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#1
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Midnight panic
This is a new one for me. We have three dogs, the youngest a rescue from a feral litter. She looks like she's part rat terrier, but otherwise we have no idea. She's one of the Hillsboro Aviation rescue puppies that was in the news awhile back. (Page still available via yahoo.) She is not quite a year old. Raising her has been an adventure in several respects, but for all her odd behaviors, (hoarding stolen objects, selective destruction, stealing and then later returning objects, like my wallet) she's been affectionate and loyal. I'm regularly on call, and often have to get up in the middle of the night to handle problems at work. Last night, while finishing an issue around 2:00 AM, I heard a dog rushing around below. Now, our middle dog, a golden retriever, becomes hysterical at the sound of thunder, and we've had thunderclouds lately, so I figured it was him and I just missed hearing it. As I headed downstairs, I was nearly bowled over by the little dog running upstairs like a shot out of a cannon. She ran wildly around the room and shot downstairs again. I heard her hit the doggie door at a dead run. After a minute or so, she burst through the doggie door, flashed down the hall into my bedroom, ran a tight circle, shot back down the hall and back up the stairs. This was very unusual, especially at 2:00 AM. I tried to get close to her to see if she was injured, but she avoided me, acting like she was terrified of me. I woke up the wife, and together we tried to get close to her, but she continued to streak around the house in a full panic, avoiding both of us. I finally cornered her, huddled in a corner in my daughter's room. I picked her up (protecting my face, because I still didn't have any idea what was going on) and took her into our room to examine her. No trace of injury or illness. Respiration clear but fast. Temperature normal. Heartbeat very high, (I could feel it just by touching her ribs with my finger tips) and she was shaking. She tried to bolt several times, but we kept ahold of her and talked to her quietly. She finally calmed down and started breathing normally, her heartbeat slowing. Still no physical signs of illness or injury. Very strange. She slept with us for awhile and then went back to sleep on my daughter's bed where she usually sleeps. I do not believe it was thunder or any other outside noise for two reasons: (1) she's never shown a sensitivity to noise before, even on July 4th. (2) the Golden freaks out at the slightest roll of thunder or the most distant firecracker, and he was calm. If I had to describe her condition, I'd say it reminded me of the Night Terrors my daughter used to have at two. Do dogs get Night Terrors? Any other ideas? I tell you, it was spooky. I've had dogs all my life, and never seen anything like this. Ron |
#2
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Midnight panic
"roc97007" wrote in message oups.com... As I headed downstairs, I was nearly bowled over by the little dog running upstairs like a shot out of a cannon. She ran wildly around the room and shot downstairs again. I heard her hit the doggie door at a dead run. After a minute or so, she burst through the doggie door, flashed down the hall into my bedroom, ran a tight circle, shot back down the hall and back up the stairs. This was very unusual, especially at 2:00 AM. I tried to get close to her to see if she was injured, but she avoided me, acting like she was terrified of me. I woke up the wife, and together we tried to get close to her, but she continued to streak around the house in a full panic, avoiding both of us. I have experienced something like this in the past with Muttley, who was also a feral dog when I got him about 1-1/2 years ago, and he was probably about 1.5 years old at that time. There are many wild creatures living in the woods behind my house, and I have had deer looking in the windows, and baby raccoons scratching at the back screen door. Sometimes Muttley will get very agitated, and will whine and scratch at the door to get out. I usually snap on his tether and let him out, where he will run around and bark. I never see or hear anything. After a little while, he calms down. Muttley is big and powerful enough that probably nothing less than a mountain lion or bear would really scare him. If he got hold of a deer we'd probably have venison for dinner. But perhaps your smaller dog met up with something much larger. Maybe you can search for animal tracks or spoor to identify an animal that may have come close enough to cause this behavior. It may also depend on the temperament of the dog. My dog is very laid back and aloof, but he has high prey drive. I hope your dog settles down well and does not have too many more such incidents, or at least maybe you can find out the cause and take care of that. Paul and Muttley |
#3
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Midnight panic
Paul E. Schoen wrote:
