it quick but gentle.
If you have a cat carrier you can usually remove the top and just set him inside, then screw or snap the top back in place. If you don’t have a carrier, find a box, poke holes in it that are size of a quarter, then put him into the box for transport.
Good luck!!
~kelly
I’m kind of freaking out because I’m afraid the backyard, where we take him out to poop, is really infected, and also, the furniture that he sits on is infected.
Is there a for sure way to kill the eggs of these parasites from my yard and furniture? I’ve read on the internet that eggs only appear in places where he has pooped, so should I not be worried about the furniture?
Also, today I got him the medication he needs to treat these parasites. Will they completely clean the parasites, or will he probably have to do a second round of treatment?
Answers to my questions would be greatly appreciated!
This is not uncommon. Your vet should have given you meds to kill the parasites. They will probably recommend rechecking a fecal in a few weeks to make sure that all of the parasites are gone. In the meantime, pick up your dogs stool in the yard.
Thank you everyone who replied!
I have a 4 yr old female yorkshire terrier. Eaten June bugs. Resulted in diarrhea on an off for over a week. licking her butt and wanting to sit in the cool grass. I looked and it’s raw. Can i use silverdene?
he sounds like he might have bloat. can you get him to an emergency vet?
If he is with you need to find an emergency vet near where ever you are as soon as possible, this could be bloat, or a blockage. Both situations are life threatening. If he is at home you need to have whomever is watching him get him to a vet.