Dog shaking: cold or scared?

Question

We recently had to shave my Cairn Terrier because of a bad flea infestation. We groomed him at home with lots of love, and he was very well-behaved during the whole thing. Nearly 2 weeks later, he has started to shake when put outside to do his business.

The weather has turned colder around here since we shaved him, but we put a sweater on him and only put him out as long as he needs to be. He is showing aversion to even going out the door, although he is excited to have the sweater put on. As soon as he goes out, he starts to shiver and will not do his business.

Is this a stress issue or is it simply too cold for him? Nothing stressful has happened since the grooming.

Answer 1

He's probably cold & associates going out with feeling cold & uncomfortable - so he doesn't even want to go out the door!

Imagine if you had to go out in only your underwear & hang out for 15 minutes. You wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea of going outside at all after a while! ;p haha

Just bundle the poor pooch up the best you can - maybe get him a thicker sweater. His fur will grow back soon & he'll be okay. Just give him lots of praise & attention when he does go outside & does his business. That will help him do his thing out there quicker & get back into the warm house!

Answer 2

I would say it sounds like he's a bit cold .... even putting the sweater on him, he'll still feel the drafts that weren't there before. He might not do his business as he's not used to wearing his sweater, so might be reluctant ... try putting him out without it on for a short period of time and see if that helps. If not, keep his sweater on and save his goose bumps x

Answer 3

Shivering can mean anything from anxiety, cold, excitement and "coming down" from an adrenaline rush. In this situation he's probably associated outside with being cold. When you take him out run around with him, which will warm him up as well as encouraging him to "go".

Answer 4

Could be cold, could be stressed. I had to have and Old English Sheepdog shaved once and that dog was sick for a week, the vet said stress from the groomiing. (either that or embarrassed going from 10+ inch hair down to nothing)

Answer 5

He is probably cold, why don't you try putting his sweater in the dryer for a couple of mins to really warm it up for him, he can then quickly do his business before the heat wears off.

Answer 6

its probably just too cold for him.

I have a cair terrier mix and we cut her hair short too because she looked crazy and even with a window open(now that its colder) in my mom's room she shakes cause she is cold.

Im glad he likes the sweater. maybe just let him go outside with sweater on and then bring him back in and warm up with a warm blanket.

Answer 7

in this case sounds like hes simply cold. instead of just a sweater get him a coat, blanket coats are easy to find this time of year, look nice and arnt too "froo froo"

if hes shivering with just the sweater still try just the coat, if hes still shivvering try layering sweater and coat...

Answer 8

I would say cold. Get him a little jacket.

My dog shakes when its cold, gets excited or wants something like a treat. It never gets scared its too over active LOL

Answer 9

if he is scared he will be shivering and will have his head down with his tail between his legs.
if he is cold he will shiver.
i think he might be scared because he is not going pee and if he was just cold he would shiver but i think he would still be going to the bathroom.

Answer 10

Yup, too cold I would say - don't shave his fur off again! It doesn't help flea problems. Fleas like BLOOD not fur!

Chalice