3 weeks post surgery and I have a different dog

[tay796]

Long story short, we got Jay in January. It was not planned. His owner unexpectedly passed away and he didn’t last long at his nieces house because she already had 4 dogs and they did not get along.

He’s had a lump since we got him, I’ve kept an eye on it, it didn’t get bigger and it didn’t seem to be causing him any pain. Vet didn’t think it was anything to worry about so we left it (mistake 1).

Jay hated everyone, cats, dogs, birds, cars, everything except people really. We bought a harness and that seemed to help with the pulling and lunging but dogs still barked at him and he still barked at everything except like 3 dogs in the neighbourhood. Never did dog things like roll in the grass, just sniff and bark.

About a month ago I was patting him and he yelped. Took him to the vet, biopsy came back inconclusive, a week later he had surgery (benign thank goodness but much bigger than they thought, it wasn’t just the lump there was flat tissue growing along his chest spreading out from the lump). Well we’re at almost 4 weeks post surgery now and I have a completely different dog. Still hates cats and birds but he’s happy, he’s running around like a mad man playing with things, he rolls in the grass, and most importantly dogs have stopped barking at him and he’s stopped retaliating if they do. We can also walk passed cats 9/10 now without a reaction. You always get told dogs are good at hiding pain but I never realised how well, it probably doesn’t help this was how he was from the time we got him so we never saw any behavioural changes ourselves.

TLDR if your dog is having behavioural issues take them to the vet, the difference in our boy is astounding.

 

[dantecak]

@tay796 That's amazing! I find it really interesting that other dogs could sense something was going on with him - animals really are incredible.

Give him a great big hug from an internet stranger and enjoy your play time! He must be so happy to finally be able to actually be himself

 

[tay796]

@dantecak Oh I know, it’s really incredible the difference we’ve seen, like I wasn’t expecting it

 

[dantecak]

@tay796 I bet he feels free as a bird now. Puppyhood 2.0 for him! Enjoy!!

 

[ohara]

@dantecak Considering dogs can smell cancer, they probably smelled he was sick. Also, behaviorally, dogs will sense the weakest dog and probably intended to put him out of his misery? I have heard that this can happen although I don't know if this is true. I'm glad he feels so much better.

 

[curiouswalrus]

@tay796 I'm so happy for you guys! That must be a very welcome change. I feel a bit guilty admitting this but I hope this is the case with our dog. We're taking him in for some x-rays and blood test next week. I'm hoping they find something, preferably treatable, that would help explain his behavior. But at the same time I don't want him to have been in pain this whole time.

 

[tay796]

@curiouswalrus I feel you, honestly knowing he’s been in pain this whole time makes us both feel so bad. We felt really guilty for getting him the surgery when he first came home because he was so scared and stressed and wouldn’t come near us for the first couple of days after his op, but on day 3 he curled up between us in bed and since then he’s been such a happy zoomy little man. Trying to get him to rest for 2 weeks was an effort. Terrier + no walkies = mad house

 

[seektobegood]

@tay796 I’m so happy for him, and for you too! Pet pain tolerance always surprises me. My big guy, Moose, is very active and has had multiple dew claw injuries. He never shows any signs of pain but when I find the bend or bleeding nail, I feel so sad! Even the vet commended him when it only took one person to clip the nail back and bandage it. Hardly flinched!

 

[matt5963]

@tay796 Just going to drop this here to see if anyone else can speak to it: does it often mean something if dogs seem extra inclined to bark at your dog? OP, I'm guessing you think dogs were barking at your boy because he was sick, which makes sense. But ours is not (and let's say, for the sake or argument, that I'm definitely right about that), and dogs almost uniformly go out of their way to bark at him. I've watched them do it after fully ignoring other dogs. It's kind of baffling. He's fixed, etc.

Our dog is super reactive to other dogs, but not people, and frankly is just an extra strange animal who's almost always manic when we walk him. We sometimes wonder if he's a bit "touched" and other dogs know this.

 

[tjrc7777]

@matt5963 My dog used to stare at other dogs which always makes them bark at him since it's rude in dog world. I've also heard some things like a high tail and upright ears can be construed as the dog being menacing.

