18/06/2025
Sharing with Sara Reusche 's words as well.
In my own work, this has been the case far too many times for me to not preach it from the rooftops whenever I can.
"This! I’ve had so many weird or dangerous behavioral things turn out to be medical with my clients, and I so, so appreciate all of the vets I’ve been able to work WITH as a teammate to get those dogs appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
The bulldog who was aggressive because he was sleep deprived (BOAS surgery “fixed” his aggression). The Shiloh Shepherd and handful of GSDs and Malinois who had EPI, and became less anxious when their guts worked and they no longer felt like they were always starving. Layla popping out of weave poles because her back hurt. The Chi mix who stopped snapping when his people stopped picking him up and hurting his previously fractured(!) spine that healed weird. The Doodle who stopped licking holes in her skin and her peoples’ sofas when her vet trialed a hydrolyzed diet and acid reducers. The white Frenchie who never listened (he was deaf). The pink Pit Bull whose aggression triggers became much more manageable when she went to a dermatologist and finally grew hair. The Border Collie whose aggression was so weird that I made her people research absence seizures and talk to their vet, and who turned out to have epilepsy. The Golden puppy who was splatting on walks and refusing to move because his hips hurt. The terrier mix who was getting pissy with the cat and had luxating patellas severe enough that he literally couldn’t bend his legs to sit. The Cavalier whose “anxiety” was actually heart failure. Pan biting Iroh because Iroh stepped on his torn shoulder muscle. The Golden who spun constantly because she was *missing part of her brain*. The markers whose issues started due to UTIs and continued due to anxiety or household stress. All the noise-phobic dogs who benefitted HUGELY from pain med trials. Actually, all of the dogs, period, who benefitted from pain med trials (thank you, vets, for being willing to try these).
We’re really, really bad at recognizing pain in our own species. We’re even worse at recognizing it in our dogs. But we can get better at seeing it, and when we know better, we do better. And in the meantime, we can also strive to do no harm."
And for my own girl, Reilly, who was grouchy with other dogs and stopped playing as much when she had lingering pain after a car accident... Her regular vet found nothing. But a sport med specialist found she needed chiro and massage and pain meds to feel herself again. She's been back to normal since.
And for Ayla, my tiny little spicy girl. Always more spicy when having pain flare ups... And anxious and nervous, too. When she feels better, she behaves better too.
And so many other clients who benefited from a wellbeing first approach to behavior change.
‼️ If an “aggression expert” isn’t advocating for thorough investigation into possible pain as part of their work with you… they are NOT ethical! ‼️
This is a sensitive story, and as such names have been changed to protect my clients’ privacy and identity. The dog pictured below is mine.
Over the last couple of months I’ve been working with a family and their dog (we’ll call him “Benny”). A year ago, Benny turned from a loving family pet to suddenly guarding the lounge; anytime that someone made an unexpected move in the room or entered it, Benny would begin posturing and barking at them, which eventually escalated into jumping and grabbing at their clothes, and then bites that punctured the skin.
A physical examination at the vet didn’t yield any results, and Benny was taking multiple types of anxiety medication that didn’t touch his behaviour.
We started working together, and I asked them to have some scans done to further investigate pain. Behaviour changes are one of the first indicators of pain, but otherwise dogs are REALLY good at hiding pain and it can be easily missed, even in a vet exam.
Because they had already been to see the vet, I was met with some resistance. We did implement safety measures and some training strategies to try to help Benny feel more at ease in the lounge, but his behaviour wasn’t improving.
Eventually, Benny did have an MRI, and it was revealed that he has a chiari malformation in his brain - that is, part of his brain was pushing down into the spinal canal. We could have done all the training in the world but it wouldn’t have mattered, because this wasn’t a behaviour issue.
How many trainers would have slapped a shock collar on this poor dog, who was already suffering? How many would have simply said that he needed to learn boundaries or hear the word “no” and not looked any further? How many would say that it’s all well and good to use positive reinforcement, until it “doesn’t work” and then you need punishment?
It’s estimated that up to 80% of aggression cases have some kind of underlying medical issue. You NEED a behaviour expert who can liaise with your vet and who will advocate for *thorough* examination, not just a quick check over to tick a box.
It’s an unregulated industry. Be careful who you trust with your dog, even if they call themselves an expert or have tons of followers. And if your dog’s behaviour suddenly changes, they’re probably in pain.
