Random shaking?

Hi all!
New member from New York City, here. We have a 5 month old female Blenheim pup named Shiksa. She's in good health, happy & an absolute sweetheart. She's teething quite a bit the last 10 days and also has a stomach bug at the moment. My question is this: she's randomly been shaking a bit in her crate when she wakes up. This has been on & off the last 2-3 days. The shaking stops and she's totally fine once she comes out -- of course, though, we are concerned about it and want to know if anyone else has experienced this while their Cavalier pup is teething, or are a bit under the weather? It's not violent shaking by any means, and *it stops* once we take her out of her crate. But it's noticeable when we go to get her after a nap to head out for a walk, feed her, etc.

She has already been to the vet and I've owned dogs in the past. Since I'm new to Cavaliers, like any breed they have their own little quirks and wondered if any Cavalier owners have experienced this.


Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!
Christy

Could you clarify what you mean by shaking? Something like tremor/jitters or shaking the way a wet dog would?

A tremor I would start keeping a notebook of times she does this. It could something she grows out of, but if it increases in frequency you will want to be aware.

Shaking whole body could be ears. Mites maybe?

Is this brand new or did you just notice it?

Can I clarify a few things?

-she's not shaking when she's asleep
-she's waking upt at normal times
-shaking is only when she's waking up?

Could it be she's stretching as she's waking up. I think my dogs probably do that a little bit, I woudln't have really called it shaking but they do move around a little before they actually wake up and if they are in their crates perhaps they might do this longer since they don't have as much room to stretch?. If you are really concerned about it, I'd definitely ask your vet just to be sure.

First, welcome! I just moved from New York City (I now live in Sydney)...and my pups name is Brooklyn in honor

Well, you said you went to the vet...what did the vet say about it? She might be shaking because of her stomach bug, sometimes they get cold if they are sick (this has happened to Brooklyn when she was sick and when she got desexed...to solve it, I had her sleep in a fleece coat til she got better, worth trying if that is the case it helped her a lot). Is it only the moment when she awakes in the morning? Is she near a draft? Because young puppies can also get cold easier than adults. Try a warm water bottle or one of those microwave puppy warmers they sell at the pet store if you think this might be the case. Again, that worked for Brooklyn.

As for actual medical things, I have no idea unless it is related to the above. Would be interested to hear your response to the others questions and what you vet opinion was too.

Welcome to the boards!!

Soushiruiuma said:

Could you clarify what you mean by shaking? Something like tremor/jitters or shaking the way a wet dog would?

A tremor I would start keeping a notebook of times she does this. It could something she grows out of, but if it increases in frequency you will want to be aware.

Shaking whole body could be ears. Mites maybe?

Click to expand...

Hi! Thanks for your reply. A mild tremble, like what a chiahuaha would do - that's the best way to describe it. No mites, she just had her ears examined at the vet. It stops once we take her out of the crate. Vet thinks it's behavioral since she only started doing it around the time the stomach bug started, and she only does it when we go to get her to take her out of the crate.

Lani said:

Is this brand new or did you just notice it?

Can I clarify a few things?

-she's not shaking when she's asleep
-she's waking upt at normal times
-shaking is only when she's waking up?

Could it be she's stretching as she's waking up. I think my dogs probably do that a little bit, I woudln't have really called it shaking but they do move around a little before they actually wake up and if they are in their crates perhaps they might do this longer since they don't have as much room to stretch?. If you are really concerned about it, I'd definitely ask your vet just to be sure.

Click to expand...

Hello! It's a new thing in the past few days. She ONLY shakes/trembles when she's waking up or needs to come out, then once she's out of the crate, it stops. Her sleep schedule is a bit off from the stomach upset and discomfort from teething, but otherwise she's not shaking at all. Vet thinks it's attention/behavioral/linked to not feeling well.

BrooklynMom said:

First, welcome! I just moved from New York City (I now live in Sydney)...and my pups name is Brooklyn in honor

Well, you said you went to the vet...what did the vet say about it? She might be shaking because of her stomach bug, sometimes they get cold if they are sick (this has happened to Brooklyn when she was sick and when she got desexed...to solve it, I had her sleep in a fleece coat til she got better, worth trying if that is the case it helped her a lot). Is it only the moment when she awakes in the morning? Is she near a draft? Because young puppies can also get cold easier than adults. Try a warm water bottle or one of those microwave puppy warmers they sell at the pet store if you think this might be the case. Again, that worked for Brooklyn.

