20/10/2025
Something I’d love your thoughts on – seizure-related behaviour changes in dogs
Bit of a strange but rather heartwarming one…
My Springer had a seizure on a shoot last Friday.
Scary to watch, but I stayed with him through it, speaking to him and keeping close and I did actually calmly stroke his body (which is against advice given).
He recovered well, physically, but what’s really struck me since then is who he seems to be now. It’s as if something’s… shifted. In a good way.
Since the seizure, he’s been noticeably more cuddly, more affectionate — but not in a needy or anxious way. It’s not that he’s seeking comfort. It feels more like he’s opened up again. A softness. A brightness. He’s even got a bit of his cheekiness back — like how he used to be before his TPLO surgery for a ruptured ACL. Like some part of him that had faded out over time has come back online.
It’s not just me projecting — his expressions, his interactions, his general vibe have all changed. More present. More himself.
This got me wondering — is this a thing?
So I did a bit of digging, and here’s what I found:
🧠 Seizures and postictal phases (the “after” period) in dogs are known to affect mood and behaviour — usually things like disorientation, tiredness, or appetite changes. But there are anecdotal reports out there (and parallels in human neurology) where people or animals seem to “reset” in some way after a seizure. Not always negatively. Sometimes it brings back old traits, or softens their demeanour.
📚 One paper noted that nearly 40% of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy showed behaviour changes before or after seizures, but the exact nature of those changes varied quite a bit (Shihab et al., Front Vet Sci, 2019:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00396/full
🐾 There are also owner reports of dogs becoming more playful, affectionate, or expressive post-seizure — not just due to confusion or fatigue, but almost like a deeper shift. A kind of “reboot.” But these are scattered, and not well-documented in the literature.
🔍 From a neuroscience point of view, it is plausible. A seizure can disrupt existing neural patterns, and in some cases might release behaviours that had been inhibited — especially if the dog had been dealing with chronic pain, stress, or learned suppression. Kind of like shaking the etch-a-sketch clean.
👂 And from a behavioural lens (particularly if you look through Perceptual Control Theory), a major physiological event like a seizure might trigger a reorganisation of control systems — particularly if the dog experienced safety and social support during and after it (Carey et al., 2016; Powers, 2008). I stayed right by him, gently talking the whole time. That emotional context could’ve played a role too.
🙌 I know the usual advice is not to touch a dog during a seizure — especially during convulsions — but in this case, I made a call in the moment. He wasn’t thrashing; it was more of a rigid seizure, with only a brief convulsive stage. So I gently stroked his body (nowhere near his head) and spoke to him softly throughout. I don’t know whether that helped him neurologically, but emotionally… maybe. It felt right, and I wonder if that moment of calm connection played a part in how he seems now.
✨ So here’s my question to all of you:
Have you ever seen a positive behaviour change in your dog after a seizure?
- Did they seem “more themselves”?
- Did you notice any return of older traits — playfulness, affection, cheekiness?
- Or maybe a deepening of your bond after supporting them through it?
Whether it was subtle or dramatic, I’d love to hear what others have seen. Comment below if you’ve experienced anything similar — and feel free to share this post if you know someone with an epileptic dog who might have a story to tell.
Would be fascinating to see what patterns (or surprises) emerge when we pool stories together.
