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My Australian Shepherd Recently Started Acting Very Nuerotic, Has Anyone Ever Experienced This?

by Hayley
(Portland)

I have a 3 year old male Australian Shepherd. He's wonderful and sweet but recently he has started acting funny. At first he was licking his paws obsessively now he has been afraid and on alert while outside and shakes when company is over. He also started getting distracted while playing with his ball (his favorite thing to do). That was quite alarming.

He gets a ton of exercise. We take him to throw the ball, on long walks and jogging. We also take him to the dog park regularly. We really try our best to give him the best life possible. It just feels like our dog has changed :( Anyone have any advice? Thank you

Comments for My Australian Shepherd Recently Started Acting Very Nuerotic, Has Anyone Ever Experienced This?

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Re: Neurotic Behavior
by: Anonymous

Has anything happened, a change in your life? Another dog pass? A move to another home? Even fireworks? Our aussie shepherd was like this to a degree. He was fine until our border collie passed and we moved residences. He began to hide from company behind tables, etc. Even became scared of drinking out of his dish. We tried several different dishes and finally resorted to a Frisbee it was the only thing he would drink out of. The paw licking is a way to comfort themselves when they feel anxious. Vets can put your dog on medication to help calm them, that's what we had to do for our dog. But the behavior still remains. Also keep in mind a lot of aussie's don't like visitors, they love their owners but aren't crazy about others. I would definitely get your dog checked by a vet for anxiety. : (

Hope this helps
by: Anonymous

Check to see if there is inflmation to the paws.
I live in the UK and had a dog that got some sort of grass mite that left orgage spots all over her paws and made her lick like crazy.
With my aussie/collie experience I have found that they can pick up weird nuerotic things for what seems like no reason.
Maybe something has changed which has lead to this behaviour or you might have without realizing praised the behaviour in the dogs mind and now it does "crazy" things cause he wants to please you.

Dog might be experiencing pain
by: Eliza4u2

Constant "paw licking" could be an indicator the dog is in pain. Maybe something internally is bothering the dog. Sometimes they get irritable and snappy if experiencing pain that we cannot detect. Or it could be something externally, like sharp stickers stuck in the fur, that is causing your dog to act neurotic. My dog used to squeal when I'd touch or brush her tail. I took her to get groomed, and the groomer removed some needle-like stickers stuck deep in her hocks. I never would have guessed. So, of course, see a vet if the behavior continues. Also, Google to learn possible reasons for excessive paw licking.

Same
by: Kat

My 4.5 year old has started bizarre neurotic behavior. Suddenly he doesn’t want to go on walks, or outside at all. And, the back seat of the car is torture (shaking and trying to get out) even though we mostly go somewhere super-dog-fun, like the beach or his BFFs house.

I have put him on natural sedatives, and hate the idea of drugging him. He used to be so full of joy, not anymore. Still the sweetest and most snuggly dog ever.

Would love any advice.

Over here too
by: Anonymous

We’ve noticed this with our Aussie too. He started acting this way when we moved from our apartment to a house 7 years ago.

Sometimes he’s fine and other days he wakes up completely distraught with anxiety. He has to open every door in the house and yet he hides in my closet or crawls on top of my lap when I’m sitting in a chair. It comes out of nowhere. He’s absolutely terrified when people come over and he used to love hanging out with company.

It happened so randomly, and he gets PLENTY of exercise. We go on walks, hikes and weekly trips to the dog park. Sometimes he’s so scared that he would rather sit outside in the heat of the backyard instead of being inside. We have a dog door so it’s completely up to him but we ended up having to put him on trazadom because CBD caused him to be worse. The anxiety meds seem to help him but he gets flare-ups where nothing seems to help.

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