Could odd behavoir be caused by bee stings

[dixibit]

hi everyone this is my first post so if you will bear with me if i overstate my question or not give you enough info. I have a 3 yr old female corgi-shepard mix named Angel and a 1 yr old female staffordshire named Diamond.I also have a 10 yr old male choc. lab named thunder. the behavoir i am seeing is in both females either 1 at a time or both at same time. It has happened more often with diamond but each time not as severe (guestimate 4times) as the previous. Has happened w Angel 2 times with the 2nd time more severe than the first and about 8 hrs longer. Symptoms are the same 4 both. thunder hasnt exhibited any signs. symptoms: act as if they have no depth perception, act as if they cannot see anything in front of them as if they were blind ie: moving head side to side (like ray charles) with nose up but eyes are blank. refusing to move, refusing to go outside with out myself or my husband, cowering but tail wagging, trembling all over, wanting to be as close as possible to us but dont want to be touched or looked at directly. startling at noises, familiar or not, refusing to eat or drink til episode is over. These behavoirs are being exhibited after playing in backyard where we have recently noticed a large bee hive in one corner of the yard, plus there are dead or dying bees all over the yard where the girls play.These behaviors dont happen everytime they go outside, but do seem to be coming more frequently. Could behavoirs be caused by bee stings &/or a swarm? if so what can we do until we can get rid of hive? Or should we be looking for/at something else? We have not found an actual sting on either dog.

[hazelrunpack]

It could be that the girls did get stung and were reluctant to go back out and get stung again. If they aren't sure why they suddenly feel a pain when they're out in the yard, they might be anxious and refuse to go out, sniff for danger at the door before going out, refuse to go out unless you're with them to protect them, etc.

What kind of bees are they? If it's a hornet hive, those stings pack a real whallop and could well be responsible for the girls' behavior. If you're seeing a lot of dead bees in the yard, it sounds like the dogs could well be tangling with them and getting stung in the process. (Our dogs continue to chase and bite at hornets even after getting stung )

The other thing that came to mind was mushrooms--we occasionally get toxic mushrooms that cause neurological symptoms in the dogs, like trouble focusing, dilated pupils, standing in a daze, even falling over... So if your dogs are showing the symptoms primarily after a wet spell of weather, you might want to take note of any mushrooms that might be popping up in your yard.

The girls are sure beautiful! Don't forget to post some pics of your lab, too.

And welcome to the board!

[Dog Dancer]

Sorry your dogs are having these issues. They are lovely though. My dogs swell if they get stung. One is very allergic and has severe reactions (although nothing like you have described, extreme swelling and itching), the other one will get localized swelling in the area of the sting, and like Hazel's pack they still chase the bee's.

I'd be inclined to check for mushrooms myself like Hazel suggested.

That said, can you post a pic of this bee hive? You can try searching to see if you have any honey or bee suppliers in your area as many of them will offer bee or wasp removal services (your fire or police may be able to give you a name also). Bee removal is sometimes free depending on the time of year, wasps will likely cost you, but if you see lots of them around you should probably have it removed anyhow for safety. Is the hive the grey paper looking ball type? That would be wasps. Honey bee's draw comb and would generally be between boards of a fence of in a hole in a tree or something.

I hope you figure this out. Although I am a beekeeper, I'm too far away to come and help you out!