Morgan is freaking out. (vibes please)

maxfox426

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#1
I really don't know what is wrong. He's been off his game all day.

He's shaking like a leaf, panting, drooling, and just in general being EXTREMELY AFRAID of EVERYTHING.

At first I thought he was reacting to the baby monitor (it makes random interference noise now and again), but I'm really worried it's actually something else. The monitor has done this since day one, and this is the first time I've ever seen him even notice the noise.

I first noticed things were weird this afternoon. The baby monitor garbled, and suddenly Morgan was trying to climb into my lap while I was standing at the kitchen stove. Then he tried to climb onto the couch with Jon several times, even though he's never been allowed on the furniture. He's been standing up on his hind legs and pawing at the back door to go outside, something else he NEVER does. He's walking around the house in a cowering posture with his head down. Thinking back, I don't think he's slept all day.

It's so bad that he refused to eat his dinner this evening until I took the bowl outside to the patio.

His behavior is mostly normal when he's outside. He'll run and play like nothing is unusual. However, it's nearly impossible to get him to come back inside again, and the whole time he's in the house he just will not settle down. Right now he's just standing in his bed, panting and shaking, and every so often he'll go to the backdoor and paw at it again.

There really have only been two changes in the house since the weekend. Friday, we bought two containers of herbs and put them on the back patio. There is no evidence that he's gotten into them at all. On Saturday, we had to throw away one of his dog beds (he was turning around to lie down and it literally disintegrated into piles of shredded foam fluff as a seam on it popped). The bed hasn't been replaced, but after he started acting strange I brought his other bed down from the bedroom for him to lie on... which he isn't doing.

Luckily, his annual vet exam is already scheduled for tomorrow, so he's going to the vet regardless. This behavior is beyond bizarre and it's really, truly freaking me out. He's acting so strangely that I'm starting to get paranoid. Is he sick? Is there black mold in the house? Is his food tainted? Is there a evil sprit living in my walls? Have I somehow scarred him for life? What if he's never the same again???

In the meantime, I'm just trying to keep things chill. I don't know how well I'm actually succeeding, since I'm sure he can sense that now I'm also on edge right along with him. He's had moments of weird before, but never moments of nerve-wracking fear like's had today.

I just need some vibes that it will be okay. I'm really worried about my boy.
 

JessLough

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#2
Sounds like he can sense something that is off in the house, if he is normal outside. My first guess was, honestly, he got into some poisoned food outside, but that wouldn't make sense for it being only in the house.

Lots of vibes for the poor guy
 

maxfox426

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#3
Sounds like he can sense something that is off in the house, if he is normal inside. My first guess was, honestly, he got into some poisoned food outside, but that wouldn't make sense for it being only in the house.

Lots of vibes for the poor guy

The only odd thing he does outside is that instead of waiting by the door to come in, he goes and lies in the grass off the far end of the patio, near the fence. If he's slept at all today, that is where it would have happened. If I go out to him there, he bounces up and runs for a toy as if nothing is wrong. Until I try to bring him inside, that is. I looked around the spot where he's been lying, and I don't see anything amiss. It's just grass.


ETA: And thank you. I'm just beside myself right now and wracking my brains trying to think of SOMETHING... ANYTHING that might explain this. He's so miserable and I just can't figure out why.
 

ACooper

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#4
:( Lots of vibes and prayers coming your way.

That behavior sounds very similar to what Orson used to go through during a thunder storm when he was much younger. Shaky, panting, pacing, wanting to crawl right on top of you. Thankfully he's gotten past the worst of it, though he still gets a bit shaky and seeks comfort when it gets really bad out. But definitely sounds like something has Morgan spooked :(

I'm so glad he has his regular vet exam tomorrow just in case.
 

maxfox426

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#6
:( Lots of vibes and prayers coming your way.

That behavior sounds very similar to what Orson used to go through during a thunder storm when he was much younger. Shaky, panting, pacing, wanting to crawl right on top of you. Thankfully he's gotten past the worst of it, though he still gets a bit shaky and seeks comfort when it gets really bad out. But definitely sounds like something has Morgan spooked :(

I'm so glad he has his regular vet exam tomorrow just in case.
Me, too. Even so, I am REALLY hoping we wake up tomorrow morning and he has forgotten whatever ordeal he thinks he's had.

