Your dog just isn’t right. Something’s wrong with your dog. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is. But you know something’s off. What do you do?
When your dog’s not acting normally, but eating, sleeping, and eliminating pretty much like always, there aren’t any concrete symptoms. Do you have a veterinarian who will listen to your concerns? It’s at least worth a call, if not a visit.
Trust your instincts
You know your dog best. You know what’s normal for your dog; what their usual sleeping patterns, play schedule, walking, eating. When they’re reluctant, or refusing, to do some trained behavior you know they know. All of it is part of your day and when something’s not quite right, you can tell.
Even if there’s something in the way they’re holding themselves, or walking funny. You may not even be able to tell exactly what’s different, you just know something’s going on.
Dogs are notorious for being stoic. Oftentimes, they won’t show that something’s wrong until it becomes urgent. Hopefully, even severe reactions will turn out to be nothing, but it’s better to take an unnecessary trip to the vet than to find out you should have.
We certainly have that down pat. Years ago, we came home from work to find our Boston Terrier Daemon in severe pain. Just touching him elicited screams. We’ll never forget the white-knuckle, snowstorm drive to the emergency vet. When we got there, he wasn’t yelling any longer, but he was tender to the vet’s touch. She took x-rays. He had gas. That’s all it was. And we gladly paid the bill.
Don’t wait for urgent
If you do think your dog’s got something going on, try to take notes when you see something off. If it persists for more than a day or two, take your dog and your list to the veterinarian. Physical examination and your notes together may give your dog’s doctor the clues they need to come up with an answer. In many ways, vets are like detectives. Their patients can’t tell them where it hurts, so they must rely on other clues to lead them to a diagnosis.
You never know what tidbit of data will provide the “aha!” moment for your veterinary professional. Something like knowing that your dog is spitting up between meals, rather than after, could be vital information. That led our vet to suspect acid reflux in Roc, Hope’s Brussels Griffon. A simple daily dose of an over-the-counter medication eased the symptoms and stopped the problem from worsening.
Pay attention
One of the reasons we have a regular, weekly grooming schedule for our dogs is to check them out. Are they twitching when we brush them in a certain place? That led to the discovery that Tango’s arthritis is bad in a particular spot in his spine. Is he reluctant to let you brush his teeth or look in his mouth? That’s how we found out that Booker had a bad tooth. An infected tooth can have serious health consequences.
Don’t make yourself crazy worrying about the little things you observe. Make notes and revisit them in a couple of days. Chances are whatever it was has resolved. Like when Fran’s 15-year-old Brussels Griffon Tango (pictured) is moving particularly gingerly one day. We noted it, with the recollection that he’d fallen out of bed the day before. If his movement was still off, we had the history to share with his doctor. He was fine, so the note was discarded.
You know when something’s off with your dog. Don’t dismiss your concern out of hand. Try to pinpoint the difference you notice, and be ready to share that information.
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