We really are at a loss with our older dog. She was a rescue who we adopted at 18 months so she is nearly 5.5 years old now. No reported aggression from those who gave her up and none observed while she was in kennels. They even advised she could live with older children). She has always been very highly strung due to her breed mix (husky cross). She can be aloof at times but does sometimes seek out contact, for example, if the mood takes her she will come up and snuggle next to one of us while watching tv. She is the sort of dog where it’s always very clear whether she is is a good mood or whether anxious/fearful.
In recent years there have been two bite incidents. Both involved altercations with another (female) dog where the dog walker got in the middle of it. Given the nature of these incidents we were not unduly concerned and neither was the dog walker who knew her well. We saw a behaviourist following this who said from what they assessed that she didn’t seem to be an aggressive dog and she could be managed given the nature of what happened. We have no children and our second younger dog is male - they get on well and apart from playing together, which is very balanced, he generally leaves her be (usually glued to us). They have existed happily together for the last 3 years.
In the last 6 months she has become increasingly intolerant of being handled when needed, for example to go in the bath/be brushed and has air snapped at us on occasion. Previously this has never been an issue and we would placate her with treats while the other washed her, it’s now impossible.
In the last 6 weeks or so we have noticed that she has become very intolerant/grumpy in the evenings, snapping at my husband if he needs to step over her which has never been a problem as we would verbally announce ourselves (she has great form for lying in the middle of walkways in the house) or if accidentally nudged (she was curled up at our feet in bed and reacted when one of us moved). She has always been the sort of dog to take herself off for a nap and we have noticed when coming into our room (she sometimes naps on our bed) she seems frozen/dazed when we switch the light on and it’s very clear from her body language not to approach. Last week my husband went up to our room, switched the light on, went back out to use the loo, went back in and sat at the foot of the bed. She rolled over to him on her back, he rubbed her tummy as she was being wiggly and seemed like she usually is when she’s being playful and wants a tummy rub (as opposed to lifting her paw on her back - we know this from her is a polite leave me alone), she rolled back on her front, he lay down, no actual contact and she lost it, reacted and bit him breaking the skin.
He is devastated but insists he wasn’t doing anything which we know would have provoked her, as I said we know her behaviour pretty inside out at this point.
We know vet is first port of call for a full check up, but our worry is if there is no obvious medical cause what the next steps are. Ever since the first bite incident, even though it seemed to have an explanation at the time I’ve been on eggshells and constantly worry about her and if I’m honest, in my gut, I’ve since then wondered if there’s something wrong. This is even more stark a contrast with other dog who I never worry about. Other than the aggression/intolerance and the ‘dazed’ evening episodes we haven’t observed any other physical concerns although we are keeping an eye and have removed access to our room so we can watch her. We did wonder if she was now resource guarding the room although she has never displayed any resource guarding previously. Even booking the vet is proving to be heart wrenching as we both worry it’s the beginning of the end even though we owe it to her to get her properly checked out.
Just wondered if anyone had experienced anything similar or had any advice.