I’ve had a 6-year-old male pug for 2.5 years (he’s a rescue). He took some time to settle in and snapped at me once on the day I picked him up, but hasn’t done it since. He doesn’t like being handled and has bitten the vet and a visitor who didn’t let him go, even after giving warnings.
Since then, he’s been great—affectionate and soppy, with no more snapping. We were getting along fine until a couple of weeks ago. When I go away, I have a lovely, qualified dog-sitter who comes to the house and looks after him and my other dog. This arrangement has worked well until recently.
Last time I went away for a weekend, I returned to find him snappy with me. No teeth, but definitely aggressive. We visited the vet, but he wouldn’t be examined, so we assumed some existing arthritis pain had worsened and increased his meds slightly. After 4 or 5 days, he settled again.
I’ve just been away for another weekend with the same arrangements, and got back today. I let him come to me and didn’t handle him. He got on my lap, as he always does, let me stroke him three times, and then snapped in my face (no teeth, but really unpleasant). He had asked to be petted.
Now I’m feeling wary and unsettled, which probably isn’t helping, and other than staying hands-off, I don’t know what to do.
The good thing is that he didn’t make contact; dogs generally have very good spatial awareness, so if he had wanted to bite, he would have.
It sounds like you might have touched a sore spot, especially since pain was identified as the cause last time. I wonder if there’s something your dog sitter is doing (unwittingly) that’s causing him more discomfort? Maybe a different walking route, less downtime, or perhaps he’s just less settled when you’re not there and isn’t sleeping as well.
With your vet’s agreement, you might consider another increase in his meds, even if it’s just temporary.
Do you go away regularly? If so, having the dog sitter keep a diary could help identify any patterns. Also, giving him a few days to decompress when you return before handling him might make a difference.
Let us not rush to characterize anything as “aggressive behavior”. Aggression is not what people believe it is.
I would absolutely pay attention to the fact that he seemed fine following the medicine increase. This may definitely be a pain response.
I hate to say it, but I sense a trend here. You leave, the sitter arrives, and your pet behaves differently while he is in her care. I don’t think I need to say more. I may seem paranoid, but we see this all the time with babysitters and dogsitters. I would recommend a camera.
Thank you. I see your point, I’m a psychologist, but he’s been looked after by her many times before and is fine. I’m not sure whether I could use a camera ethically, but I can tell how he is after being with other trustworthy family and friends.
I can’t help but worry whether, while you’re gone, the sitter either forgets or doesn’t give him his arthritis medication in full dose. From your description, he appears to be reacting to pain, perhaps. I’m just speculating here.
I think it would be useful to talk to the dog sitter about it. NOT because you should suspect that individual did anything wrong—
Putting up a camera would be a poor idea, unethical, impolite, and possibly illegal as well.
But, as previously stated, it is possible that the walks were longer, or that he did not sleep well since you were gone. Perhaps by chatting with the sitter, you and they can figure out what’s causing the additional suffering.
I agree with Jennifer that this sounds like a reaction to discomfort rather than anything else.
And perhaps he requires an overall increase in his pain medication?
Another thing to keep in mind is that he is most likely (certainly) agitated while you are away. Even if the sitter is doing everything correctly and strictly adhering to your instructions and schedule, it is still different, and some dogs do not cope well with change. So, while you’re gone, he’s under constant (albeit low-level) stress, and those stress hormones take several days to clear the system once things return to ‘normal’. This could imply that his ‘regular’ level of arthritis pain, which he could ordinarily handle with without being reactive (crabby!), becomes more challenging for a few days since he is still on edge from the stress of your absence.