He's had very few episodes of shaking in the past... like sitting in the vet office lobby or occasionally before a car ride... things that make him nervous/excited but never flat-out SCARED like this before. The panting is completely unlike him. He is not typically a panting type of dog.

Thunder/fireworks/etc. have never bothered him in the past. I mean, if something startles him he'll react reflexively, but he always is continuing on his merry way quickly afterwards.


Definitely sounds like something is "off" in your house :(
The only thing I can think of is the discarded dog bed that has changed, but this is an extreme reaction if that's what it's about. So I am really paranoid that there is something really wrong going on here, like mold or a gas leak (even though we don't have a gas line... THAT is how badly I'm upset over this).
 

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#7
Could the baby monitor be picking up a new signal? I know you said its been in your home since day one but maybe its catching an unfamiliar signal that is upsetting?

Would it be safe to turn the monitor off for a few minutes as a test to see if his response/behavior has a favorable change?

I wish I could be more helpful. :(

I hope Morgan feels better asap. Poor boy.
 

Beanie

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#8
I would think something like mold wouldn't be a sudden change... more like something that happened over time...
Definitely peculiar, I agree that it's most likely that something has happened in the house and he's alarmed by it. You may never know what. Sometimes dogs get freaked by stuff we don't even notice. Maybe at the same time the baby monitor made noise he saw something that just looked different to him?

I hope he wakes up tomorrow and has forgotten the whole ordeal! Do you have any Benadryl on hand? I would be tempted to pop him one and see if it helps sedate him some...
 

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#10
This may be a little far fetched, but could he have gotten stung by a bee or wasp that got into the house? This happened to a dog of mine a few years ago and he behaved like that for a couple of days afterwards. Not from an alergic reaction, but fear. Hope it's nothing serious.
 

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Do you have carbon monoxide detectors?? Maybe he's trying to warn you of something?

Other then that, his shaky/fear based behaviour sounds a lot like how my dog was after his first seizure.
 

oakash

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#14
Maybe he got bit by a spider or some sort of animal and it freaked him out. Or I don't know. I hope he feels better soon! That would kinda freak me out.
 

maxfox426

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#15
How's he doing this morning?
I'm late to this but I hope he's doing better this morning!!
He's a little better this morning. He's still a bit more quiet/aloof than usual, but he isn't shaking like a leaf and cowering around the house anymore. He was even willing to eat his breakfast at his usual place inside. I was still scared that he would refuse to come back in the house after I let him out to go potty, but he came right back to the door as usual. He was a little slow to actually enter the house, but still did when I called him. Right now he is trying to help Justin eat Cheerios, which seems to have lifted his spirits a little bit more.

He did refuse to sleep in our bedroom last night, but came upstairs easily when I went into the nursery to get Justin out of bed.


Could the baby monitor be picking up a new signal? I know you said its been in your home since day one but maybe its catching an unfamiliar signal that is upsetting?

Would it be safe to turn the monitor off for a few minutes as a test to see if his response/behavior has a favorable change?

I wish I could be more helpful. :(

I hope Morgan feels better asap. Poor boy.
It's certainly possible that there is a new signal interfering with the monitor, but as things were happening last night I didn't know how to change the channel without accessing the base unit (which was in the sleeping baby's room).

We went to bed last night and Morgan kept trying to escape the bedroom, so we did turn off the handset. It didn't make any difference; he was still trying to paw his way out through the door. We ended up throwing an extra bed downstairs and just let him sleep alone all night. I felt so bad.

I suppose, though, that this does indicate that this actually does have something to do with the monitor. Because he was mostly okay (even if a little on edge) upstairs until my husband brought the monitor up to go to bed.

I am going to try changing the channel on it today and see if that makes a difference. While it's not a huge deal if the monitor has to be off overnight (the nursery is right across the hall from our bedroom), we really can't hear anything from downstairs during the day so we really do still need to use it.


I would think something like mold wouldn't be a sudden change... more like something that happened over time...
Definitely peculiar, I agree that it's most likely that something has happened in the house and he's alarmed by it. You may never know what. Sometimes dogs get freaked by stuff we don't even notice. Maybe at the same time the baby monitor made noise he saw something that just looked different to him?

I hope he wakes up tomorrow and has forgotten the whole ordeal! Do you have any Benadryl on hand? I would be tempted to pop him one and see if it helps sedate him some...
He's actually already been on Benadryl for a few days (a week, maybe?) for his itchy allergies. Now I'm worried it's the Benadryl that made him crazy... so I skipped it this morning.


