EXTREME freak out????

[Nishasmom]

Our night started with "Yappy Hour"; our trainers monthly get together at a local coffee bar. While there, Nisha one first place at the trick contest ! She was fine the entire time there, and was leashed to me the entire time.

After leaving "yappy hour" we went to Home Depot to purchase some air filters. We are remodeling, so this is a weekly (if not bi-weekly) occurance for Nisha. We walked towards the door, and into the room where you get carts. There was a "cart man" pushing a row of carts behind us; I noticed Nisha watching him, but no unusual behaviors yet. I went to grab our cart and noticed Nisha starting to crouch and get nervous (the cart man was coming up behind us)...all of a sudden BAM; total and complete freak out. Screaming, whining, foaming, and trying to run and escape everything. I swear, it sounded as if I was stabbing her repeatedly. She was so loud, and completely freaked. I calmly walked out of the store to a bench outside. We stayed there for a minute or so, but she was still "verbalizing" her scared state of mind. We went back to the car and went home. For about 5 minutes in the car she was panting, pacing, and foaming at the mouth. Finally, she calmed down. I was at a complete loss, and figured it was because the cart man scared her. Nisha is very socialized to many different situations; she has NEVER been more scared than a simple "twitch". I swear to you, she has NEVER acted even remotely like this.

So, everything is fine...I have plans to take her to Petsmart tomorrow to re-aquaint her with carts. Jesse (boyfriend) goes in the backyard with Nisha (its dark...around 10:00) to take her potty; while out there he picks up the drop cloths (from painting) and tosses them so they hang over the fence to dry. Nisha FREAKS again . Loud, howling, trying to escape, foaming...complete and utter freak out. Almost like she is on drugs or something. She runs inside and climbs on the window like she wants to jump out. I (fearing she might try) get her off the ledge and guide her to her kennel. She races in and crouches in the back...still crying and whining. I tell Jesse to just leave her alone; he talks to her a few times, and she just starts whining more. After maybe 45 seconds we leave the room to let her get over it. (I didn't want to re-inforce the behavior).

I have no idea what is wrong; Nisha is so acclimated to things. We socialize her all the time. At least twice a week she goes into a "store" with carts. She has never shown any fear towards anything; in house or out.

She is 15 months, and spayed.

Some ideas we (actually Jesse) had....
1) we saw a giant frog in the backyard; could she have eaten it and been poisoned? She is never "locked" out; I think I would have noticed her eating a frog...but who knows. No vomiting though.
2) I had some old treats I was using...Natural Balance "log" type food. We cut it up into small treats for training. I think they could be a month old or so. Could they be bad?

I think something is going on mentally; I mean she is totally acting psycho. She IS NOT a scared/soft dog....until now.

I will call the trainer tomorrow; but what do you think. HELP!!! We are so worried. Could she just be "going crazy" for no reason, and out of the blue?

~being completely honest when I say....she has never shown any "fear" or nervous signs to anything. To see her completely freak is scary to me and Jesse. I am so nervous that all our socialization and training has gone down the drain; I fear that I will be working for months on end trying to re-socialize her .

Could she be sick? Jesse thought maybe her vision is off (things are scaring her b/c she cant see clearly); but I don't think so.

[rockygirl78]

you mentioned paint drop cloths how long have you been painting and is there any varsol around? maybe the fumes are agitating her some how? i would call the vet because when renovating there are so many different things in the air that she might not be use to.

[debbiej]

wow, that is unnerving. I know how worried you must be. we think one of our dogs (not a rottie) ate some jimson weed. he crept in shaking, looking fearfully at the furniture. I didn't figure out what was going on until I went out and searched the yard and found some of the plant. keep us posted

[moondog]

She's still really is a puppy at 15 months. If he was pushing a row of carts towards you from behind, and the row of carts was making noise AND rumbling the ground (I imagine a row of carts does make the earth tremble, even if we can't feel it), AND you were approaching an area that "ended" (a wall, a closed door, etc.) she may have truly thought it was a Rottie Squisher coming to get her and she felt trapped.

[Robenk]

I would also recommend checking out the frog/toad idea. Many species have glands on their backs that secret a mild poison just for protecting them from predators such as our dogs & cats. I've heard of dogs & cats getting a little crazy after licking/eating frogs and especially toads. Maybe at least google it. Also, I do know rotties go through phases during different times like children. Our rottie was very cautious to new things until he "analyzed" them! Good luck....

