I have a 10 month old castrated boxer dog.
He has been with me now for 2 months. I got him from the rspca.

A boxer bitch was seized by the rspca from a breeder, and she had a litter of 6, 3week old pups with her. Sonny was one of the litter... so we basically knwo his history from then.
He was socialised by the rspca to a degree, and then homed out to a family, where it did not work out.
So he returned to the rspca.

He needed a family home, with someone home all day to give him attention, preferably with other dogs. I fitted the bill and here we are.

When he came to me he was well socialised with other dogs and people. It was evident he had missed out of the exploration of the big wide world.

Things like Lorries, buses, and bin bags all scared him.
He has come a long way now though and is so mellow and relaxed.

However there is one aspect of his behaviour that has me puzzled.

I usually walk him out with my other 2 in the mornings and then he has an afternoon session one on one where we do some recall and one on one training.
He has come on really well and really loves to have something to occupy his mind.
His recall is getting really good, I have been using a long training line and this backs up the few times I may not get his attention first time.

However sometimes when he is off lead he seems to have what I can only explain as a panic attack. He roots him self to the spot and wont let anyone near him.
He starts to shake and all the noises and things that he usually couldn't care less about seem to startle him.
I call him and he stares at me but doesn't move. If I approach him he runs off like a wild animal and then roots him self to the spot again. The whole thing usually lasts about 20 mins, when he suddenly then seems to come to his senses and walks over to me all calm like nothing has happened.

I have tried ignoring these episodes and walking on, letting him come to me. I have tried calling him, getting toys, treats. Even if my other dogs are there or not it makes no difference.

Any ideas?

I have no great experience in these things but petite mals (small epileptic episodes) came to mind, perhaps others will be able to says yes or no to that idea.

Phew, a 10 month old boxer rescue with issues, added to your 2 8 month old pups from non-ideal sources: http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=718158;hl=;hlm=uid#pid718158

!!

What you describe sounds like it could be a form of epilepsy/fit - I'd take him to the vet for a check up if I were you. 

well if no one offered these dogs homes, what woudl happen to them?

here i am prepared to offer them good homes, just after some advice thats all.

Hi Clare - you have a big heart for sure and seem drawn to dogs in need of much more TLC than the average single family pet would normally require so please understand that not everyone will be quite able to comprehend how you expect to manage such a young and unpredictable menagerie ;)

What you describe may, as suggested already, be a form of seizure and should be investigated by your vet - seizures can be caused by a variety of conditions and are not restricted to epilepsy.  

Have you noticed your young dog "paddling" his legs {more often when upright the front one(s)}, any rapid eye movement or obvious disorientation?  Is he ever sick or incontinent during or shortly after these episodes?   Your vet will want to know lots of things about the circumstances immediately before these spells in order to best work out where to look first towards a diagnosis.

FWIW personally I think some dogs can suffer panic attacks but I would expect there to be a pattern of behaviour or significant environmental cause {noises, such as thunder / gunshot / fireworks / building works} that you would be able to pinpoint over a brief period of time to help identify the cause(s) and progress from there.

I sincerely hope that it is nothing serious and something which after having had a clear medical check-up members will be able to advise better on from a training POV :)

best wishes, Teri

when you say paddlign with his frount legs what exactly do you mean?
he does use his froutn legs alot in a playfull way, however i always thoguht that was a boxer thing!

he dosnt seem to loose consciousness, and it dosnt happen on every walk, in fact i woudl say in the time i have had him it has happened 3 times.

he does seem to shake when it happenes, but he also looks real scared.
he is never sick or ever looses control of his bowels.

his eye also look fine. i think the best thign to do woudl be to film it. the problem is , that unless he is doing it, its hard to show the vet what is going on. he did have a check over not long after we got him and they checked his heart becasue obviously boxers cvan get heart problems, but his heart was fine and healthy. also his breathing is good.
i have seen a dog with epilepsy when i worked in the vets once. this occasion it was a border collie who was very bad if he did not get his medication.

this dosnt seem to be liek that thougth.

in this case he only seems to do it if i havent got a lead on him at all. even if he has a long trainign lead on he dosnt do it. its only if he has no retraint at all.

>when you say paddlign with his frount legs what exactly do you mean?

They appear to be clawing at thin air or in a "swimming" motion.  Sometimes seizures are so brief that we would be unaware our dog has had one unless we're really clued up on that particular dog's behaviour.   I've had a dog with mild epilepsy and over time we eventually worked out what all the patterns were affecting her and what the often minute signals that she was having or about to have a fit coming on were.   Temporary loss of awareness (even jus a slightly dazed look) usually goes hand in hand with any seizure. 

Of course whether that is even the case with your young dog is impossible to tell and really it would be best to have the health aspects checked out first in case these strange episodes are linked to a medical condition.  As I mentioned earlier, even if these are "fits" it does not necessarily follow that they are caused by epilepsy.

We could make a stab in the dark at this from a dozen or more angles but IMO the first port of call should be your vet.  As I've already mentioned, should it be diagnosed by him as non-medically related, then there are a number of members who will be able to proffer advice when more fully informed.

best wishes, Teri :)

I thought you had got rid of this dog as he had knocked your young daughter over?? Also, wasn't he sent back to the RSPCA because the people you got him from originally got him from the RSPCA and he shouldn't have been rehomed??

this is a diffrent dog entierly. i had a home check and an interview from the rspca before even taking this dog home. also all of us had to go and walk him at the rspca at least 2 times, and we had to take our other dogs with us as well to make sure they all got on.
the dog you mention was in fact from another litter to the one we have now. it was becasue of that episode that we ended up fidnign out about the litter and found out there was another one wanting adoption.

