Freaking Out.
Submitted by DadtoMatilda on November 5, 2010 - 3:58pmSince I got the foster dog Matilda has been acting very strange. She does not want to participate (generally) in any activity where he is out and about because if she gets excited he tries to hump, steals her toys, "messes up" her bed, et cetera. Today something truly odd happened.
Currently, we have a request into rescue to find a more suitable place for Charlie to recover. He is improving healthwise so it would probably be better for him to transfer to a home where he can be the only dog (for both of their own good). Matilda seems extremely unhappy with him there and it only seems to be getting worse.
Matilda had a complete blood panel last Thursday as an annual just "thing that I do". She is eating, sleeping, and reacting normally other than that she seems reluctant to play, listen to me, take a walk outside, or do anything I ask her to do unless Charlie is crated.
Anyway, her bloodwork came back unremarkable except that her eosinophils (a certain type of white blood cell) was a bit high. They recommended checking her stool because this is sometimes indicative of some sort of parasite. Matilda takes Heartgard, is on Frontline, and is current on her vaccines until Dec of this year.
As you all know she is fed raw to help with her allergies.
Today, I left the house as 730 per my usual pattern. Charlie is crated, Matilda is gated in the same area which is 2 rooms, the kitchen/dining room. The evening before, Charlie the foster had pooped in the dining room right after being taken outside to do so when I got home. But today when I came home for lunch at 1130, Matilda seems to have pooped right on two toys that Charlie had been playing with a day or two before.
Matilda has never, ever gone in the house in the entire time I have owned her. In fact, when she poops outdoors she runs away from it after she does it!
She had already gone once at about 7am AND she went when I actually took them for a short walk during lunch.Everything was firm, normal, etc but twice at 7am and 11am is unusual for her. I recently started giving her Pepcid but her stool is normal and she seems to be tolerating it well.
So it had to have been Matilda - unless Charlie went very quickly between my packing up my work stuff to leave and him going into the crate. He had gone just the night before on the dining room rug (he does know better but he has "new dog" syndrome and doesn't let me know he needs to go).
What kind of condition would cause a 7 year old dog to start going in the house - if it was her? It is just kind of shocking. She is almost fastidious about being clean in the house and Charlie's recent fecal test was negative for everything so she didn't get anything from him I don't think.
Any ideas? My poor girl is unhappy AND sick?
Hmm
I have a hard time believing that it was Matilda. It's so difficult when you aren't 100% sure "who dunnit". If it was her I'm wondering if the Pepcid is making her have to go more often. I know sometimes people have to go more with certain medicines. I've never given Onslow pepcid so I can't compare to him. You also said the vet said those white blood cells correlated with stool. Did you bring them her stool sample yet? If not I would start there.
Try not to panic, you have the weekend (i'm guessing) to be with and monitor them. As long as she acting normal in every other way, eating drinking peeing pooping and not totally lethargic I don't think you would need to rush her in or anything.
I'm sorry you're having stress over this, you have a heart of gold for trying to help Charlie. xoxo
you really have your hands full!
I agree with the last post and would add that perhaps if it was matilda, she may just be trying to make a point to charlie that "HEy this is my place" you know , marking her territory. She sounds like she is really stressed by him. If it were me, in my overly worried state, i would get a stool sample done on monday. just to put your mind at ease that she is OK.
Rex never ever peed or pooped in the house, he was so easy to house train, but one day last year i took him to my mom's empty house and let him in and he went up to one of the bedrooms and pooped on the carpet. i have no idea why he did it, he never did it since, but maybe, who knows, there is some dog 'mind' ' thing going on in with charlie and matilda and they both may do things that they normally wouldnt do.
double hugs to matilda, poor girl...and good luck with charlie, i hope he can find a better place soon.
Jllian and PorkChop and our beloved BullyAngel Rex <3
It's too bad DNA testing is so darned expensive...
I'm always wishing I could find out for certain who did what. It sounds like Matilda is totally stressed and stress could cause her to poop in the house, if it was her. Dogs don't act out of spite or malice, and usually marking is done with urine, not poop. I hope Charlie can find another home soon and Matilda can get back to normal. We just adopted Newman a month ago and he was 7 months old at the time. He hated being crated and every time he was in there, he would be stressed and he would poop. He's gotten a lot better now, more relaxed about it, and the pooping has stopped. As long as Matilda's are firm and normal looking, I wouldn't worry about parasites or disease.
I gotta tell ya
They eat different food - and I could kinda tell by looking at it whose it looked like - Charlie - but it didn't seem like there was any way he could have possibly gotten away with it? I mean, when a dog is going a couple of feet from you...I just don't know how I wouldn't have seen that. So I thought it had to be her because of where it was and the fact that he was still securely locked in his crate when I got back.
Like I said, though, Matilda doing that would really set my mind in paranoid mode because she has never, ever done that before and she will hold it for as long as she can if it is raining and she doesn't want to get her feet wet.
But you're right. I'm having the stool sample done on Matilda anyway just to make sure. I know she is under stress and I'm trying to get Charlie a safe future ensured ASAP but foster homes, like real homes - for abandoned dogs - are few and far between.
Is it possible that Charlie
could have done that before you left for work.
I do believe that it's possible for a dog to go and we miss it, especially if you weren't expecting him to do it then.
Just a thought.
So sorry that your gal is having a rough time.
I hope Charlie will find a forever home soon.
another possibility
Maybe it was Matilda - I've known of dogs that 'forget' their housetraining when they feel they aren';t getting enough attention or feel stressed over a situation. Seems the dog's theory is any attention is better than no attention. This is not to say you have been ignoring Matilda, I doubt that, but in her mind Charlie is taking away attention you could be showering on her. If she is anything like the divas I have ......
thanks all
This is going to sound gross, but watching them do their business the past couple of days has confirmed the evidence was probably Charlie's. Different color, frequency, consistency. And - he had done it before where she never did. I just don't know how I didn't catch him, but what with my stress level these days it would probably be a valid explanation.
And if I'm totally wrong, if it was Matilda, then so be it. I am very proud of her for "being a big girl" about him being there and if there was one time where she had to let me know something, then I got the message.
He exhibits some odd behavior anyway that is just coming out now. He will not go anywhere near a trashcan. On trash day he practically slunk his whole walk because at every driveway there was a big green bin. For some reason, this is terrifying although if I had been abandoned and was probably screamed at or beaten for trying to raid them when I was still 'lost', well then I'd be afraid too. He does not like wearing a collar at all, and is also scared of umbrellas, brooms, mops, large sticks, and the dishwasher.