I have a 7 year old male terrier/chihuahua mix dog and I'm not sure what's going on with him. He's fine hours earlier and then hours later when I take him outside, he begins to yelp for no apparent reason and then proceeds to hide in his crate for the rest of the day. He usually loves his cookies, but expresses no interest in them during these stints. He still has bowel movements during these stints.

He's just so fickle at times and I don't know why he does this. He does this every now and then. These periods last for a couple days and then he's fine again, as if nothing ever happened.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by peanut0104

I have a 7 year old male terrier/chihuahua mix dog and I'm not sure what's going on with him. He's fine hours earlier and then hours later when I take him outside, he begins to yelp for no apparent reason and then proceeds to hide in his crate for the rest of the day. He usually loves his cookies, but expresses no interest in them during these stints. He still has bowel movements during these stints.

He's just so fickle at times and I don't know why he does this. He does this every now and then. These periods last for a couple days and then he's fine again, as if nothing ever happened.

My first suspicion was that there is a problem with the vertabrae--disc problems and was thinking it would be a continuous showing of pain--But since looking at my home vet book, NOt so sure that there wouldn't be intermittent periods of pain (You may not think your dog is in pain as sometimes it is hard to know) And a ruptured disc in the neck area would be painful enough that your dog would not eat because of causing more pain in that area, Not saying it is in the neck as book states about 80% can occur in the lower back between the the last thoracic and the 1st 2 lumbar vertebrae. Another thing--The capsule (disc) begins to degenerate at about 2-9 months of age, and signs of impingement on the spinal cord appear at 3-6 yrs. of age. So your dog is also around the age that this could get worse and cause the pain (yelping) Another quote here: There is often a history of mild trauma, such as jumping off a sofa, but normal movements are sufficient to cause a Type 1 extrusion. Occasionally, more than 1 disc becomes ruptured. end of quote. I have been skipping around in this book on this subject----Just too much to copy here. If this is what it could be--It is important to get to the vet as not looking after could end up in permanent paralysis. I advise going to vet if this dog has another episode!!! Be on the lookout for any (even if subtle)thing that is not of the ordinary nature of your dog---It could very well be a symptom of pain or something that yourdog is trying to tell you and should be checked out!!!---Esp. before it can get worse and cause bigger non-repairable damages!

Just reread your post---I see a symptom in that he is acting different when you go to take him out-----Does he have to go up or down any steps or step up or down in this 'taking him out?!' Says in book they don't want to climb stairs, etc. because it can be pain-causing to move this way!

Please take your dog to the vet before something gets worse!

[CorkyMax]

Also put words in your browser like disc problems/dogs or words like ruptured discs/dogs or nervous system problems/dogs. You will see a lot of sites to click on!!! But please don't wait to long to go to vet if this happens again!!! You could end up being sorry and your dog being worse off----Sorry, but I got to tell it like I see it!

He eats his meals fine -- he just doesn't express interest in cookies. These episodes make no sense. There's no warning signs -- he's fine and then he isn't. And they go away after a couple days. It's like he turns on a switch. Before today, his last episode was 4-6 weeks ago and he's been perfectly fine between them.

He doesn't act differently when I take him outside. That was just when I noticed the yelps today. He doesn't need to go down any steps to go outside. Even when he gets out there and yelps, it doesn't make any sense. He'll run around and be fine then yelp later on. It follows no rhyme or reason.

I had him at the vet this spring -- the first time these yelping episodes popped up -- and they couldn't find anything wrong with him.

[sandyh]

can you see anything wrong with his paws, they may be really sensitive. does he have to wal across rocks to get to the grass.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by sandyh

can you see anything wrong with his paws, they may be really sensitive. does he have to wal across rocks to get to the grass.

Ya know I was kind of wondering (after I got the first reply back and it didn't sound like a disc problem) about the slim possibility of a -----Darn the name of it has slipped my mind---It is a weed with soft barbs that can work their way into the dog's paw or even other places--ears being another good spot. I am going to post this now and come back in with the name. They are pretty prevalent---I have them in my garden! If the weed has been working it's way up--May be hard to find it!!

Am pasting the post I did in here a while back:

Foxtails (A WEED) Can be Deadly to Your Dog!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is another post I found that could be important to read!! If you don't know what foxtails look like, look it up---It is a very common weed---I have them in my garden and back yard--where my dogs go. I try to get rid of them as I know how big a problem they can create!!
Our dog, a Golden Retriever, Salty, just went to the vet today. On Saturday, I noticed that his front right paw was swollen so I got down on the ground and checked it out. Sure enough, I found three foxtails in a pocket between his toes starting to burrow into his paw. I got the tweezers and pulled them out but he still had a huge pussy lump that had become infected. The vet was closed on Sunday and we were gone all day Monday, so we got him to the vet today and he had to cut it open and dug around but couldn't find another foxtail. He thinks that I got them all out. Salty is on antibiotic pills and if the swelling doesn't go down they will have to go in surgically to find the foxtail. It has cost a ton of money and I hope he will be all right! I'm so worried about him!

The vet reccommended that we give him and his brother a boot cut and check for foxtails every day. I shaved both of their front feet today and I can tell that it is helping because we didn't find any foxtails after their walk today. It looks like the swelling has gone down but you never know, and I'm really going to be checking them every day now!

The veterinarian said that foxtails can burrow into the skin if the skin moves just a little bit and they can even burrow through bone! They enter the skin, puncture muscle, bone, and organs, then exit and you might never know until they have an infection deep inside them and usually this kills them. Everyone that lives in an area with foxtails needs to prevent their dogs from walking through them because they cause huge amounts of damage and if they get in their ears they can even make them go deaf! Please protect your dogs so this doesn't happen to you too. It's a very stressful and costly experience!

[sandyh]

are you talking about prickers. there is also a weed out there that looks like a plant but if it rubs on you it will prick you for days and days. i will think of the name of it
The name of this plant is nettles way to much info to type

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by sandyh

are you talking about prickers. there is also a weed out there that looks like a plant but if it rubs on you it will prick you for days and days. i will think of the name of it

No, but I found the thread I did on it---I just copied it in the above post you did! Lol, are you talking about burdocks for the one weed?

[HipPocket]

Just a thought - and I really hope I'm wrong here - is it possible you have a malicious neighbor with a BB gun or something similar?? If you are not actually seeing what makes him yelp it could be that someone is waiting for you to turn your back to do their nasty deed.

[mrandrei]

Might be an acute injury of some sort... def. time for a vet check, and maybe xrays.

Definitely no neighbor with a BB gun and we don't let him out of our sight anyway.

And tonight, he's fine again. Running around, wagging his tail, scrapping in the dirt, jumping up on the bed. I've never seen a dog that behaves like this. "Fickle" is the word that comes to mind.