This may be a little far fetched, but could he have gotten stung by a bee or wasp that got into the house? This happened to a dog of mine a few years ago and he behaved like that for a couple of days afterwards. Not from an alergic reaction, but fear. Hope it's nothing serious.
I've checked him all over and didn't find anything amiss. I'm definitely going to see that the vet is also thorough. Of course, she always is, but I will mention it to her today.


Stupid thought... maybe he saw a ghost? But more seriously, I hope you figure out what's bugging him. Good vibes headed your way.
I definitely felt like I was living in the movie Poltergeist last night. His behavior last night was really, really freaky.


Do you have carbon monoxide detectors?? Maybe he's trying to warn you of something?

Other then that, his shaky/fear based behaviour sounds a lot like how my dog was after his first seizure.
We do have carbon monoxide detectors, and they are working. I had that thought, too, in the midst of my other paranoias with his strange behavior.

And I really hope it wasn't a seizure. I kinda doubt it was, but I really can't rule out anything right now. I'm SO glad he has a vet appt. today!
 

maxfox426

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#16
Maybe he got bit by a spider or some sort of animal and it freaked him out. Or I don't know. I hope he feels better soon! That would kinda freak me out.
I haven't seen any mark on him to indicate that he was bitten, but like I said before, I'm definitely asking the vet to take a close look at him.

I'm just glad he's acting more normal than strange this morning. Something still isn't quite right, but honestly I don't know if it's just me worrying or if he is actually still weird. He's definitely not freaking out the way he was last night, though.
 

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#17
I missed this thread before, but I'm sending vibes that the poor baby will be okay. It is sure a mystery, isn't it. Maybe the Benedryl is causing some kind of reaction. (?) Who knows? I hope the vet has some insight to offer.
 

maxfox426

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#18
I missed this thread before, but I'm sending vibes that the poor baby will be okay. It is sure a mystery, isn't it. Maybe the Benedryl is causing some kind of reaction. (?) Who knows? I hope the vet has some insight to offer.
At this point, my best guess is that he spontaneously decided that the monitor was a speaker from He!! or that the Benadryl made him loopy enough to come to that conclusion. He's never had adverse reactions to either in the past, but who knows what goes on in his head. Poor guy.

He is acting much more normal even since my last post. He even tried to get me to play in the upstairs hallway!
 

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#19
Wondering if the monitor could be putting out a high frequency pitch that is hurting his ears. How is he off the property all together? I am glad he is getting more back to his old self. Fingers crossed for a great report from the vet.
 

maxfox426

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Wondering if the monitor could be putting out a high frequency pitch that is hurting his ears. How is he off the property all together? I am glad he is getting more back to his old self. Fingers crossed for a great report from the vet.
I wouldn't be surprised if the monitor makes some kind of noise that we humans can't hear, but we've had it in the house for nearly 10 months now without it causing any sort of crazy. I did change the channel on it, so I'm crossing my fingers that will cut back on the interference. I haven't used the monitor at all today because his behavior scared me so much. Instead I've just been staying close to Justin's room during naptimes.

Taking him out of the house was no big deal, until we got to the vet's office, of course. He's usually nervous at the vet, but today it was even more so... he was back to shaking uncontrollably. Our vet was wonderfully patient in working slowly with him, giving him time to calm down, etc. She checked him all over and didn't see anything weird. Well, we did find that he has a knick in his ear, but it was an old wound and well scabbed over. Probably left over from rough-housing with his dog-cousins a couple weeks ago. Anyway, it's not likely that it has anything to do with the sudden anxiety. (Though it does add to MY anxiety, because I have no idea how on Earth I could have missed an ear wound! I'm constantly looking at his ears because of his history of infections.)

She didn't really have any idea what could have triggered it, either, though gave me some pointers on what to watch out for as we try to solve the mystery. In the meantime, she recommended we keep giving him Benadryl (both because allergies are bad this season, and also because it should help keep him somewhat chill), and she did prescribe us a few doses of Xanax to give him if we notice him starting to have another meltdown. Hopefully we won't need to use it, but we'll see how he is the next few days.

Right now, Morgan is acting fairly normal, though maybe a little more timid than usual. He's eating normally, not trying to hide outside, not shaking/panting/drooling... but he's also not his normal bubbly self, either.
 

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