Can this be caused by fear and nervousness? I know that humans can get illnesses from stressing out, but dogs too?

The story behinds this is that I fostered three rescue puppies that were 5 months old for two weeks that had been living in a garage for it lifetime. They got dewormed, first shots as well as rabies shots in one day. One got sick and was diagnosed and treated for parvo.

These dog were not socialized or out of a garage before I had it. Now a rescue group has them in their care. The one that was diagnosed with parvo has been checked out thoroughly by a vet and they can't find anything wrong to cause occasional vomiting and diareah. This dog will not go anywhere you would like it to go unless you physically pick it up even to go out and potty. I had to do it too.

I was hoping you guys can give me an opinion on this because I never heard of this thing happening.

 Quote: Denise Hau

Can this be caused by fear and nervousness? I know that humans can get illnesses from stressing out, but dogs too?

The story behinds this is that I fostered three rescue puppies that were 5 months old for two weeks that had been living in a garage for it lifetime. They got dewormed, first shots as well as rabies shots in one day. One got sick and was diagnosed and treated for parvo.

These dog were not socialized or out of a garage before I had it. Now a rescue group has them in their care. The one that was diagnosed with parvo has been checked out thoroughly by a vet and they can't find anything wrong to cause occasional vomiting and diareah. This dog will not go anywhere you would like it to go unless you physically pick it up even to go out and potty. I had to do it too.

I was hoping you guys can give me an opinion on this because I never heard of this thing happening.

I'd look at what he's eating, including any scraps he might be getting (or trash-diving, maybe), if the vet has cleared him for the parvo.

Diarrhea is more likely to be stress-caused than vomiting, in my experience. When you add vomiting I think it steps up a notch on the concern scale.

So I'd look closely at the history and whether he is possibly having attacks of gastritis or pancreatitis, if he definitely does not have worms. Then I'd collect a fecal and drop it at the vet's, and relay the eating history and how it connects (if it does) with the episodes.

I understand there are probably financial restrictions, so I'm saying what seems like the most practical way to start. If money is more available, I'd be asking the vet to do blood work.

JMO. I hope you will keep us posted.

Connie, I inquire about the health of these dogs on a weekly basis because I care about them very much. Unfortunately I am learning about the bad things that can happen to puppies as well.

These pups went from living in a garage, my house for 2 weeks, then to another location. I have no idea if they are living in a kennel or inside somebody's house. No wonder they are having pychological problems. It's my understanding that they all have been checked out top to bottom and the one who was very sick has had extensive testing and everything was coming back normal, even bloodwork. EPI was even a possibility last week. Now the vet is thinking nervousness.

I was thinking that with the adverse results of all the medication given at one time that she would be permanently affected.

From this experience I cannot stress enough about socialization. Take your dog everywhere you can to prevent shyness, barking and fear biting. It makes me cry just to think what these dogs are going through. I just hope because they are young (5 mos.) that they can adjust and become somebody's companion in the future.

RE: your statement about socialization-sorry to get a little off-topic. This is very sad, but it's waaay more than undersocialization. Chances are, they're not terribly well-bred to begin with. A well-planned litter does not end up together at 5mos at a shelter. Genetics are the biggest contributor to nerves, if that's truly the case. You need to start out with good genetics, THEN mold them into the kind of animal you want with a lot of socialization or hardly any, depending on your plans. My youngest has probably only met 10people his entire life. However, he is absolutely rock-solid temperament-wise. This is because of genetics. I do take him places now, ie Starbucks, but absolutely no one pets him. I think he's been touched by about 4 people in his life. I'm telling you this because, IMO, it's not quite as bad if you realize that all their problems are not caused by circumstance, and that you did everything you could; these are genetic issues, and you can socialize all you want, but that won't make an unstable dog stable.

Jenni - I e-mailed an inquirey to a breeder friend on this and he said pretty much the same you did - it's all about genetics. I know for a fact that the original owners just bred two dogs together to make money. Sad but true.

"...and you can socialize all you want, but that won't make an unstable dog stable."

I hope that you are wrong with this because the puppies were really loveable at my house. I always thought that with love and patience anything can be overcome.

Love and patience can overcome a lot (bleecchhh), but what I said is that you cannot make an unstable dog stable. You can condition the dog to ACT stable....but know that under the surface, if the right kind of stress is applied...you are falling back on genetics.

EDIT: rabies shots can cause this behavior too.

Edited by Jenni Williams (08/21/2007 06:22 PM)
Edit reason: forgot rabies reaction...

Jenni - Is there research to back up the rabies shot statement?

 Quote: Denise Hau

Jenni - Is there research to back up the rabies shot statement?

Yes, I'm sure Connie (the link guru) or someone else (Cindy?) would able to locate some for you! I'm not so handy with the links, but just google rabies vaccine reactions or something similar.

Anytime you inject a dog with a disease, even if it's dead or modified, you run the risk of contracting aspects of that same disease. Also, there are things they mix into the vaccine that aren't so special, if you know what I mean. Also, you have to take into account the specific dog's biological make-up. Not every dog will have the same reaction to a vaccine as the dog before it.

Damn, the more I learn on this forum, the less I want to vaccinate my dog with anything. The thing that gets me is that if there is a reaction from any medication there is no recourse against the manufacturer. They will blame it on something else.

Yup, and since the rabies vaccination is mandated by law almost everywhere, it's really hard to get around it. I hate it. I used to believe what I was taught from childhood: Responsible owners who loves their dogs get them vaccinated. I even posted in defense of the Lepto vaccine on this board a long time ago (boy, was I wrong..*head smack*) The more research I do, the more upset I get. At least the other vaccines aren't required by law.