Hi I am new to the board so this is my first post!

I have a German Shepherd who is five years old, he is in quite good shape but recently we have been noticing some strange behviour. For example he sits and stares at the wall perhaps 5 times a day at least.  He usually gets up from lying down and then sits staring at the wall.  Like he is depressed?!

He has a much better appetite than he used to but quite frequently his stomach gargles, the noise is amazing, he even looks at his belly.  The first time this happened I phoned our vets and he told me to bring him in that afternoon, he was not too worried, gave him an injection and some powder to line his stomach.  He told me to give him some lentilles and natural yog. I give him a spoonful of this powder now if it starts grumbling again.

Apart from that he is happy in himself, he loves his walks and eats very well and is normal in every other way.  The only other thing is that he is a bit smelly, a very strong doggy smell which we did not notice as much before.  He loves swimming so is often damp so I dont know if it is just normal.  We went to the vets recently and our usual vet was away, his replacement just told us to give him a bath! Thanks!

I dont really know but I am just a bit worried, I think I might take him to see our regular vets for a check up, perhaps a blood test or something.... Anyone have any ideas as to what might be troubling him???

GSD's can be prone to epilepsy - maybe he's experiencing a 'petit mal' attack?

His diet may not suit him 100% - this could give rise to the stomach problems, and possibly the smell, although this could also be a fungal infection - or maybe just 'damp dog'....

Thanks,

He has not shown any signs of epilepsy and when he does this he looks down in the dumps! Sometimes he sits at the top of the stairs looking down, staring into space....

I am not sure about his diet, for quite a few years he would not eat anything that we would give him and often had the 'runs'.  About 18 months ago we changed his food to Nutro and he eats very well something that he would never do but sometims has these incredible rumbling tum.  As to the smell I dont know, we brush him quite frequently and have been thinking about some 'doggy scent' if the vet cant find anything wrong!

He doesn't eat grass does he.  That will make his stomach make gurgling noises?  If he hasn't had a bath recently the smell could mean that he needs one, if he lays around damp a lot he will start to smell doggy.

Regards
Sandra

I have not tried this myself but I have read that the Bach Flower Essence Clematis can help a dog who dissociates itself from what is going on around it, i.e. it tends to lose focus and goes into an almost trance-like state.

Of course be guided by your vet but it might be worth a bit of research on your part.

Thanks for the help!

He does eat grass but usually after his stomach is making all this noise, as if it is already aching.  I think we will give a good bath and make sure he is very dry as it takes him ages to dry off.  He is always hot so tends to lie in damp areas so that could explain the smell!

I will definately look into the Bach Flower Essence and let you know.

Another cause for 'doggie smells' can be anal glands (this could also be a reason for the grass eating) you could try adding some roughage to his diet in the form of bran if he's not wheat intolerant..

It is definately not anal glands, my adorable little terrier has a very nasty habit of 'doing his' unfortunately for the rest of my family! I would recognise that horrific odor anywhere! Our whole family is obsessed with any wet marks on anything and we are all smelling to check if he has not done it! The things that our dogs make us do!!

I did not know that the anal glands thing was linked to diet.  Our terrier does his when he has had his coat stripped as if he has not been able to get to then while he had extra hair.  He does not seem to do them when he is stressed but more as giving himself a good clean!

I had that problem with my GSD, and I found out he has EPI - where he is lacking pancreatic enymes.  Is he losing weight?  My dog lost weight, had no energy, no appetite and smelled like dog.  He is doing much better now that he's on enymes.  Has he been cheked for that?  It's very common in GSDs.  That was the first thing my vet checked for when he got sick.

He is not losing weight and has put on a few kilos over the last year or so as he was previously on the skinny side.  He also has a much better appetite that he used to and he does not seem to have less energy than before.

He does eat grass much more frequently than my other to dogs to make himself sick, I would say at least once or twice a week. He just does not seem quite right and thats why I will make an appointment to see the vet - perhaps to do some tests to see if all is normal...

Yes, sounds like it could be sort of 'Focal Seizure'....?  Does he respond to you when he's doing this.  Say if you called his name, or waved a hand in front of his face?  If not, it sounds like a 'focal'...

Blood tests can't confirm epilepsy, but they can rule lots of other things out.

Caroline

He looks at us (perhaps not straight away) and acknowledges us when he does this but it is strange.  I know that he seems to do it more when he is a my Mum's house.  She has under the floor heating and he gets too hot, we seem to notice it more when we go over there but he does it at home now too where it is not so warm.  He stares straight at the wall, like he is really depressed about something. This is definately a new thing though.

My mothers cat would stare at the wall and act strange. She took him in for blood test he was diabetic. He was also eating more than usual to.

Did you get this one sorted out?  I read something the other day about dogs who'd seen ghosts acting in this way.......