Hi Guys,

Just wondering what your guys thoughts was on this.........

I have a three year old Border Terrier, who is generally a happy little man and is friendly and affectionate, but sometimes, I have noticed, in the mornings he seems like he's "gotten out of the wrong side of bed", he is miserable, stubborn, and snappy with my other two dogs, and tends to stay in that mood all day, then more often that not he is back to his old self again the next day.

This is not a problem for us, he isn't actually agressive with it and I am not particularly worried about it, but I just wondered if anyone else experienced the same thing, I mean, I know that animals experience emotions and sensations, but do they actually have moods? Lol.

He's a funny little man at times! :-)

Nicki xx

He sounds a bit like me :)  Sorry I'm not much help am I?

He he me too! :-)

Nah it's ok, not needing any help on the matter really, just wanted to know if anybody else's dog was the same, he makes me laugh, I just leave him to get on with it! Lol.

Nicki xx

sorry never experienced anything with my three dogs. perhaps it's a border terrier thing.
are you sure there's nothing underlying with this? maybe not but he may have reason for feeling this way.

My husband used to have borders and said they would literally go into a sulk,almost like a trance and then snap out of it .I have heard of it before,sounds like a breed characteristic.

Hi,

I think dogs do without doubt have varying moods but there is always a reason for it.  If he goes from being happy and chilled to grumpy and a bit snappy I would think it may likely be that something physical is bothering him.  If it's from when he gets up in the morning is he maybe in some discomfort, maybe joints are tender.  I know a couple of dogs with IBS that become very subdued and a bit grumpy if bothered when they were suffereing a bad patch.  Another dog I know has a stomach ulcer that definitely affects his moods because it causes him pain when he has a flare up, like now becuase idiot vets prescribed him metacam for sometehing else!!  Not for a minute suggesting it's any of those things but if it's as obvious a change as that I would definitely be wanting a thorough vet check including joint manipulation and bloods if they can't find anything.

My Dobes mood is quite affected by grey gloomy days in the winter time, she can seem quite sad at times but is quite easy to snap out of it with some fun and games. Moods can be affected by lots of things like a scary experience, hunger, adrenaline surge and come down, change to routine, etc etc, but I really think from what you describe it sounds like he may be feeling a little under the weather at times, certainly worth a check up :-)

My husband used to have borders and said they would literally go into a sulk,almost like a trance and then snap out of it .

There is a type of epilepsy prevelant in Borders, where they get stomach cramps, stretch a lot and can go into trances and the symptoms vary depending on the severity of it.

Thanks for the info,i didn't know about that.

Sounds just like our grumpy lil border  in the morning.He can get quite grumpy
first thing in morning before he is out of bed, once he is up he is fine with our
other little dog.I think it tends to be a BT thing.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all of your ideas on this, Borders do make me laugh, they're funny little things aren't they!

I didn't know about the epilepsy thing, and as mentioned by someone I guess it might be worth him going for check up, I wasn't too worried about it because he is still eating fine and doesn't seem to be in any kind of discomfort, and he will still come to us for fuss etc but maybe there is something there that just isn't showing itself in other ways, it is very inconsistant though, and doesn't happen very often at all, it is just noticable when it is, he doesn't seem ill, just arsey! Lol.

Nicki xx