Hi, was wondering if anyone had some advice on our Bullmastiff's 'change' of behaviour. She is now 3yrs old and still a very sweet and loving girl. Unfortunately she ruptured her cruciate las September and had a TPLO operation. Obviously this was followed by complete rest which went on for longer as usual as she had a reaction to the metal implant meaning 6 weeks of antibiotics. On her last check up we were told the bone has healed fine and there is no sign of infection (samples were taken) but unfortunately there is already alot of osteoarthririts in the joint. For this reason we have been careful with her exercise, gradually building up as we were instructed to do so. She is on NSAIDS and Glucosamine supplements. She is still very slightly lame at times, especially if she has been playing. One of our walks is on some lovely fields where there is a regular doggy people with friendly dogs. She has been bought up with most of these and I have never had any worries regarding her temperament with them (or any dog).  Unfortunately this has now changed, a retriever (neutered male) who she used to love she now dislikes. She has had a couple of scuffles with him and now i have to steer clear with her back on her lead as she looks like she wants to get at him. On one occasion the retriever had a quick grumble at another dog over a stick and Ruby wasn't anywhere near them but heard it and had to intervene, having a go at the retriever. Also mother in law has two pugs who Ruby had always adored, but she has also gone for one of them out of the blue. Which is worrying as we normally all go on holiday together with the dogs. I have been in touch with a behaviourist who i know well. He thought it could be pain related. If she had a sharp pain when the pugs were here once? I have recently switched her to Metacam instead of Rimadyl as I felt she appeared irritable on the Rimadyl. She definately seems happier on the Metacam, but the problem still exists. The trouble is I'm not sure whether it is pain or it is how she is now she has matured. I felt that I had socialised her well, but she has unfortunately got a nervous streak around new people and dogs. When we went to see her as a pup with mum, the mother was very calm and I remember commenting how good she was. I have since been back to let them see Ruby was getting on and when I met the mother this time she was VERY nervy and barking continually at me. I know in the future to be more thorough, as this has obviously been passed on to Ruby.  There are still dogs she gets on with, and she will not go over to dogs to cause trouble only if they are around her. sometimes she reacts aggressivley or I have known her to cry and run behind me.  I do try and not to make too much fuss of this as I know can make things worse. The trouble is I have lost some confidence with her out and about which I know she will pick up on.  We also have a 14mnth old Bullmastiff male who I got from the same place (before Ruby's character had changed and before I had met mum again) he is the complete oppostite thankfully, very friendly and laid back, nothing worries him. If a dog growls at him he just walks away as he is used to our springer/collie cross who plays very noisily! I have not had him neutered yet, we were planing too but someone told me if there is a history of nervousness in the line we may be better to leave him with his testosterone? Anyway I apologise for this epic tale of woe! Just wondering if anyone has had these problems and things that may help. I have always loved Bullmastiffs but wanted to show mine as a good example of the breed but unfortunately with Ruby this has changed which is very upsetting. I would like to add we have never had any problems with her in the home with us, though she is definately top dog over our others. Thank you for reading all this.

It sounds pain-related to me.  Have you spoken to the vet about other options?

Osteoarthritis is very painful without having had to recover from the cruciate surgery as well - it's possible the metacam isn't doing a good enough job and she still has enough residual pain to be making her grumpy.  Two of mine have OA, one of them so severe that she can only function on trocoxil (fairly new, brilliant imo NSAID) - metacam, rimadyl, previcox and even tramadol don't touch it.  She actually has it off-licence now - standard treatment is 6 months on, 2 months off it but even at a full dose of tramadol she was reaching near immobility so I've signed for her to have it constantly.

Without it she becomes very aggressive - she used to have severe aggression problems anyway, all sorted but pain and sickness do cause a regression of sorts (old habits, if you will) and the OA is the worst for it so I wouldn't be at all surprised if pain was the cause of your girl's issues at the moment.

Has the vet mentioned cartrophen at all?  It's a series of injections to support the joints - I've not tried it with Soli (will do soon I think) but I have just finished a course with my 6yr old lab - we think she may have done her cruciate at some point in the past as her left knee is just solid with arthritis, to the point that there's not much to be done.  But the cartrophen has made a heck of a difference - she'll never be 100%, but she can go for normal walks without being any more than passing lame afterwards which is a massive improvement from not being able to have walks at all.

I think when dogs have been though a painful surgery/recovery time it does affect the temprement somewhat.  My dog had a 'I'll get them first' attitude after surgery as he knew he was weakened strength wise.  He was always dominant but not pushy but afterwards, it was always him starting the trouble.  Other dogs sense the weakness too and have been know to push the injured dog around.  After one male had surgery to scrape his elbow joints to ease his OCD, my two bitches(at the time) attacked him and tried to kill him.  I still think to this day what would've happened had I not been home as I never had any doubts about them together before so never separated them when out.

> I think when dogs have been though a painful surgery/recovery time it does affect the temprement somewhat

Interesting Cracar, one of ours had leg surgery at an early age, always been a very friendly dog, great temprement but recovery time was much long than we had been given to understand and his temprement with other dogs afterwards began to change. Still used to meet other dogs during his recovery as carried him to the gate to meet his friends and others passing by ,but afterwards he seemed to be constantly picked on and I have often wondered if other dogs can sense a weakness and think 'I'll have a go'.