As for actual medical things, I have no idea unless it is related to the above. Would be interested to hear your response to the others questions and what you vet opinion was too.

Welcome to the boards!!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your warm welcome! What a cute name -- we actually live in Brooklyn The vet thinks it's attention/behavioral since she's not feeling well, and the shaking stops once she comes out of the crate on schedule to go out, eat, or play. As in, "I shake, I can get their attention." It doesn't happen any other time. Her crate is near a window, yep -- we've got it padded a bit with a towel. We just got her a sweater, so thank you very much for that thought! Will try it out and see how it goes. Hopefully that plus the antibiotic will do the trick and she'll be back to 100% in a few days.

Thanks again!

Hi and welcome. This could be totally off the wall but I'm just wondering if she could be shaking because she is excited to see you?

My puppy ( 3.5) months will do this also. I think he just gets excited. He also seems to get cold very easily. I keep a tee shirt on him these chilly days we've been having ( I'm in Western PA) and he loves his little fleece blanket in his bed at night.

I had a dog that would shake like that, but it was out of excitement, just anxious to get out ofthe crate and be held and loved. Just a bit of nervous excitement I would think.

If this is behavioral, I would not indulge the "excited state of mind". i.e. if this is excitement then she is in a heightened (not calm) state of mind, and really, that should not be rewarded because it could cause axiousness and over excitement is not calm for the dog. We take it as "he is so excited to see me!", but really, they should be calm and happy when you get home, not over excited (which can be anxiousness too). Also, sometimes we humans mistake "anxiousness" with "so excited and happy!".

My trainer helped us a lot with Brooklyn when she was like this...not in her crate, but she would get so excited when she woke up, saw us come home, etc. She knows she had to sit to be pet or get attention (i.e. no jumping), so she would sit but her whole body was almost shaking with excitement that she could hardly keep her butt on the ground! I always thought this was so cute, and hey, she was sitting so she was doing well right? Well, my trainer saw this side of her in our level 2 adolescent class and she asked me if I was petting her or giving her attention when she was like this. I said, well yeah...she is sitting not jumping! And my trainer said that her excitement and shaking/wiggle while trying to stay seated is actually almost just as bad...for her own mind. That she is just so excited and cannot calm herself down...and despite my best efforts, I was actually indulging it. So she said, yes sitting is good, but wait for her whole body to calm down before you pet her so that she learns to self soothe herself (so important moving into adulthood). At first it took a while! Then, once she realized how to calm down and she got rewarded for calming down her mind and body it happened quicker and quicker. Now, she is calm instantly. Sitting calm when we get home, relaxed and chill when she wakes up. I am so happy for this because I feel like she must be happier with a calmer state of mind too, no over excited anxious mind.

Sometimes, if she does get a bit over excited when we get home (which is hardly ever now), I will just leave her behind the baby gate or in her crate (where she sleeps at night) for a few minutes until she calms all the way down, then I let her out calmly and maybe even ignore her for a few minutes. When all is calm, she gets a good cuddle

Again though, those are only tips if this is behavioral and just what worked for me

Hi,

I hope your little one is getting better!

Molly shakes quite a bit when she is excited, and its usually only in the morning!(She is 4 months)(and once she is fed she calms down..) We have her behind a baby gate in our kitchen of a night (her sleeping quarters!) and when i greet her to take her outside she whinges and shakes and jumps about lol. Also does it when she gets locked outside when i'm cleaning the floors (impossible to clean floors when she's in with me!) She shakes and cries. Not sure if that is any help but i think extreme emotional situations make them shake just like the little tiny toy dogs do

One thing elton does a lot is shake when excited, nervous etc. I hope its ok to post this link to the behavior forms with certain history to have for his specialist appointment.

I guess dogs can do different things but one of the questions asks about if they can be interrupted, how frequent, any changes etc. This is for a specialist to evaluate but I thought the questions made me think more and to see if there is any patterns or if obsessive.

http://www.carolinavet.com/resources.cfm

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Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your feedback and thoughts. Shiksa's belly is feeling better, she's been snuggled up in a sweater the last few nights, and has stopped her "Hi Mommy! I just woke up, love me, feed me, take me out!" momentary shaking.

Many thanks again to everyone who chimed in