Read about some dog language and see if your dog is displaying any of the "rude" behaviors!

 

[greene58]

@tjrc7777 How did you work on staring? My dog has stopped reacting, but she knows she will eventually get the treats after the trigger stops. So she will stare until the trigger is gone and then turn to me for the treat.

I don't want to stop treating her when triggers are around, since quietly watching is better than her barking and/or pulling to go home in fear, but the staring gets to be too much.

 

[tjrc7777]

@greene58 If he won't turn to look at me but doesn't look like he's about to bark I put the treat by his nose. Then the next treat is by his nose but I hold on to one end of it while he holds on to the other and slowly move my hand so his head turns towards me. I keep holding on the end of it and just let him lick/nibble the treat in my fingers if I don't think I can get the next treat out fast enough. Dried liver or boiled chicken strips works well for this!

When we first started I just had to shovel chicken into his mouth, or sometimes physically block his view of the other dog if he is becoming fixated. As he gets better we got to the point that he turns his head away for the treat on his own. Now when he hears barking he looks at me! He is extremely food motivated though, so that was helpful. I would suggest not trying to move to the 'next level' of treat dispensing until they're reliably calm at the current treat dispensing rate.

 

[tranikamarie]

@tjrc7777 Well explained!

 

[vanda]

@matt5963 I think the dog was being grumpy and the dogs reflected it back and forth at each other. As a human with chronic pain issue, so many people get offended by my “I am in a lot of pain face.”

And very frequently make it about them, e.g. “Why are you mad at me!?!”

When dogs see a dog acting scared or wound up, they think it’s for a reason. So sometimes you see the other dogs trying to dominate or control them.

 

[tay796]

@vanda This exactly, as someone with chronic pain myself I know I often give off grumpy vibes and dogs are very big on physical cues so every dog was probably taking offence

 

[prosedorothy]

@tay796 I had a similar experience with my rescue. I got him at 5 years old. Had been abused so I chalked A lot of his behaviour up to that.

I’ve had them about a year and a half when he collided with another dog at the dog park and his neck Swoll up. Took him to the vet and discovered that he had a tumour on his thyroid. Had a tumour removed in February of this year and much like you he became so loving and cuddly and sweet and happy I really think the poor guy had been in pain On top of everything else. I had taken my guy to the vet several times and this was not diagnosed as it wasn’t visible Until he collided with another dog and ruptured the wall.

Just shows that not all behaviour is mental some of it may be physical pain

 

[tay796]

@prosedorothy Yeah we put his behaviour down to the traumatic death of his owner (dogs were in the house at the time) and getting bounced around. Clearly we were wrong though because he’s so much happier now, absolutely mental as terriers can be but he’s so much more affectionate than before. My OH is jealous because he’s a big mamas boy now whereas when we first got him he was aaaaaaalllll about my partner.

 

[prosedorothy]

@tay796 That’s so sweet! I still get excited when he does something new, like yesterday, he sat next to me and put his paw on my lap then laid his head down there too! I was giddy! Lol. I love that he has the ability to give love now, and I wonder how long he was suffering.

 

[jwazzi]

@tay796 If you never saw their "before" issues you could never have known that it was a change in behavior. I thought my beagle was lazy and not into food. My old vet told me everything was fine, but he started to have back problems that got worse and worse and I kept being told nothing was wrong. Finally we switched vets and yep, he has back problems. Now with the right medications he's like a puppy- energetic, playful and hungry. I still feel guilty I didn't change vets sooner but I trusted them.

 

[teampancho]

@tay796 This is interesting - we adopted our dog in August and he is the same in that he hates bikes, people on our walks, loud cars, etc. He loves people when he can sniff them/get close enough to them, but at a distance is a no no. I started noticing this with him more frequently within the past couple weeks or so, which is also when I noticed a lump developed on his left back leg. This post gives me some insight that his behavioral issues could be caused by this as well..definitely something to keep in mind. We have not been to the vet for this yet, but plan to go next week