>

> Has the vet mentioned cartrophen at all?

Funnily enough, Ruby has just had her second Cartrophen injection so I am hoping it will help. Interesting about the Trocoxil it may be worth a try, only trouble is Ruby cannot take Previcox as they made her vomit daily. If Trocoxil does it's in her system for a month. I will discuss it with my vet. Thank you.

There has been a lot of hoohar about the one-month thing and side effects - thing is though, the side effect 'strength', as it were, of trocoxil is much, much smaller than other NSAIDS - I've yet to hear of any dog that has had significant problems on it, and the same is true of a vet I discussed it with who had used it on dozens of OA dogs.

My oldie is on it, she was on rimadyl before it and that really didn't agree with her - it went straight through.  I did consider that issue carefully when looking at the trocoxil for her but ultimately, her pain was too severe and had been going on too long to faff about working my way through the different NSAIDS so I went straight for it.  It hasn't had any bad effects on her whatsoever :-)

Edit: If I can find that vet's card I'll PM you his number if you want to ask his experiences with it - he specialises in HD but sees a lot of OA cases because of that.

I am afraid my experience of Trocoxil is quite different. My friend had a Bouvier who suffered badly with OA. When Previcox didn't seem to be doing anything for him, Trocoxil was suggested, but she was very worried about the monthly dosage. After many positive comments on here I told her that it seemed most dogs tollerated it well.

Wish I hadn't as Alfi had a terrible reaction and after about two months suffered a major internal bleed. They managed to pull him around from that, but she lost him last week when he suffered a further major bleed into his abdomen. The Trocoxil was stopped immediately after the first bleed.

oh dont blame yourself,you werent to know.Flyss was on it and it suited her,ive not heard of any bad reactions,but of course,its very new.my vets were very enthusiastic about it,one even put her own dog on it.

I know, but I do wish I hadn't commented favourably about it. Alfi did react so badly to so many things she was really sitting on the fence about trying it. Hopefully it wasn't my comment that pursuaded her to give it a go.

but I probably wouldve done the same-id heard only good results,and my personal experience of it was good-so of course youd reccomend it-even her vet mustve thought it was ok,So sad for all concerned.

I have been in touch with a behaviourist who i know well. He thought it could be pain related. If she had a sharp pain when the pugs were here once?

Thankfully this association doesn't always happen, but I do know of occasions when it has - a behaviourist friend of mine helped a dog who was beaten by the owner (no comment!) when the children were near by, and who started from then on to be aggressive towards them. So yes, sometimes a dog can assume that whatever is nearby can cause the pain, but this is less likey perhaps if it's chronic. However playing or stumbling etc can all cause significant "extra" pain as any one who has a arthritis can say :)

There are still dogs she gets on with, and she will not go over to dogs to cause trouble only if they are around her. sometimes she reacts aggressivley or I have known her to cry and run behind me.  I do try and not to make too much fuss of this as I know can make things worse. The trouble is I have lost some confidence with her out and about which I know she will pick up on.

It does sound either pain related, or as if she has become fearful (if she cries and runs behind you). Experiment and see what works for her pain wise and maybe keep a diary :) Also if you trust your behaviourist friend and he's an up to date, modern one, ask him for tips on how to act confidently, how to relax, etc. Also it may be good to do lots of training, making it fun and reward based, so that your girl responds really well to what you ask of her. It's just possible that her grumpiness is due to her maturing socially but I doubt this is the cause to be honest. However, remember that dogs do occasionally scuffle and she may just be one to not take rude dogs lightly, for example. HOwever if she cries, and runs behind you, that says a lot about her character and emotions behind what is going on :)

Lots of luck to you, :) your dog sounds rather nice actually. If you can deal with any pain and also do some behavioural work to build up the
confidence (this usually involves lots of really nice extra tasty food) she may well improve :)

Lindsay
x

I used to show and breed bullmastiffs,i had a bitch who loved other dogs and people until she got attacked,then only the dogs at home could go near her and certain people,she lost all trust. Perhaps yours was scared at the vets by the strange people and other strange dogs growling or barking ,sounds like she lost her confidence,its hard to get them back to how they were we never did.

Thank you to everyone for their advice. Thinking back I know the first time she had a scuffle with the retriever (over a piece of smelly fox poo!) He did go back at her alot, whether this caused her lots of pain on her leg and she now wants to get in their first? I must add which is quite important (oops forgot to mention before) that unfortunately when her xrays were taken she was checked all over and was found to have hip dysplasia and mild elbow dysplasia, so she does have reason to be grumpy at times! We had a good day yesterday, she met the retriever during our walk, she was on the lead but did'nt react at all even when he was barking and jumping around :)  She has now had her 4th Cartrophen injection so we will see if this helps as well as her Metacam. She has met mother in laws pugs again, this time at theirs and she was fine with them, though they did both throw themselves on their backs as she walked through the gate and sniffed them! Like a couple of tortoises on their backs little legs in the air!
She is a nervy dog so will be careful not to put her in uncomfortable situations and hopefully her confidence will build up again.