Young dog dementia?

May 10, 2006 9:50 PM

Our young (1 1/2 year) mini Jack Russell has a new habit. He growls at nothing. Or more specifically, ever-changing places around the room, but with much intensity, looking to us and obviously bothered. He's also sniffing the air a lot.

Sure, he usually sniffs things and growls at sounds, but we can't figure out what he's on about. It's hard to tell what he's looking at when growling, but the long mirror (understandable), and various shifting spots on the living room and bedroom ceilings. He'll go so far as to run out of "the way" and growl at a spot above where he just was. It's freakin us out.

He had fleas as a pup. We thought damage related to anemia, but all appears fine (though he is slightly low on potassium). This has lasted for only about two weeks now, but it appears to be getting worse. Ignoring him has no effect. He will sit in one spot (odd spots and positions) and sniff in a kind of reverie for a half hour. It's hard to get him to snap out of it. Help! What is this about??? He is neutered. Could this be related to first spring heat?

posted by dreamsign to pets & animals (22 comments total)

One addition that I'm just noticing now: the growling is accompanied by much tail-wagging (and he rarely wags his tail). And a LOT of sniffing.
posted by dreamsign at 9:57 PM on May 10, 2006

You probably have mice in the walls. JRTs are good for pointing that out.
posted by fshgrl at 10:00 PM on May 10, 2006

Or maybe birds or bats in the attic.
posted by fshgrl at 10:00 PM on May 10, 2006

Yeah, it's probably something weird in your house that you're not aware of yet. Ours would do almost the same thing until we found the mouse in our basement pantry. In the car is even funnier... sometimes he'll sniff the air vent for an entire three or four hour car ride.
posted by fvox13 at 10:02 PM on May 10, 2006

Don't doubt the dog. There is something there.
posted by nenequesadilla at 11:03 PM on May 10, 2006

Jack Russells are notoriously psycho, no shit. Has he been fixed? If not, fix him.
posted by wsg at 12:10 AM on May 11, 2006

It's probably mice or some other vermin. Trust your dog's spidey-sense- this is the kind of thing he's been bred for.
posted by maryh at 12:13 AM on May 11, 2006

Definitely ghosts.
posted by scallion at 12:21 AM on May 11, 2006

don't make me go in to the story about my dog, the storage closet wall (A bit higher, human, and a little to the left) and an old chef's knife.
posted by nenequesadilla at 12:51 AM on May 11, 2006

don't make me drag it out of you nenequesadilla
posted by a. at 3:03 AM on May 11, 2006

I, too, would like to hear nenequesadilla's story.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:04 AM on May 11, 2006

We all want a story, nenequesadilla, please. You can just whisper it to us.
posted by headspace at 4:33 AM on May 11, 2006

I think he's hearing something. My sisters JRT does the same thing. In their old house the floor joists squeaked and she obsessed over that if she was in the lower level. In my parents house she did the same thing and promptly found (and shook to bits) a mouse.

She also obsesses over vertical blinds (we never figured out why, but if you open or close the blinds she'll growl and bark and finally attack. All the blinds in my sisters and parents house have Jack Russel Terrier imprints in them).
posted by substrate at 5:55 AM on May 11, 2006

Having recently read The Truth About Dogs, I have to say there's a possibility it's a random attention-getting maneuver. Try ignoring it and giving him plenty of attention when he's not doing it.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:05 AM on May 11, 2006

(stomping and clapping...) nenequesadilla, nenequesadilla, nenequesadilla...
posted by penguin pie at 6:07 AM on May 11, 2006

I know Jack Russells. What your dog is doing is simply stating he's boss. Your dog views the entire family as the pack and he just wants to be boss.
Yout vet will agree I'm sure. The best thing you can do is show him love but also make sure he knows he's a member of the family and NOT the boss. The vets will tell you to raise your voice and set clear rules. It's the only way.
posted by GoodJob! at 6:17 AM on May 11, 2006

You people rock. Thanks for all the replies.

The lady of the apartment says that it's not growling as bossiness and I have to agree. It definitely lacks that quality, particularly since he'll go on and on whether we pay attention to it or not. The main thing we were trying to figure out if he is reacting to something visual, auditory or olfactory and we still can't figure out which. One of my first thoughts was mice in the walls, too, and we are in the top floor of our building, so it's conceivable that this would account for the ceiling-staring as well.

He did go through two noticeable phases as a pup where he'd get freaked out by rather ordinary stuff, and it's been fairly recently that his sphere of attention has expanded beyond a fairly tight personal bubble, so maybe he's simply noticing things (one theory: reflections) that he never did before. But signs appear to point to perceiving something that we are not, and we have had a bat in the our apartment twice, so it's not inconceivable that they've made their way into other parts of the building. We're starting to wonder if a bit of camcorder evidence wouldn't prove this to be entirely separate from dog/human issues, since if he's doing it when we're not even home, he must be reacting to some environmental stimulus. (next AskMe question: cheap ways to set up home surveillance) First step, though, is to let the landlord know that he may be dealing with some kind of infestation.

Thanks all!

All that being said, we want to hear the nenequesadilla story, too!
posted by dreamsign at 7:28 AM on May 11, 2006

Well, one of my friends' jack russels will quite literally lick a hole in the wall where a spot of sun shines ... through the wallpaper, through the paint, and into the gypsum layer of the sheetrock.

They're definitely neurotic dogs.. the whole breed is that way. But I would also vote for vermin infestation.
posted by SpecialK at 7:38 AM on May 11, 2006

It's not bossiness for goodness' sake! What possible evidence is there that this behaviour has anything to do with that? I swear sometimes that some people would attribute a dog's seizures or getting hit by a car to "dominance".

In order of likelihood:
1) there actually is something that he can smell or hear, bugs, mice, new neighbours, what have you (as you already know, terriers are bred to seek and kill vermin, after all)
2) he is perceiving things that aren't there for some reason (physiological issues ranging from tooth/gum/ear infections to brain tumours can cause this sort of thing, as can psychological issues like obsessive-compulsive disorders)
3) ghosts
10000 X infinity) he wants to be the boss

Definitely get a thorough vet check in addition to looking into infestations.

Terriers are pushy little buggers, they don't call them "terrorists" for nothing, and you certainly need to do good training on a regular basis and set clear, consistent rules, however, this does NOT mean that every single behaviour a terrier does has to do with "wanting to be the boss". This kind of view of dogs is extremely outdated and not at all supported by any of the actual hard evidence we have.
posted by biscotti at 7:39 AM on May 11, 2006

Sorry, point 3) should be that it's a behaviour that you've inadvertently rewarded and therefore encouraged, point 4) should be ghosts.
posted by biscotti at 7:40 AM on May 11, 2006

One of our Westies does this. Our impression is that it happens when she thinks there is something (mouse, cat, possum) in the crawl space under the house or inside the wall. She'll sniff and growl at the wall near the TV set, especially in an area where the outlet covers are. The wall is not really insulated, and we assume that any scent or noise is especially preceptible there.

Sometimes after this she will "demand" to go outside. If I take her out, she may run around the house, then stare or bark through the lattice at something under the house.

Guess what I'm saying is, the terriers are smart, perceptive, and eager to track down little critters. They know when something is there...
posted by Robert Angelo at 9:59 AM on May 11, 2006

It's Al Qaeda.
posted by Hogshead at 6:14 AM on May 12, 2006