# My Dog acts like something has scared him.



## tmwagner77 (May 8, 2011)

Greetings. 

I have an older St. Bernard. He is approximately 9 years old. I got him from a rescue and they werent fully certain of his age. Anyway. I have had him for over 8 years and he has lived a happy, socialized life. No trauma in his life that I am aware of or if he did he totally forgot about it.

Anyway. I have noticed recently that he will suddenly act startled and scamper like I walked up behind him and make a loud noise or something. I have hardwood floors so its pretty obvious cuz he has getting a grip to move at first so its a loud scampering sound. The problem is he will be in a room by himself and suddenly bolt. I have noticed it rarely over the past 6 months or so but it seems to be more common. 

Another thing, which I believe is related, he will stand somewhere like he is afraid to come into a room even when he is looking at me and I am calling him to me. The thing is, he is looking right at me but its like his mind is somewhere else. Just getting more common and its concerning me. 

I am trying to decide if its a possible hearing problem...like his hearing is messing with him and he thinks he hears something and thats why he jumps. I have noticed its hard to get his attention sometimes...I dont know if its he is losing his hearing or he is getting old and stubborn. I brought up the idea of possible hearing issues with my vet and of course he responded to everything she tried and doesnt seem to think he has hearing problems and his ears werent clogged with wax or anything. I am getting concerned. I mean, he is an older dog who is getting close to the age where they say Saints start to hit their maximum life expectancy. I realize its not set in stone but I am not going to invest a huge amount of money to diagnose something I wont fix anyway. I have a concern that it could be something neurological, as in a tumor or something. I just dont want to find out it causes him distress or maybe even have a problem with random violence. 

To recap:

1. Suddenly acting startled and bolting.
2. Appearant fear to enter or just stopping spacing out.
3. Have noticed laying and just salivating and licking his chops when sleeping for years. (Dont know if its related.)

Can anyone offer suggestions or has seen something similar? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.


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## yappypappymom (Oct 22, 2009)

My reply may not to originally appear to be helpful, but...soak on it a bit...it really COULD relate to your dog. My health was just on a downwards spiral...went to see my Dr., had 6 tubes of blood drawn. - I told her to test me for EVERYTHING...to which they did....found out that I was enemic, & vit B12 was nearly non-existent, along with vit. D..I now undergo vigorous treatments from my Dr.....the point that I am trying to make to you is - get your dog to the vet ASAP - they can order exact pannels of whats going on in your dog. Science is VERY specific, &...noone else here can tell you differently whats going on INSIDE of your dog better than a professional. Your dog may be in quite serious need of...?something?...I dunno what, but,...your vet surely will be best to advise you! Wishing you luck w/your dog! *hugs*


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## dms (May 2, 2011)

I don't know if this will help but my dog recently seems have lost her hearing, I was the mowing lawn the other day and she did'nt hear me behind her and I startled her and she almost bite me till she realized it was me. I've been using more hand signals with her and it seems to help. Getting old just sucks.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

For an older dog, it's a good idea to get a geriatric blood workup yearly, or at least every 2 yrs. I'd do that. I'd also put an older dog on Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM supplement and fish oil capsules. Both are cheap, but can really help with arthritis/stiffness/immune sys/heart.


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