Overseas Rescue Dogs, Pain & Behaviour

It is not always as easy as you might think to know when your dog is in pain, especially with our stoic Romanian & overseas rescue dogs.

Many people assume they will see obvious signs, but that isn’t always the case.

This is particularly important to be aware of with overseas rescue dogs, who may be more prone to pain and discomfort due to their poor start in life.

Lack of proper nutrition
Parasitic infections
Lack of veterinary care
Weakened immune system from high stress levels
Injury
Abuse
Exercise restrictions (long term shelter dogs)
Exposure to harsh conditions & handling

All dogs are good at masking pain & just getting on with life – especially chronic pain.

Our natural world dogs even more so, many of which will instinctively hide signs of pain or discomfort to avoid showing weakness or vulnerability.

Just because you see your dog running around, playing, chasing balls, jumping and leaping about, doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t in pain.

I’m sure you are aware of how pain not only affects you physically, but can also cause reduced tolerance, increased stress or anxiety, increased frustration, reduced patience and increased emotional reactions.

The same is true for our dogs. Any pain, and especially chronic pain that goes unnoticed for a long time can be a contributing factor to pretty much any behaviour problems we might encounter with our dogs.

Things like excessive barking, reactivity on walks & in the home, resource guarding, separation anxiety, fearfulness, nervousness, hyperactivity, the list is endless really.

Which is why it is essential to rule out pain or discomfort as early as possible when working with a client, otherwise we’re simply trying to modify behaviour that has pain at its root cause – that isn’t likely to be successful and isn’t fair on that dog.

To increase awareness on how easy it is to think your dog isn’t in pain, I’ll be sharing a series of stories on social media, the first of which is Billie’s story.

BILLIE – 5 year old – Mixed Breed Romanian Rescue Dog – Been with adopters 1 year.

PRESENTING ISSUES – Reactivity on walks to people, bikes & traffic. Extreme reactions to anything going on outside the house, barking, racing round the house, frothing at the mouth. Hyperactivity. Difficulty settling. Multiple redirected bites to adopters & 2x public bite incidents.

PREVIOUS RESOLUTION HISTORY – Worked on two occasions with an APBC accredited behaviourist. 2x Vet visits to investigate pain, including being put on a pain medication trial. The pain trial had little effect, so the adopters were advised Billie was not in pain.

Billie’s family had done everything right!

Jan23 – They joined my adopters coaching group & signed up for a behaviour assessment, which included a biomechanics, gait & movement analysis.

The results of my assessment empowered Billie’s family to push their Vets for further investigation.

Apr23 – Billie was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia & arthritis that was so bad she needed two hip replacement operations.

July24 – Billie has now had both hip surgeries and is recovering well with the amazing support of her family, who never gave up on her despite so many challenges.

Just because you see your dog running & jumping & playing, doesn’t necessarily mean there is no pain present.

Several of my Romanian Rescue Pro Trainers are also qualified in biomechanics, gait & movement assessment – you can find a list of them on the ‘Find a Trainer’ page here on the website.

Categories: : Dog Health, Living with Romanian Rescue Dogs, Romanian Dogs & Reactivity, Understanding Your Romanian Dog