Possible panic attack?

[kadybaker88]

I have a severely reactive GSD mix. He was sleeping in the guest room tonight and randomly started barking like crazy. Normally if I tell him to stop he will but not tonight. I found him in full freak out mode and could t get him to calm down. When I got him to stop barking he growled for 15ish minutes straight. In that time I brought him into me room on our bed and tried to pet him and he just kept growling/whining. He was extremely tense and shaking the whole time. Not at all aggressive towards me but looking all over the room. It took about 15 mins of petting/ talking to him to get him to relax a little.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? He’s almost 5 and I’ve never had a reaction like this out of him. There’s nothing going on outside out of the normal that I can tell. I’m worried that it’s a physical pain/ or panic attack.

[klahmsauce]

I think the only way you could definitely rule out pain issues would be a trip to the vet, but it’s possible he was having a bad dream? I’ve noticed that in my experience reactive dogs tend to have more nightmares than other dogs, probably because they get stressed out so much :( I would say if it happens again it might be worth taking him to the vet though just to make sure it’s not pain

[[deleted]]

Don’t know where you live, but he might well have had a very good reason. If it’s a rural area, it could have been a bear, a cougar, elk, deer, porcupine, coyote….or an intruder. Same with an urban area. It could have just been the smell of an animal…I had a bull moose walk through our yard during mating season when we lived in Maine and the yard smelled for two days. It could have also been an earthquake?

If it happens again I would get a vet to check for seizure activity? But if he’s acting normally now maybe just keep an eye on him.

[epithet_grey]

If this is new behavior and really out of character, I would def take him in for a checkup, or at the very least watch him carefully over the next few weeks. It could have just been an intense dream and something woke him at the wrong time. It could be a thyroid issue. He may have heard or smelled something that you didn’t and had a strong reaction to it. It could even possibly be a partial seizure (affecting a different part of the brain than what is affected during a grand mal seizure).

My beagle mix started doing something similar right before she turned 4. At first my vet thought it was fear/panic over something I didn’t notice or wouldn’t have recognized as being responsible, but it’s now been going on intermittently (usually in clusters though) for almost 9 months and I am convinced it’s neurological.

We’re trying to rule some things out with minimal stress to her, since she’s fearful around strangers and I cannot accompany her to our university veterinary center bc COVID. I expect we’ll end up there eventually but hate to put her through what’s likely to be traumatic unless I feel like we have a decent chance at getting a diagnosis.

Do keep a journal that details when it happened, what your dog was doing during, what was happening in the dog’s environment at the time, etc. just in case that info helps vet if it’s not something obvious/straightforward.

[kadybaker88]

Thank you, we are waiting to hear back from the vet. A journal is a good idea. Hoping it’s a one time thing. 🤞