Dog Is Now Freaking Out Over Smells.

[Malakita]

Thoughts please.

My boy is almost 2 and a half. He has grown up with another dog and has been exposed to a large variety of situations. He has no problem with thunder noises and also goes on trains regularly. Nothing really fazed him. Until the last 3 or so weeks.

He has been sick prior to that and only came off prednisolone 3 and a half weeks ago. At the moment he is fine health wise.

But we are finding more and more that he is getting freaked out over smells. The majority of the places we have been to before and one he hadn't. He just sniffs the ground and his tail goes down and his ears go back. He will refuse to go further. Our other dog is totally fine each time he has been scared. We try to take him back to the 'scary' spot and sound happy but he will not go.

This has happened 6 times. The first time it happened, though we didn't realize until we got much closer and could smell it, it was at the back of a butcher. Today, it was just walking down a main road. He was sniffing the ground then jumped in fright. Once he goes past the scary area, his tail goes back up.

It is not things he reacts to but smells.

Although on the way home today, we always drive past a funeral home, which is on the main road. There was a group of people today right out the front drive way entrance, dressed in black and not crying and sobbing. The guy leading the group was holding a large floral display and the group was following him, not sure where they were going. There was no hearse in sight. I didn't look because I was startled by my boy growling at the group from inside the car. As we were at the lights, he growled at them until we drove off.

And yes, he has been inside a cemetery with no reaction. That was last September. Maybe I should try him again?

Has anyone noticed their dog more freaked out in regards to smells that they don't like? It is not like these are areas he has never walked around. He has never done this until very recently.

Any thoughts? As long as he doesnt see paranormal activity, I will be relieved.

[Steph M]

Although on the way home today, we always drive past a funeral home, which is on the main road. There was a group of people today right out the front drive way entrance, dressed in black and not crying and sobbing. The guy leading the group was holding a large floral display and the group was following him, not sure where they were going. There was no hearse in sight. I didn't look because I was startled by my boy growling at the group from inside the car. As we were at the lights, he growled at them until we drove off.

And yes, he has been inside a cemetery with no reaction. That was last September. Maybe I should try him again?

I wonder if it's similar to a fear period? When Gus was young he decided he was scared of a sign we walk past daily, took me ages to work out what it was, we just persisted and kept walking by and he moved on,

I also wonder if the large floral display gave him a start too, we have had similar reactions to people shaking rugs in their driveways and things that caught our two off guard, other than anecdotes and sympathy I am of no use, but it sounds quite similar to our experience with the fear periods.

[Malakita]

Hi Steph, I wondered that too.

He is taken back to those areas, and his tail is down, ears back, eyes wide. Pulls you to get out of there. He sniffs the air, sniffs the ground and seems to remember so we can't trick him.

We don't want to stress him out but at the same time, we want him to know there nothing bad there. Well I can't see or smell it anyway.......

[Salukifan]

I'd be running some blood work.

My immediate reaction was "how's his thyroid function".

Behavioural changes like this are worth checking out with your vet.

[VizslaMomma]

It can be a side effect of prednisolone treatment that a dog experience amended behaviour.

How long was this drug prescribed and relative to body weight, what dosage was given?

Absolutely I would be talking to the Vet about this.

I hope all is well very soon for you both.

[Malakita]

From memory, he was on pred for a good two months. He started at a 100mg a day then eventually got down to 5mg every two days.

The vet is looking at auto immune issues. When he was sick, his thyroid levels didn't even read. The vet put it down to he was sick at the time. We can't do anymore tests until his body recovers more. Hopefully we can do all his tests done in the next few weeks. She said if we do it too late, the results won't be accurate.

[VizslaMomma]

Oh, that is a worry. Poor both of you.