Help me solve my dog's mystery!

[DinaDirvla]

Can any wise dog-savvy MNers help me unravel this weird behavioural change going on with my dog?

He's a 2 year old border terrier, neutered, very happy bouncy daft dog. Not in the least neurotic, takes everything in his stride. Has been diagnosed with IBD, is under various medications but still has daily episodes at home where he tears hair out of his tail and haunches and has belly pain (it's not anal glands, all checked and they are empty and unremarkable). Been under the vet for many months and we're still experimenting with meds.

Back in November he started getting a bit obsessed with sniffing the leg of the coffee table (it was new to us from somewhere that refurbs and paints them). Then the next leg and the next leg, over about a week until he was going round and round it, intensely sniffing, whenever he went in the room. He has never marked it and doesn't attempt to. We cleaned it with enzyme remover but no change.

Over the last 8 weeks or so this has developed into him really disliking being in that room at all. He'll might lie on the floor in the doorway or at the edge of the room, he might lie on his mat up in the big bay window and look out during the day, but he won't sit in with us in the evening or lie in front of the log burner (he loved the heat in the beginning but rarely sits near it now).

The sniffing has now spread to dozens of random items across the rest of the house, and he has taken up a strange, crouched, anxious stance when he does it. It tends to escalate in the evenings and first thing in the morning (usually the times he gets belly discomfort).

This weekend we've come away for a few days, to a holiday cottage. And despite the new surroundings, the strong winds making the roof vibrate and the smell of previous dogs in this cottage - he has performed none of his usual anxious obsessive sniffing rituals, neither has he displayed any of his usual belly-pain behaviours. In fact, he hasn't properly relaxed during the day in his own home for 8 weeks, yet in a strange environment smelling of other dogs he's currently snoring on the floor in the sunlight. He's been fussing about his back end every morning for weeks, yet here he's not shown a single sign of it.

That suggests to me that his behaviours are specific to our house. We've thought long and hard as to what has changed, particularly in that room, in the month that it started, and the answer is pretty much everything (carpet, furniture, log burner).

Another possibility is that he got some kind of fright in there one day and associates pain or fear with that room, using the sniffing as a soothing behaviour - fell off the windowsill; or got a static shock from one of the acrylic throws on the couches or from the furry rug; maybe he was snoozing in front of the burner and one of the logs made a pop or rolled onto the glass and scared him; or he got a fright from a loud noise related to the building work going on.

But, even if we were to establish what started it all off, how do we get him past it so he's happy and relaxed in his own home again?

Sorry its long but was trying to be thorough

A particular cleaning smell he doesn't like? Polish?

We wondered if the paint on the coffee table was being warmed by the fire and giving off a smell - he'd been fine with the table in the month before we first lit the fire.

But now he sniffs everything all over the house perhaps its the proverbial red herring - he's sniffing anything/everything to soothe his anxiety now, and maybe it just happened to be the table that was nearest when he started doing it?

But in any case - no polish in use, nothing scented in there apart from a candle that's been there a year and came from our old house. The behaviour coincided with lighting the new log burner for the first time, and getting a new furry rug to go in front of it.

Right around this time I've also remembered that there was a really pungent, chemical smell outside. A disgusting, metallic, creosote-type smell that burned your nostrils - it hung in the air for 4 days when it was dry and still weather, and DH and I thought we were going mad because no one else in our road could smell it. We now think it's some kind of treatment on the surrounding fields, we still get a whiff now and again. If it was that powerful for us it must have been terrible for the dog...

Has he got any doggy friends who could visit? Many dogs don't like another dog's small in their home but if he is responding well on holiday you may find that having the smell of his friend being happy there comforting.

I’d get rid of the coffee table as that seemed to be the trigger

Any plug ins aggravating his sense of smell?

We have certainly considered moving the table out to see if it changes anything!

He LOVES other dogs and yes, he has a friend who could visit. I fear he would be sad when she left though.

Maybe a few days away from the house will help. We are thinking about a 2nd dog - mainly because we would like another, but also because he enjoys the company of other dogs and is happier when they are around. But if he's got this anxiety thing happening, what if an addition makes him worse and he becomes reactive or more unhappy? I don't want to ruin him, it could be terrible timing.

No Santa, no plug-ins! We don't have much "smelly" stuff.

Do you have any new appliances or electrical items in your home?

DM's Jack Russel had a similar experience and it turned out to be the new dishwasher. We think it emits some sort of high pitched tone or sound, inaudible to us, but sends her demented, shaking and pushing herself under the sofas. It was gradual and it got worse over time. Took a long time time figure what it was. Now the dishwasher can only go on on its shortest cycle while she is out for a long walk as she can hear it all over the house. She also dislikes the plug in mouse repellant things.

Sounds like the anxiety started with the coffee table so I would move it (stick it in the garage or a friend’s house for a bit) and see how his behaviour is. Sniffing is a type of stress reliever and it does sound like your terrier is trying to cope with stress. His escalating behaviour sounds like trigger stacking that’s built to the point he doesn’t want to go near you in the evening. Also he is fine when you went somewhere completely new so I would suspect there is something in your house triggering the behaviour. While you can remove the table be aware his behaviour may not change overnight and it might take him a little while to relax (if the table is the trigger).

Interesting Dorothy - we do have a new dishwasher but it's only been in a week, so it's not that. But we are doing up the house so we are constantly adding new things - will have a good look to see if something is being triggered or there's a sound that's inaudible to us. I wonder if a neighbour has put in one of those sonic cat scarer things or something, and he can hear them when they are triggered?

That's a really good shout, will investigate.

