Does anyone know what causes a dog to shake like they are frightend or cold?

Question

Recently we had our baby girl spayed. She about 6 years old. Ever since shes been a totally different dog. Very jumpy, doesnt want to listen and she does this weird shivering like shes cold or scared. Im not sure why shes doing it. Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Answer 1

I would definitely have her checked out at the vet since she didn't do this for 6 years previously.

My dogs (miniature schnauzers, 2 years old) do it if they are 1) trying to tell me something (hungry, need to potty) 2) nervous about something or 3) really are just cold.

Have her checked out though.

Answer 2

Trembling and tremoring occur in small breed dogs with reasonable frequency. Despite this,
there is not much information that I can find on the possible causes of this problem. There is at
least one case report of a shih tzu who was suspected to have small dog shaker syndrome. This
is a tremor disorder that occurs mostly in small white dogs for reasons that are not clear at this
time. It is reported to respond to prednisone or other corticosteroid therapy in many instances.
If the problem is responsive to corticosteroids it is usually necessary to use them for several
months and then to slowly wean the patient off of them and recurrences seem to be pretty
common.

Pain can cause tremoring or trembling and is a consideration whenever a disc injury or spinal
injury is suspected. If this is the case pain relievers should at least help some.

Neurologic, muscular and skeletal problems sometimes lead to trembling. We see this in
conjunction with hip dysplasia (joint pain) and with degenerative myelopathy (decreased nerve
function). These particular disorders probably aren't likely in your dog but there are others that
are less common that can lead to trembling.

If the medications used so far have not helped and the trembling continues it might be worth
trying a corticosteroid, if your vet feels that there won't be a detrimental effect on any other
problems still present.

Answer 3

Some dogs do display a 'shaking' experts claim there's many reasons why this may happen. Smaller dog do it often and when they get older this will happen more often. Its could be anxiety, excitement. Normally not fear. It all depends on the situation, she may shake for all these reasons, just watch her carefully and notice any slight changes when it starts happening and if her ears are up or down , to tell what kind of mood she's in

Answer 4

I have cats and pretty much always have but I was thinking abt. your question and I think your dog is nervous. She prob doesn't like going to the vet to begin with and after having surgery it probably just freaked her out so much it might take a while for her to calm down. You should call and ask your vet though. She sounds really scared. Maybe something at the vet scared her?

Answer 5

Dogs usually shake when they are cold, scared, anxious, excited, and in pain! If her whole body shakes, she may be having seizures! If your dogs behavior has changed, then you really should have a vet check her out. There may be a medical underlying problem, that is causing her to act this way. A vet is the only one who will be able to determine what is causing this problem, {if there is one}, be able to treat it properly, and tell you what to do from there!

Answer 6

I think she's reacting to being spayed. My dog seemed a little edgy when we got her fixed, but after a while she was fine. I would give it some time, but if she's still acting like that after a few weeks, I would ask the vet.

Answer 7

It could be emotional, such as nervous, easily spooked, traumatized from her experience at the vet. It could also be that your dog got nerve damage somehow during her surgery and has tremor caused from that. OR it could be that the dog has coincidentally developed some sort of neurological condition like we would associate with palsy or Lou Gherig's in people.

Answer 8

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 9

Has she been to the vet for similar visits? She may have been scared from that experience. My cat had surgery 2 weeks ago and was not the same for more then a week. My vet said that may have been scared from it. But the most important possibility is he be having seizures. Please call your vet and see what they say! Good Luck

Answer 10

I think it's just a nervous habit. My dog does it all the time and she's a little yorkie who has never been spayed. I think the smaller they are the more they shake.