My dog is getting harder to care for.

[Myhouseismyprison]

My dog is 9 years old (jack cross). He was fine as a puppy but when we got him neutered, there were complications and after that we were not able to pick him up without him snapping. Over the years he has developed a very grumpy attitude with just about everything.

He is fine as long as everyone respects his boundaries. He has growled over the years and caught my husband and I a couple of times when he snapped (not a proper bite) but in general he is a very easy dog who thrives on routine and we just respect what we can and can’t do with him. It only raises issues if we need to do something that he isn’t used to and as he gets older, he is getting less tolerant of us giving him care.

I muzzle him if I need to groom him but I am finding this more and more difficult. He is getting more and more distressed the older he gets to the point, he goes rigid as soon as the muzzle is on. I have had professional help and vets have ruled out any issues. Today he has got himself tangled in those spiky things and I can’t get them off him even with a muzzle on.

Has anyone got any advice on how to support him. I have tried all of the usual tricks. What would you do in this situation?

Is he in pain?

No pain as far as we can determine. He has been vet checked.

Has he had a pain trial? He sounds like he’s really struggling.

Stop picking him up! I have a terrier and only pick her up if necessary. She tolerates it in those situations.

He needs a pain trial. Discuss it with your vet. He’s struggling and it sounds pain related. JRTs often struggle with knee pain (luxating patellar) so x rays would be prudent. A quick once over by the vet isn’t good enough. Adrenaline will mask pain and poor function.

Agree with PP re adrenaline. There was a poster a while ago who's dog was hit by a van and it ran away - lost it's leg. Dogs in pain are flooded with adrenaline and don't appear to be sick.

Also, people up their dogs way too often. Dogs are not toys and, with the exception of placing them on a veterinary table or into a car, there is never any real reason to pick them up - too many people pick up their dog for no reason, and it does cause issues. Just because it appeared after he was neutered does not mean he was happy before - more likely the change in hormones just made his unhappiness more obvious.

Finally, a lot of dogs hate muzzles. You have to muzzle train a dog over the course of weeks and months to get them properly used to it - so unless you did that, the poor thing is probably incredibly stressed in the muzzle which, if he's already stressed, will just make everything a hundred times worse...

Take your dog for another check, ask for x-rays. He sounds like he's in pain and/or just terrified of being handled. If you can't afford it or can't cope and work with someone to really help him, then you should rehome him. Sorry if that wasn't what you wanted to hear, but this doesn't sound like aggression - it sounds like abject terror and/or pain.

I'd be interested to know when he has snapped - was he being touched, or man-handled.

We never pick him up. We respect his boundaries and this has allowed us to keep all of our fingers over the years. He is very affectionate but we allow him to initiate the affection which he does so by coming over and nudging our hands. If he chooses to sit alone, everyone knows to leave him.

He has also had X-rays. The problem began after his neuter operation had complications and he ended up with a nasty infection. We had X-rays when he was 2 and again when he was 5. We went to the vets again recently but they didn’t feel another X-ray was necessary as the aggression predates both X-rays. I will call them again on this as not heard of a pain trial. Is this different to an X-ray?

A pain trial is literally taking pain meds over a period of time to see if there is behavioural improvement. You may need to try different types and/or doses over a few weeks but it can highlight subtle issues.

Also how is his gut? Poo firm? Good weight? Those can also contribute to behaviour.

A pain trial is giving them painkillers for a week or two and seeing if there’s any difference in behaviour. There are lots of physical issues that won’t show up on x-rays, so while they’re useful, they’re not perfect.

Agree with a pain trial. Also ask your vet for anti anxiety drugs for grooming time etc or for before vet visits. Very common for dogs to need these drugs as anxiety and behaviour issues are endemic in the current dog population.

He probably needs his knees checking at the very least - my spaniel has just been diagnosed with luxating patellas in both knees at 20 months old just after one incident of limping - it's a very severe case - grade 3 and will need surgery on both knees so wouldn't rule it out as PP said jack russles are prone to it.
My spaniel was DX without x-rays. He's on anti inflammatory in the interim and he's doing better but we can't ignore the fact he will need surgery rather than later.
He didn't even exhibit that much pain symptoms despite the severity.

I am surprised that my vet hasn’t even suggested this. I will ring them now and insist we give it a try.

I’d honestly be really surprised if there’s not some underlying issue like pain

It’s IME pretty unusual to not be able to groom a dog you’ve owned that long… even one with challenging behavioural issues.

One of my current dogs was originally a foreign rescue, he has to be drugged and muzzled for the vets, is on longterm behavioural medication and has to be kept away from visitors (just to fully illustrate his issues)

The only issue I have is that he gets panicky if he’s restrained for me to do things, as long as I don’t do that, I can groom him, clean teeth, remove ticks, use a grinder on his nails, poke at injuries etc. in fact he quite enjoys being brushed and gets excited about his nails being done because he gets the good treats for it.

i’ve had other dogs with similar behavioural issues (not quite as severe) and they were even easier for me to handle. I once shaved and cleaned a hotspot on a dog of mine in the vets because if they did it he’d need sedated, but he’d let me do it no problem.

So yeah, if he’s reacting to you - who he should trust doing benign at worst things to him, to me that’d definitely suggest there’s something going on.

Lots of dogs shut down in the vets, (mine does) so won’t show pain, especially fiesty little Terrors

a long term pain relief trial as some of this behaviour could now be learned/automatic response- and he’d need to learn again that it doesn’t hurt (that prob doesn’t happen in a week)

Good luck - and don’t be afraid to get a second opinion too xx

So much could be going on physically. Over 90% of behavioural cases are based on pain or poor health.

It could be poor eye sight, teeth ears so many things that an x ray would not pick up. I would be asking for blood tests (you should do these anyway before starting a pain med trial) Urine samples as minimum.

I do hope you can get him more comfortable soon.

Re muzzle wearing do sometimes pop the muzzle on and do good things to the dog. Very quickly the putting on of the muzzle can be an indication to the dog that something horrid is going to happen and they tense up regardless of what you are doing to them.

I've got a different view. I've got a 3 year old feisty patterjack and that's just the way he's made. He's intact but his brothers were neutered and that's given them issues too. Mine won't allow people to groom him or trim his nails. Mine won't allow anything done to him that he doesn't want. It's just the way some terriers are and the reason why so many end up in rescue.

We have a rescue collie who won't let us handle her at all - or only on her terms. It's not related to pain, she just has really bad trust issues.

Sorry that wasn't too helpful. The way my daughter approaches is it is to always let her feel in control, often with treats, or using things such as a scratch mat which she will paw on command to file her nails, and is then given a treat. But there's a limit to what we can do.