Hi! Our 5 year old Shiba Inu is displaying strange behavior. He has
always been afraid of flies and flying insects. His tail goes between
his legs and he scurries around the house looking for someplace to
hide.

But in the last few months this behavior has gotten much worse. He
hides under our bed way too much, hears and sees things we don't,
sniffs everything frantically, sniffs his butt, looks freaked out.

There are no symptoms like diarrhea, blood in stools, mange, ticks,
hair falling out, or scooting his butt on the floor. The vet is not
sure what is going on. Does this breed have psychological problems??

We don't know what to do. Anyone ever experienced a similar
problem? Thanks, Dan

In article .com,
DanL wrote:
There are no symptoms like diarrhea, blood in stools, mange, ticks,
hair falling out, or scooting his butt on the floor. The vet is not
sure what is going on.

What tests has the vet done. Behavioral problems are often
associated with health problems, and the kinds of problems
your dog is having are sometimes associated with endocrine
problems (hypo-/hyperthyroidism, Cushings, etc.). However,
while they often/usually have other physical changes
occasionally they don't, like marginal thyroid problems.

But assuming everything checks out okay, I'd talk to a
behaviorist. Anxiety is really difficult for the vast
majority of pet owners to fix without outside help.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

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