Muttley is big and powerful enough that probably nothing less than a mountain lion or bear would really scare him. A dog's size--large or small--has absolutely nothing to do with fearfulness. There are plenty of Chihuahuas who think they can take on the world, and Great Danes who are afraid of their own shadows. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#4
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Midnight panic
"Shelly" wrote in message: Great Danes who are afraid of their own shadows. Don't tell her I said this ('cause she fancies herself to be Da Big Bitch), but I've got one of those lying by my feet right now. Suja |
#5
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Midnight panic
Suja wrote:
"Shelly" wrote in message: Great Danes who are afraid of their own shadows. Don't tell her I said this ('cause she fancies herself to be Da Big Bitch), but I've got one of those lying by my feet right now. Pobrecita! It's a good thing she has you there to protect her. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#6
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Midnight panic
roc97007 wrote:
If I had to describe her condition, I'd say it reminded me of the Night Terrors my daughter used to have at two. Do dogs get Night Terrors? Any other ideas? I tell you, it was spooky. I've had dogs all my life, and never seen anything like this. Night terrors in humans aren't usually accompanied by movement. Normally, your body would be semi-paralyzed while you're dreaming. I don't have any idea what it could have been. I'd recommend contacting your vet, though, to see if s/he has any creative ideas. One thing, though, that strikes me--are you absolutely *positive* that the dog was actually afraid? Dogs get weird zoomy episodes, and while they usually happen during the day, I suppose it's possible that something could have prompted your dog to have a midnight zoomy episode. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#7
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Midnight panic
"Shelly" wrote in message: Pobrecita! It's a good thing she has you there to protect her. You have to wonder what she's thinking. If she's looking for someone big and strong enough to protect her, she needs to find a new owner! While we're on the subject. We were watching some show involing elephants on Discovery last night. Towards the end of the show (The drought is over! All the animals are happy!), they showed two elephants, kind of hanging out, making those low volume rumbling noises that they do. Pan dropped her rawhide, ran over to the TV, and stood there watching the elephants with a low menacing growl. Apparently, she is willing to protect us from maurauding elephants on TeeVee. Suja |
#8
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Midnight panic
Suja wrote:
You have to wonder what she's thinking. If she's looking for someone big and strong enough to protect her, she needs to find a new owner! Perhaps she has body dysmorphic disorder, and thinks she's a wee little dog? Pan dropped her rawhide, ran over to the TV, and stood there watching the elephants with a low menacing growl. Apparently, she is willing to protect us from maurauding elephants on TeeVee. Ha! Brave, brave Pan, saving you from the elephant menace. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#9
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Midnight panic
"Shelly" wrote in message ... Suja wrote: You have to wonder what she's thinking. If she's looking for someone big and strong enough to protect her, she needs to find a new owner! Perhaps she has body dysmorphic disorder, and thinks she's a wee little dog? Pan dropped her rawhide, ran over to the TV, and stood there watching the elephants with a low menacing growl. Apparently, she is willing to protect us from maurauding elephants on TeeVee. Ha! Brave, brave Pan, saving you from the elephant menace. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#10
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Midnight panic
Shelly wrote:
roc97007 wrote: If I had to describe her condition, I'd say it reminded me of the Night Terrors my daughter used to have at two. Do dogs get Night Terrors? Any other ideas? I tell you, it was spooky. I've had dogs all my life, and never seen anything like this. Night terrors in humans aren't usually accompanied by movement. Normally, your body would be semi-paralyzed while you're dreaming. Dreaming - including nightmares - in the the REM stage of sleep is accompanied by sleep paralysis. Night terrors are different; they are associated with "deep sleep" (Stages 3 and 4 sleep), which, AFAIK, isn't accompanied by sleep paralysis. When experiencing night terrors, humans appear to awaken during stage 3 or 4 sleep, experiencing fear or terror (but they may not be fully awake). Something like this conceivably could trigger the dog's fearful behavior... just speculating here; I don't know if there's any evidence for night terrors in dogs. FurPaw -- "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight D. Eisenhower To reply, unleash the dog. |
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