Strange Behaviour After Vaccination

[Snout Girl]

Hi all

Thursday night Sally received her yearly C5 vaccination.

Since then she has been acting very aggresively towards Bert, something I have never seen in 2 years of owning both of them.

Friday I was getting dressed with a dog sititng either side- no food or toys around. Sally was curling her lip and showing her teeth at him and then launched at him. It was over quickly and no injuries were found.

Since then it has happened 3 more times- once over a bone (tho they have never had food issues before) and the other 2 times over nothing- Sally being the instigator each time.

It has really upset me and I am at a loss what to do- I dont know if its just a coincidence that she had the vaccine and then the behaviour started- its the only thing that has been out of the ordinary since Thursday.

How should I react to this? I was so worried I didnt want to go to work on Friday

She was fine at dog training today with other dogs- and she is her normal sweet, submissive self otherwise.

Any thoughts?

[Kirty]

Sometimes the vaccs can make them feel a bit unwell, so she may have just been in a grumpy mood because she felt crappy. If it was the vacc, you would expect the behaviour to disappear in the coming days. Otherwise, how old is she? Is she desexed?

[Snout Girl]

Sometimes the vaccs can make them feel a bit unwell, so she may have just been in a grumpy mood because she felt crappy. If it was the vacc, you would expect the behaviour to disappear in the coming days. Otherwise, how old is she? Is she desexed?

Thanks for your reply Kirty- Sally is 2 and a half- yes, she is desexed. its so out of character for her. usually her and bert are the best of mates

[Erny]

Sometimes the vaccs can make them feel a bit unwell, so she may have just been in a grumpy mood because she felt crappy. If it was the vacc, you would expect the behaviour to disappear in the coming days. Otherwise, how old is she? Is she desexed?

Thanks for your reply Kirty- Sally is 2 and a half- yes, she is desexed. its so out of character for her. usually her and bert are the best of mates

Also don't forget that she is maturing. Just because things were okay when the dog/s were younger doesn't mean that is going to be a static situation for the whole of their lives. It could just be the affects of the vaccination, or it could be the onset of maturation exacerbated by the affect of the vaccination, or just maturation pushing some buttons. I get a few people coming to me telling me how their two young dogs grew up with each other as pups and were never a problem (until now). Relationships change. We humans have a tendency to think they are set in concrete.

Now is a good time for you to do an honest mental check of your heirarchy status as your dogs would see it.

Edited May 21, 2011 by Erny