cavalover
Well-known member
Butters is almost 8 months old now, and is really a wonderful dog. We have had him for 2 months now, and since we have had him he has never been a barker. He doesn't bark when people walk by the house, and it will be a rare occasion to even hear his bark even once during the day. When he was younger, wanting to be with my husband and I, he would sometimes whimper and work himself up to a small bark overnight in his cage. However, he has been sleeping through the night for a while now. He is well-adjusted to his crate, and very happily stays in there on his own. Overall, he is a very low-key dog (not very rambunctious, friendly and well-mannered with dogs and people, doing very well with his obedience training) and he is not nervous (he is not afraid of loud noises like thunderstorms or windstorms, vacuums, and hairdryers and no submissive urination).
This AM, my husband and I awoke to him barking uncontrollably in his cage. There was no pre-whining phase, just sudden onset of barking. It was a very urgent type of bark that I have never heard from him before. When we let him out of his cage, he came running out of the cage to the two of us. He then continued to bark as he ran around the house upstairs and downstairs. I took him outside to see if he had to go to the bathroom, and he continued to bark outside (but he did not seem to be barking at anything in particular he was barking at). In his cage, we found 2 small stools and a warm spot of urine, the urine which I think came during the barking fit started. It is very unusual for him to pee in his cage (he has not peed in it since we made the cage smaller), and he has never pooped in it since we have had him. He was very worked up about this for about 15 minutes afterward as he cuddled with me. He wasn't shaking, but every morning since I have had him he has cuddled up on my lap and gone to sleep immediately after I get him out in the morning so I could see he was still worked up. He is now calmed down and resting on my lap.
I know it might be preemptive to be posting as this only happened once, but it is such a drastic change from his usual self that it has scared my husband and I. We could not find any specific cause that could have triggered this event, and live on a very quiet street without any pets or other distractions in the house. Has this ever happened to someone else and, if so, any triggers you could identify? Did it continue afterwards, or was it an isolated event? Are there any medical issues that could have caused this, and should we take him to the vet? We haven't seen any signs of SM, seizures, clogged anal glands, or other medical problems. We just felt so helpless this morning, and are worried that this might happen again or might be a warning of a more serious issue.
This AM, my husband and I awoke to him barking uncontrollably in his cage. There was no pre-whining phase, just sudden onset of barking. It was a very urgent type of bark that I have never heard from him before. When we let him out of his cage, he came running out of the cage to the two of us. He then continued to bark as he ran around the house upstairs and downstairs. I took him outside to see if he had to go to the bathroom, and he continued to bark outside (but he did not seem to be barking at anything in particular he was barking at). In his cage, we found 2 small stools and a warm spot of urine, the urine which I think came during the barking fit started. It is very unusual for him to pee in his cage (he has not peed in it since we made the cage smaller), and he has never pooped in it since we have had him. He was very worked up about this for about 15 minutes afterward as he cuddled with me. He wasn't shaking, but every morning since I have had him he has cuddled up on my lap and gone to sleep immediately after I get him out in the morning so I could see he was still worked up. He is now calmed down and resting on my lap.
I know it might be preemptive to be posting as this only happened once, but it is such a drastic change from his usual self that it has scared my husband and I. We could not find any specific cause that could have triggered this event, and live on a very quiet street without any pets or other distractions in the house. Has this ever happened to someone else and, if so, any triggers you could identify? Did it continue afterwards, or was it an isolated event? Are there any medical issues that could have caused this, and should we take him to the vet? We haven't seen any signs of SM, seizures, clogged anal glands, or other medical problems. We just felt so helpless this morning, and are worried that this might happen again or might be a warning of a more serious issue.