I think my dog is having a nervous breakdown

[Tipsycatlover]

Admittedly it has been a terrible year. My husband passed away so she lost her Daddy. We had to give up a couple of cats so she lost two brothers. Then we moved from coastal California to desert Nevada. Six months later, we moved back. There was a problem with the housing and we moved three more times in the space of two weeks. Most of her stuff (amd my stuff too) is still in storage. The remaining cat got sick and was at the vets all day whiich made my dog berserk.

She has become vicious, guarding everything, biteing, me her remaining cat aything that gets close to her teeth. . She put a gash in my face during a nightmare that required a midnight visit to the ER and six stitches.

She's apprehensive over everything, even me. I am at my wit's end. Last night, I woke up to find her "guarding" at the door. Teeth pulled all the way back, growling and snapping at air. I let her alone. A minute later she was asleep on the floor.

I took her for an extra long walk today about 2 hours worth to get her some exercise. I don't know what else to do. Medication?

[MrsSmith]

Admittedly it has been a terrible year. My husband passed away so she lost her Daddy. We had to give up a couple of cats so she lost two brothers. Then we moved from coastal California to desert Nevada. Six months later, we moved back. There was a problem with the housing and we moved three more times in the space of two weeks. Most of her stuff (amd my stuff too) is still in storage. The remaining cat got sick and was at the vets all day whiich made my dog berserk.

She has become vicious, guarding everything, biteing, me her remaining cat aything that gets close to her teeth. . She put a gash in my face during a nightmare that required a midnight visit to the ER and six stitches.

She's apprehensive over everything, even me. I am at my wit's end. Last night, I woke up to find her "guarding" at the door. Teeth pulled all the way back, growling and snapping at air. I let her alone. A minute later she was asleep on the floor.

I took her for an extra long walk today about 2 hours worth to get her some exercise. I don't know what else to do. Medication?

I hope you've taken her to a vet and had her checked over!! I haven't seen a dog do this, but I've seen a cat...and the immediate suspect was rabies. As it turned out, our cat didn't have it. I kept her in a cage for 2 weeks, wouldn't let anyone else in the garage, fed and watered her without ever opening the door. Her eyes were dilated and she would scream and attack anything that moved. Then one morning, I went to water her and she was cleaning herself. She looked up at me and said, "Meow," like "Hi. Why am I in here?" It was a complete 180. The vet looked at her again, shrugged his shoulders and said maybe she'd been hit in the head or something. She was just fine for years after that...

[SarasotaRepub]

Hope it works out for your girl Tipsy!!

[SaintLouieWoman]

Admittedly it has been a terrible year. My husband passed away so she lost her Daddy. We had to give up a couple of cats so she lost two brothers. Then we moved from coastal California to desert Nevada. Six months later, we moved back. There was a problem with the housing and we moved three more times in the space of two weeks. Most of her stuff (amd my stuff too) is still in storage. The remaining cat got sick and was at the vets all day whiich made my dog berserk.

She has become vicious, guarding everything, biteing, me her remaining cat aything that gets close to her teeth. . She put a gash in my face during a nightmare that required a midnight visit to the ER and six stitches.

She's apprehensive over everything, even me. I am at my wit's end. Last night, I woke up to find her "guarding" at the door. Teeth pulled all the way back, growling and snapping at air. I let her alone. A minute later she was asleep on the floor.

I took her for an extra long walk today about 2 hours worth to get her some exercise. I don't know what else to do. Medication?

Tipsy, so sorry to hear about your disastrous year. I thought we had it bad. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and hope things somehow get better. I hope you can find a good vet, one who will take care of her and not try to charge you outrageously.

Are her eyes dilated? Check it, because she might be in pain. Is she panting at night? Poor Xena started that panting. Yesterday the vet said her eyes were extrenely dilated, one of the signs of pain. Be careful with your own safety. Something has to be terribly wrong for her to bite you in the face.

I can see how you're both so stressed out. Hope you have someone geographically close to you that you can talk with and get some help.

[Tipsycatlover]

So far, I have grabbed her when she starts snarling and hold her head and hold her on her side on the floor. I have taken away everything she might be inclined to guard. She has staked out a safe place under the end table when she wants to be alone. She has always had a little "house" to go into. That's in storage so she made this space under the table her safe place.

We have also increased exercise time to a couple of hours a day. That seems to have helped. She has started eating again after two days of nothing. Last night was the first night of no nightmares so I believe she's on the mend.