Dachshund In Mental Crisis

[doxielover]

Hello..my 3 yr old mini dachshund, Roxanne has not been herself for over a month. Vet checks find nothing wrong. She has been on anti inflamitory meds..just in case. She mopes around, lays and sleeps. She has always rang a bell at the door when she needed to go out. She all but refuses to go outside now. Appears to be wetting in the house rather than go out. She actually seems scared and reluctant to cross over the threshold to the door. (have tried various doors) No other dogs in the neighborhood. She used to come running whenever someone was cooking, now she just doesn't bother to get up. We have had a min pin since January and she took to him right away and played and slept with him. She will not let him near her now, barks when he gets too close. Both dogs are fixed. Vet thinks it's anxiety. Does anyone have any suggestions? Not only is her mood a drag, we got to get this outside thing under control! Help. Thanks, Roxanne's mom

[Evey]

I am not a vet. I have had dogs my whole life. Without seeing your dog in action, you are describing fear.

Have you tried taking your dog out regularly? It is certainly small enough to pick up. Keep it on a leash so that it knows you are nearby. No other dogs in your neighborhood, but what about kids? Or cats? Or mockingbirds or bluejays? Is the dog outside without supervision? Something could easily have frightened a dog that small, like firecrackers on the 4th of July. Is that when this started?

If this were my dog I would certainly not be medicating it without knowing that I needed to. If your vet could not find anything wrong I am concerned that he gave you meds.

[doxielover]

The meds were given because she seemed to walk very timedly like maybe something was hurting her. She has stopped jumping up on furniture and they thought maybe her joints were aching. Yes, she does seem fearful to go outside, but I can not figure out the reason. She won't even go near the door to let me know that she wants out. I have tried 3 different doors because I thought that something might have spooked her at one of them. She literally will leap over the door threshold. I even sent the min pin away for a week to see if he might be the problem, but she remained the same. I also take them out at different times so that he is not around when she goes out. I am baffled. Thanks for your reply.

[Evey]

This might sound wierd, but if you have a metal threshold have you checked to see if there is any kind of an electrical charge going through it? I ask this only because I had this happen at my old house. There was a short in the wiring behind the wall and there was a slight (to us) zap on the threshold. The cats alerted us to this by jumping over instead of just walking, so we figured that they must have both gotten hit by it. Wearing rubber soled shoes all of the time we never noticed it. We were lucky that the house didn't burn down.

[kitin]

i feel sorry for that dog, do things slowly, dont force her to do something that she doesnt want to do as of now,she needs much love, comfort and security as of now.Patience, she will go back to her attitude b4 if u will be consistent with the practices that you want to implement.goodluck. update me with your dog. Maybe she's juz scared now, i hope shell be ok

[dlaura]

I have to agree with Evey here in that I wouldn't want to be giving my dog meds that weren't necessary. Almost seems more like she needs something for the anxiety rather then anti inflamatory meds.


Evey, what a good thought about the threshold/shocks being involved. For a dog that was housetrained to the point of ringing a bell to go out - to turn around so drastically has got to indicate something happened. Doxies are very small so even a small shock could really hurt her.

There are several things I would do in this case. First if it were my dog I would stop the meds, second I would revert to treating her just like a puppy with being in a crate when no one could watch her 100% of the time, third I would start by carrying her out and over the threshold and back in the same way, fourth (maybe most important) I would get a second opinion.

Good Luck and please continue to update us on how this situation progresses. I feel so sorry for your little doxie.

[NewfieGrl]

I agree with the posters above. Definately get her off the anti inflamatory meds. It doesn't sound as if that is the issue. She is to young to be on them and there are side affects related with them. dlaura gave good advise as to how to work with her. Maybe that will help. You may also want to look into some homeopathic remedies. They have remedies that are made for stress, anxiety and so on. Even if it were soreness or stiffness, I would also go the natural route first with that also before reverting to the prescription meds.
Good luck and keep us updated.
Michele
owned by 2 Newfies, a cocker spaniel and 3 cats.

[colin0173]

You say "She will not let him near her now, barks when he gets too close", I cant help feeling the problem is between the two of them. Does he get into her food? does he let her eat in peace? does she stay by your side all the time you are there? Is there anything that tells her she has been replaced by him? Has he taken "over" the yard when they go out? I am thinking her wetting in the house could be to let him know it is her house?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, I think a few tests might be on order. Maybe try put him in a closed room alone for a few minutes and take her out alone to see if she acts any differently - i'd try this a few times. I'd also set up my video camera and let it record on slow speed when I leave them alone in the house just to make sure all is normal. I am not suggesting min pin is doing anything on purpose.

I could be way off base with my thoughts, but think it is worth a look at.

[dlaura]

That is an excellent thought colin, but I think that the OP said she had sent the male dog away for a week or so and the doxie's situation remained exactly the same.

My concern is the dog is also showing side effects to the meds -- just like human would when you just don't feel right and don't know why.

[colin0173]

dlaura, i did not notice that, i see it now. that does narrow this situation down alot. your advice in post #6 is spot on. it may be worth doing a google on the meds to look for possible side effects, it may have some answers. i could not find name of med in this thread.

thanx for pointing out what i missed :)

[NewfieGrl]

Hi Colin,
If they are anti-inflammatory meds they are most likely in the family of rimadyl, metacam, deramaxx and so on. They can have side affects on the liver.
My eight year old newfie has arthritis and I have a prescription for metacam for him. I take him to acupuncture and also have him on an agility supplement. These have helped me drastically reduce the amount of metacam I give to him. Sometimes he can now go several weeks without having a dose.
Michele
owned by 2 Newfies, a cocker spaniel and 3 cats.
Michele
owned by 2 newfies, a cocker spaniel and 3 cats.