Wasn't that a boxer owned by Wolfwoman's friend ?? I'm confused :)

Daisy

ok.
a friend of mine got a young boxer dog of a family locally.
i used to walk him most of the time as my friend really was not all that intrested in him and eventually she said i could have him if i wanted, becasue she just did not get on with him.

there was talk he had come from a rescue, and to begin with we were nto sure where exactly he came from.

there was talk it could be the rspca . but then of course if he was then he shoudl not of been rehomed. so i contacted the rspca who said that it was wrong for him to have been passed on,. however rather than uproot him again, they were happy for me to keep him subject to a satisfactory home check. witch i had done and there were nto problems. he was then transferred into my name. i was also able to supply vet refs as i used to work as a vet nurse.

i had him for a few weeks when one day he turned on my little girl. now up intill this point i had been walking him out with my dogs and ly little girl almost everyday for a month. and thsi was one of the reasons i took him on becasue he got on so well with my other dogs and my little girl.

so i rang the rspca who took him away, and were very sorry. we were devistated. however they then told me that around the same time this dog came in another litter had also come in, and they had another boxer pup in there lookign for a home. they knew he was good with children becasue he had come back from a family home through no fault of his own. so we showed our intrest went thougth the interview and dog walking. we did nto need another home check becasue we already had one for the other boxer.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I am aware, within the last year you have had four dogs, two of which you have had to rehome due to various problems?? You are also having a few difficulties with one of your current dogs and yet you have taken on another   Surely you would be better off spending time trying to sort out the problems you have with your current dogs rather than taking on more animals??

there is one thing that can not be cured in dogs where a family is involved and that is aggresion.

i was not in the situation to sort out aggresion with the 2 dogs that sadly had to go. but while they were with me, i had them vaccinated and vet treated and they were loved and at least had a nice life.

Totally agree Josie :(

well peopel whi knwo me in person woudl tottaly dissagree with you. i tottaly dedicate my life to my animals and my child. i dont do anythign else. so i dont see how i can be critasied just becasue i have hit a hurdle. howmany peopel are there here who have problems?
there are loads.

Its not the point whether people disagree or agree with you. It's also nothing to do with the fact that other people have problems - the fact of the matter is that you have taken on yet another dog, after rehoming two in one year, you are already having problems with one of your dogs and yet you actively go out and get another one??:rolleyes: Surely you can see that this is not the most sensible course of action - or am I missing something??

well actually we have since foudn that puepa my dog that we were having problems with, has a cyst on her overy. it is probable its been there since she started puberty.
it was around this time her behaviour started. it got worse after her first season.

she is being spayed next week, and they are going to run tests to make sure the cyst is just a cyst and nothign more sinister.
the vet told me that no amount of socilisation or trainign would of stopped her behaving the way she was. becasue it was unbalancing her hormones.

in fact on the contrary the vet said that he felt puepa was very well behaved and a delightful young dog, despite the condition she has. he said many bitches can be very aggresive with it.

we are lookign forwards to the problem being nipped in the bud now.

also get your facts right. i have had 5 dogs this year. 3 of them i still have and will be keeping till the end of there days.
the first one i rescued from a home where he was being abused, and did as much as possible it was a shame he coudl nto settle into our household and i put the dog first. the second i took off a friend becasue she was not lookign after him properly. and it was unfortunate that he ended up having some sort of psycological problem. however we foudn out once the rspca took him back that he had been bred by a puppy mill/farmer. and so this coudl explain the behaviour problems.

i dont see why im having a persoal attack from people. as i was only after some advice with my dog.
i still cant see what the point there is of people just replying with garbage about how i shoudl not have dogs. how on earth is that any help.
its becasue of peopel liek you that there is war and crap goign on in the world. just have to put your 2 pence in dont you. kick us when your down.
why dont you get a life. this is ment to be an advise forum, not an interrigation corner.

sorry to hear about puepa's condition but at least it will be sorted out and hopefully the behaviour won't have become learnt.
Also i hope that your boxer can be treated in which ever way - whether behavioural or medical.
Good luck and all the best
Anna

I'm amazed that you post about being "persoally [sic] attacked", and then proceed to tell me it is my fault there is "war and crap goign on in the world. just have to put your 2 pence in dont you. kick us when your down.why dont you get a life. this is ment to be an advise forum, not an interrigation corner".  Surely this is exactly what you have just done to me. 

You have had four dogs this year so far, not including your new addition. You have had to have two rehomed. You have got another rescue dog, regardless of the problems you are encountering with one of your current dogs.   You really can't be surprised that people are worried about what you are taking on. You have a young daughter, but yet you buy a puppy from a back yard dealer, and then another from a pet shop and wonder why you are having problems with them. All this after rehoming your original dog due to problems you encountered.  You then "adopt" another dog from a friend of yours, who turns out to be aggressive towards your daughter, so you rehome him with the RSPCA.    Then you take on another RSPCA dog..........:rolleyes:

I am aware that you post on other websites and I thought you had "learnt from your mistakes" when you had to rehome Sonny for attacking your daughter, but yet seemingly only weeks later you take on another dog???