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Old November 28th, 2011, 07:12 PM
Kurra Kurra is offline
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Is this abused behavior or muscle spasms?

I am having a problem with my dog. We rescue him from the road in May. He was really active, loved to play fetch. We called the number on the Tag and it was a dead in. We kept him. After a few weeks with him we felt that he had been beaten. He has bitten some people while protecting the house. In July or about that, he started to excessively licking the air. I had read about the excessively licking and today on this site. since I started back to school, he has started to pull away from me and stop playing fetch. he is not that active, We don't know how old he is but from the number we found that vet office said he was seeing in 2007. So he is over 4 years old. Last week he started to whine out. It look like he was having a muscle spasms. He has had them a few times. He has come for support from me and other times he will go under the couch. It seems like when he is scared or thinking we are going to hit him ( when we are not) that he acts like that. I have went to touch him and he seems to pull away and act like we will hit him. he will be hunching his back. However, when he wants support I can touch him everywhere and no where seems to be in pain. After the spasms when he is normal I can touch him anywhere and he is fine. Is this a sign of stress, or an abused dog?
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  #2  
Old November 28th, 2011, 07:18 PM
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Winston Winston is offline
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Kurra welcome to the site!

I suggest you take him to the vet as soon as possible, all of those items you indicated are signs of pain. You may be correct on the abuse but you have no way of knowing for sure. To me it sounds like he doesnt want you to touch him because he is in pain. The air licking, the hunched back etc are all signs.

Good Luck and let us know how you make out!
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Tabitha April 10, 1995 - August 23, 2013
Bomber April 10, 1995 - July 12, 2010
Winston Nov 15, 1999 - September 15, 2011
Sophie Aug 30, 2011

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
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Old November 28th, 2011, 07:43 PM
Kurra Kurra is offline
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Thank you Winston.
I feel how he has acted to the simplest things that he has been abused. I am sorry for the misunderstanding, When he thinks he is in trouble he goes under the couch, however when he wants support he is lending on me. When I am touching him he is not whining, when I am not touching him he whines out. I truly believe it is that he is scared or having PTSD.
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Old November 28th, 2011, 07:59 PM
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Winston Winston is offline
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You may be 100% correct on that but I still think you should rule out things like licking, hiding, hunching the back?? thats not normal behaviour. If you google the symptoms you will see that they indicate pain, low level seizure or neurological problems.

Doesnt sound like something to mess around with I guess is what I think.

Has he seen a vet recently to rule out anything medical? When does he exhibit these behaviours? all the time? certain times? is he doing anything at the time? sleeping? awake?
__________________
Tabitha April 10, 1995 - August 23, 2013
Bomber April 10, 1995 - July 12, 2010
Winston Nov 15, 1999 - September 15, 2011
Sophie Aug 30, 2011

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
-Unknown

Last edited by Winston; November 28th, 2011 at 08:16 PM.
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Old November 28th, 2011, 08:22 PM
Kurra Kurra is offline
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I actually did take him to the vet today and he saw nothing which could be wrong, Maybe because he was fine today. But since you feel that strongly I may take him to another one. I read the form on here about excessive licking from a vet, and seen many things that seem that is not that odd for them to have that behavior but could mean a serious problem. The hiding could be thinking he is in trouble and when he was abused before we had him. Putting all three together as an related problem they do sound like he needs a vet care. I do agree his behavior is not normal from any dog I know. The licking is a lot not all the time but most of the time when he is laying down. The spasms are few and usually happens when he gets scare or too excited. Thank you for your replies
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Old November 28th, 2011, 08:30 PM
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Winston Winston is offline
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Did the vet run any tests? blood work or otherwise?

Is the behaviours you mentioned when he is laying down/sleeping?

The hard part of all of this is that he could have been abused and that may be the problem.
__________________
Tabitha April 10, 1995 - August 23, 2013
Bomber April 10, 1995 - July 12, 2010
Winston Nov 15, 1999 - September 15, 2011
Sophie Aug 30, 2011

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
-Unknown
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  #7  
Old November 28th, 2011, 08:48 PM
Kurra Kurra is offline
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I did take him to the vet but I was not able to stay with him. I was heartbroken between him and class. The vet was running late and My mom had to stay with him. I will take him to another vet that will more caring. The behaviors are separate. The licking has been for months and only when he is laying down. I have googled that many times and this time, it lead to here. The spasms are few and they all happen when he is standing. I said nothing about when he is sleeping. Really I do think you for your replies. That is the hardest part, knowing that and that could be the problem.
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Old November 28th, 2011, 08:49 PM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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Does this excessive licking have a common pattern. Meaning does it happen after a correction, when the dog is nervous, if something falls and he is startled...things of this nature.?

I agree with Winston, this dog needs to see a vet to rule out seizures or somesort of medical reason.

I have seen this licking the air episode once before from a dog but I am digging in my head when and which dog. I do know it was during an evaluation and it was a very odd behaviour that myself and the head evaluator encountered. The dog was immediately vetted as they did not initially see it.

Keep us updated. I for one am very curious.
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Old November 28th, 2011, 09:32 PM
Kurra Kurra is offline
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I believe the excessive licking is random, no set pattern and I believe it has decrease since he started a few months back. He is a nervous dog. he has been to the vet as I have said. And he said he was fine. In my research I see that the excessive licking is could be something small like they are bored or something big. I read it from a vet that had posted on here, it is not really a problem by itself. Many dogs does have this excessive licking, and the dogs will be fine, problem free. It is not that odd of an behavior as it seems. It was odd to me until I did research and I learn it could be just a calming mechanism. If you want to please type in "The only annoying thing that Brandy does" on youtube.
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