Pretty difficult to tell with just a second or two, plus not knowing the dog as well. I would not call that cowering though just by the way he flipped and the look on his face and the body language. Discomfort, maybe??? But I may be wrong.

There is clearly something startling him, Judy, and I don't know what else it could be if it weren't for the pain? You will see dogs do EXACTLY the same thing when given a shot. You can tell in the video how he throws his head back with his ears down. To me, it is VERY clear that he is aware of something happening to his body and he is confused about not being able to see a source.

I know when I had stiches, even on pain meds, I would get twinges of sharp pain that would flare suddenly and then stop. If I were an animal unaware of what had happened to me, it would freak me out too. Hopefully, that's all that is happening with your boy: a reaction to normal pain with an unknown (to him) source. I really hope that's all it is.

To make you feel better, those kind of surgeries are USUALLY problem-free. The most common issue I've heard of is infection which should be easy to fix if that's what's going on.

I say all of this, not to act like I know what's going on with Gunnar, but to soothe your worried mind with the very likely possibility that your dog will be fine. You're doing 100% the right thing by taking him in ASAP, but don't panic yet!! You have a strong, healthy dog. I can imagine how I would worry all too cleary, and I'd want some reassuring words too, with all the necessary warnings!

(Just FYI, if you want a longer version of the video uploaded to bring to the vet on a laptop or something, YouTube is pretty painless.)

AND I just had to add: If you choose to never again visit your vet's office because of this vet tech, I would write them a letter explaining the vet techs actions/attitudes and clearly state that they have lost a client because of this person. Address it to the owner of the clinic. Many times phone calls get ignored or are not reported to the right person. It's been my experience that letters accomplish more than calls.

That vet tech sounds like a complete butt who thinks he/she knows more than they do. Grr.

I'd say that's pain- he looks like he put that rear end down pretty fast. They all react differently to pain. Instinct overrules almost anything, and instinct tells them to appear as normal as possible. This is more pronounced in prey species, but canines also feel the need to appear normal adn uninjured. They can endure a lot without showing it, especially stoic dogs, but they are still feeling it- they just handle it differently.
As a result, you don't see much less activity from animals without pain medication as you do animals with pain medication- this gives the lie to the old line that they don't need it because they need to feel pain so they don't move around too much. With a good pain med, they will still feel the pain if they move around too much, but they won't feel it constantly, so they will be able to rest and heal.
the video looked like discomfort to me.
vickie

I don't mean to barge in but I was just following this conversation and thought i might add a tid bit. you said that he seemed fine when running and playing but that this would just hit suddenly. I agree with the others that it is pain and i may have an explanation for the reason for this only happens occasionally. When a dog, or a human for that matter, is very active our endorphins kick in and mask pain. For example, i run several mile a day. A few weeks ago i came down with a case of the shingles (extremely painful)and the only relief i could find was in my time running. From the time I started to about 10-20 minutes afterward there was no pain. but for the other 23 hours a day i was dying. Dog's are more active thean we are and the endorphins take over more often to mask this pain. But after this calm comes the storm until he is active again.

Hi Judy,

I too am not a vet, however, I think I'd take Gunnar to the nearest Emergency Vet Center. His actions sound too weird to me. Maybe his surgery was done poorly, pain or even an allergic reaction to the medication. Keep us posted please--

Judy, you said "law enforcement w/k9s because that's the vet I want to switch to - he handles all the K9's in our county. That's the vet who handled my phone call this morning with professionalism and concern." Is that the vet you're going to see today?

In the video, Gunnar is nervous, tense, and in pain is my guess. The nervous way he licked his lips is to me a sign of pain and/or distress.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Amber, I think you mentioned the vet and complaining to the owner - I did - twice - in person! The owner, who is the same one that did this procedure, listened to my concerns/complaints and she (the vet tech) was part of the complaint. Regardless, she's still employed there so, as a result, I'm no longer going there.

Lastly, the video...he was playing with me about 3 feet away from the bed in the video when he stopped abruptly to run over to his bed. I grabbed the camera, which was already on for that very purpose, and only caught the tail end of the cowering. Why it's all so weird is that he had just been playing with me 2 seconds prior then suddenly needed to stop and run and lie down .

Sandy, yes, my appt. today is for the new vet who cares for the majority of the K9s in our county.

Thanks again guys and I'll post back after my appointment.

Judy

Judy, I'm so sorry about Gunnar! I can certainly understand why you're so anxious over this

Good for you for dumping that other vet clinic. Only a horrible person would be so rude and unhelpful to someone who's clearly in such anguish over their dog.

I just came back from walking my pup at the park and talked to the owner of a female golden mix. Her dog went through the EXACT same symptoms as what you described for Gunnar (about a day or two after her recent spay surgery).

In her dog's case, there were complications with the surgery (I didn't get the details, sorry) which apparently led to a lot of excessive swelling and bleeding from the wound. The swelling started to push the stitches open from within (maybe the vet didn't use enough of them?) and the poor dog was in pain.

Then again, her dog "cowered" and crawled around almost continuously until the stitches were pulled out at an emergency clinic - the pup didn't go from playing happily to cowering though...

Anyway, I saw Bella (the dog) after her surgery at her owner's home and she would also throw herself to the ground (in her case she'd kind of flip over halfway too) and would either lick at the stitches, or would just lay there stiff for a few seconds.

She looks great now; she still looks a little sore but she was playing at the park with her owner. In her case, the emergency clinic vet redid the stitches and put in a little tube (?) to let the swollen wound drain while it healed.


Just thought I'd share. I hope you don't panic too much and that your appointment goes well. Sounds like you found a competent vet; hopefully he'll be able to clear this up.

Good luck!!

 Quote: judy troiano

Amber, I think you mentioned the vet and complaining to the owner - I did - twice - in person! The owner, who is the same one that did this procedure, listened to my concerns/complaints and she (the vet tech) was part of the complaint. Regardless, she's still employed there so, as a result, I'm no longer going there.

I know you complained before, but I would certainly make sure that they understand that they have now, in fact, lost a client. Sometimes people only listen when it hits them in the wallet! I suppose it won't affect you if you never go back, but I'd send a letter anyway.

The fact that they didn't respond properly to your original complaints is also indicative of a poorly run place. Also, if anything ever comes up down the road as a result of their treatment of Gunnar, at least you have that, and their poor response to the situation, documented. I know this seems unneccesary, but you wouldn't believe how many times it has helped me in the long run to have a copy of a letter I sent versus a "he said/she said" debate!

Ah well, obviously people like that vet tech tweak me, but that's not the issue, I guess! Getting your dog well is!

You know I was thinking that if Gunnar got a tweak of pain from something he couldn't see or understand, he'd probably run to his "safe spot" (I noticed it's a corner of sorts) and get as flat as possible. That might be why he drops everything and runs there.

Anxiously awaiting some good news....

I'm no medic, but sounds like pain/fear to me <:-( That techie needs to be fired & you need to file a complaint with the body that oversees vets in Jersey, IMHO