A friend of mine gave me his Boxer in August of 2016. He went through a nasty divorce and his ex wife decided she didn't want the dog, but he couldn't keep the dog because he lives in military barracks. Before she came to me, she had been in two other homes. One that my friend had given her to originally and then someone the person who had her gave her to. She was in those homes for probably six months total time.
August 2016 my friend gets a call that his dog is at a pound an hour away and he goes to get her. We immediately noticed she was malnourished, you could see her ribs, and she was obviously beaten, she ran from me and acted scared when I grabbed a broom to sweep my patio. Flash forward to today, she is being extremely picky with her food. Last week she didn't want to eat at all for two days. Nothing has changed out of our routine or her food, no one has left or anything.
Last Saturday I sat my hand on her lower back and she spun around and growled at me, she has never growled at me before. She hasn't done it since either. That same day she almost attacked a two year old for no reason, the child hadn't even left the mom's arms. It took me smacking her hind quarters to get her to listen to me and I put her in her crate. She has never done that either, she has always been around kids and neither myself or the original owner have seen her act that way. I even called him to ask if by chance it had happened before and he told me no. This week she is acting fine, no weird attitude bursts. However, she has not been eating again for the last three days. If she does eat, she'll eat only part of her food and has started spilling some on the floor. It hasn't been hot, maybe high 70s at the highest. She doesn't act depressed, still loves to play and loves on my kids as usual. She is five about to be six, I believe. Is it possible for dogs to regress into behaviors from years ago? I am not sure if maybe she is having flashbacks to the houses before us for some reason or if it is possible?
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Please call the vet ASAP. Sudden changes like this are almost always a health issue and the sooner the pup get looked at the better. If the pup gets a clean bill of health, ask the vet if she would benefit from work with a behaviorist.
Prayers for all!
You need to contact the vet. This is not normal behavior.
It isn't possible to read your post without being concerned. From what you have told us it seems likely that this dog has post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). It sounds like she may have been abused by one of the caretakers. You need to talk to your Vet to eliminate any physical problems. Going 2 or 3 days without eating is serious. You also need to have a professional evaluate her behavior. Growling and being aggressive towards children is dangerous and puts her and others at risk.
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