Yes, thanks TheGift we used to have trouble with trigger stacking with our last terrier, although for her the trigger was going for a walk!

He does get a bit nervous during the day when DH is using noisy power tools, and DH might curse loudly or drop something which sometimes spooks the dog.

I'll see if DH can be persuaded to stick the table in the garage, although I admit I'm sceptical because it's all gone so much further than just the table now.

I got one of those calming dof plug in things - Adaptil as ours had a very bad fright with fireworks at New Year and then was displaying very stressed behaviours for two hours each evening even though there were no bangs. She seems to have calmed and I add Yucalmvand hemp oil to her dinner.

I've been looking at the Adaptil diffusers, definitely worth a shot I reckon...may not work but for £18.50 we can try!

Poor dog, he's such a good and easy boy and I'm so upset that something is stressing him out where he is supposed to feel safe. I really hope I can work it out, for his sake.

As he's a border terrier, worth looking into Spikes disease ( canine epileptoid cramping syndrome) It is prevalent in the breed, and dogs that have it can show signs of gastrointestinal upset/pain, itching and biting the skin, and can often show neurological signs- which can present as seizure-like episodes, where the dog suffers severe muscle cramping. Could be possible this is linked to his unusual sniffing/behaviour etc? It can be helped by a fully gluten free diet.
My brothers border has this, he had all of the gastro/skin allergy type signs, and eventually progressed to the full spasms, which were quite distressing. He is so much better on a strict diet, and only has a flare up if he manages to scavenge something he shouldn't eat!
Of course in no way am I saying the diagnosis of his other conditions is wrong, but it might be worth a chat with your vet?

Funnily enough I raised that with the vet Jellycat, when he had a very peculiar episode (long before the sniffing started) - vet told me to video him if it happened again (sudden fear and shaking, unwilling to move hind legs, took him a few hours to recover) but he hasn't done it since.

I've mentioned his "behavioural change" at his last two consultations, but they don't seem to take it in and put everything down to IBD and a protein intolerance. It's as though they are blinded by this one big thing, to the exclusion of everything else.

That episode sounds very similar to what dogs with CECS do, they are conscious and responsive the whole time, so not like an epileptic type seizure, however the muscle spasms can sometimes look like a seizure. They can last just a few seconds or several minutes.
Is he already on a special diet for his IBD?
As I say, it may not be this, but what you wrote sounds very similar to what my brother experienced- his dog started attacking his own feet and skin, and would have lots of GI upsets/apparent abdominal pain. his behaviour was a bit odd at times, staring into space, lip smacking - which they put down to tummy pain, and he then started having the tremors/episodes which could last several minutes, and were really upsetting to see.
From his experience, I would say maybe not all vets are familiar with this disease. My brother saw a new vet at his practice, after one of the episodes, who straight away knew what it was likely to be. He does occasionally need extra medications for this skin, as this does seem to flare up more than the other symptoms.
I definitely do not want to sound like your vets have made any mistakes with the diagnosis of his other conditions, I may just be clouded by my brothers experience! but perhaps asking them about trialling a gluten free diet, as long as they didn't think this would impact his health, would be helpful?

Dog has been fine until yesterday morning when he refused breakfast then went on to vomit and have diarrhea.

He is still refusing food, is very lethargic but is drinking. He vomited again last night just yellow bile as obviously his stomach was empty. I've tired him on his usual go to foods when I'll but he just isn't interested.

Reading up about this virus that is going round it's sounds very similar however we are in the east of Scotland and haven't been to any beaches for over a week.

Anyone else in Scotland experiencing the same?

Sorry wrong thread

No diffusers? Many essential oils are poisonous to dogs.

You say it started with the log burner? Could it be a noise or smell emitted from that?

Just as an aside - do you have any neighbours with a device in the garden to deter cats? They emit a high pitched tone that animals hate, and due to him being ok in the holiday property it might be that he’s not hearing the tone.

Obviously look into the medical side of things as well as suggested above. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Poor dog

I’d try and take the house back to “zero” for a bit. Turn off every electric appliance you can as much as you can, stop your DH using power tools and making excessive noise for a week, move that coffee table out, fling the windows wide open for as many hours as you can to clear any smells. Then in the evenings after he’s been walked I’d sit on the floor fussing him with some of his favourite treats to nibble.

Then re-introduce stuff really gradually and see how he copes.

I would also suggest maybe trialling a gluten free diet.

Take out coffee table if a major trigger and also
Could it be the log burner if that is also new and letting off fumes/ carbon monoxide / other?

I read another thread on here about someone refusing to take a baby to a pub with a log burner and debates over whether reasonable- and several posted about the possible contaminants from them

Could you experiment with not using it for a week, really airing the room well and opening windows (on a sunny "warm" January day!!) and see if he settles down?

I know you said he initially liked it, but perhaps it now causes issues for him? Have you got a carbon monoxide sensor in the room. Animals are often more sensitive to that than us.

Then if settles re introduce one at a time and see what happens.

Thanks all, we've a few things to try now!

@Girlintheframe I hope your dog feels better soon.

Has your log burner been checked recently?

It's brand new and all signed off Electriq. We've only used kiln-dried logs. The dog loved it initially, slept in front of it. After about 3 weeks of use he suddenly got really anxious about it - he grudgingly got in his bed this evening but he's definitely not happy in that room.

He's generally fine everywhere else and outside, it's (mostly) that room, in the evenings, whether the burner is lit or not. When he was sitting looking around anxiously in there earlier, I watched where his eyes go (our old terrier would look at whatever was bothering her, she alerted me to giant hidden spiders and even a hornet once) - he was looking at the TV unit, but there's nothing weird there that I can identify...