[Nishasmom]

rockygirl: we own a duplex; the painting is going on in a separate unit...good idea though.

debbiej: what is jimson weed? I will google it to try and find a photo.

moodog; I think she was truly scared; could it have freaked her so badly that she was "on edge" the rest of the night (really only like 2 hours)? (making the drop-cloths "push" her over the edge again?)

I guess I just need to wait and see if she has anymore "freak out" moments . I will keep you posted....today is a new day .

edit: Now that I think of it....at Yappy Hour Nisha was "munching" on different kinds of foliage....maybe she did eat something that made her more "on edge" .

[frontierrots]

has she had a rabies vaccine or any medications or treatments of any kind lately? Has she been exposed to ANY wild animals or unvaccinated dogs?

I had a girl that went from a VERY forward and outgoing creature to almost but not quite like your girl within a short time after a rabies vaccine

Also is rabies a concern in your area? have there been any rabid animals?

This is such an extreme switch that I'd be tempted to have the vet do a complete CBC/chem profile and health exam including tick borne disease testing and IF she's had exposure to wild or unvaccinated animals say so to him.

If she's very recently had a rabies vaccine I'd get an appt with a holistic vet too

[frontierrots]

find out what that foliage was

[Nishasmom]

Nisha hasn't been on any medications, or received any vaccines recently. She is scheduled for all her shots on May 27th. Rabies is a very big concern here; we have a large bat colony right in our town and dead/rabid bats are found somewhat regularly. I never even considered rabies! Last night I was thinking "maybe she has distemper"; but I really don't know the signs of it.

We have a small backyard that we keep short; when outside I always "check" on her through our sliding glass door. I feel like I would notice her eating/playing with an animal though.

She has not been around any wild or unvaccinated animals. Except maybe the big frog I mentioned earlier.

She went potty a few minutes ago (poop); it was full of woody and grassy/leafy type stuff. So this confirms that she did eat something that could have made her sick. I will go back to the coffee bar and take pictures of the plants there; maybe I can google them and try to find out what they are. I will also check my yard for any weeds or unusual plants.

I brought her to work with me this morning. She has never been to my office and is exploring like a normal dog. She has caused some loud noises (knocked stuff over), her reaction was pretty normal...cocking of the ears or a slight "twitch" away from the sound. NOTHING like last night.

I will continue to keep a close eye on her throughout the day; if I notice anything like last night she will be taken immediately to the vet. I will ask them to do a full blood panel as you suggested.

We were so worried about her last night; when in her "fits" it was like she didn't even know where she was, or who we were!

I feel like she is doing so much better already, but of course I am still worried and on the "look out" for odd behaviors.

Thank you so much for your help; I really never would have thought something she ate could make her so dillusional. I thought she was having a mental breakdown!

I will keep you posted on her progress!

[Nishasmom]

Just found this on the internet:

"The giant toad is not as common, but can be found in south Texas and Florida.
If enough toxin is ingested, your pet may have an irregular heartbeat and act strangely, as if in the grip of a hallucination."

**the "frog/toad" was pretty large, and brown. But I never SAW her eat anything; also she didn't start acting crazy until we left "yappy hour". It seems like if she ate a frog in our yard she would show signs immediately .

[debbiej]

here is a link.
Datura

this stuff grows everywhere in our area. every spring we have to pull it daily from our yard. it has already started sprouting. the dog that ate it was a corgie. I'd hate to see Boris on locoweed!! there are other plants that are common that can cause problems...olliander (sp) comes to mind.

[Nishasmom]

Yes, I have seen Jimson Weed, Oleander, Mountain Laurel...so many native plants can have hallucination like effects....poor Nisha .

I seem to remember Oleander at the coffee shop last night !

[moondog]

I think you need to consider the effects of toxic plants before deciding what, if any, plants she ingested. Hallucinogenic symptoms are not part of oleander poisoning....you would see nausea, vomiting, accelerated heart rate.

[Nishasmom]

your right; maybe we will never know .

[Nishasmom]

Okay, it happened again :(

I brought her to work with me today; Jesse and I went to grab a sandwich at Subway. We parked in a field at my work and ate on the tailgate. Nisha was playing frisbee. All of a sudden she started whining softly, pacing, then jumped into the front seat of the car and started loudly crying, foaming, and panting heavily. This "episode" was totally unprovoked...no noises or movements at all that could have "scared" her.

It was shorter than her past episodes, but she is still agitated (panting). I think something is wrong and I am freaking out. The vet is supposed to call me when she gets back from lunch (about 45 minutes).