Strange "attack"?

[Brummyrat]

Im not expecting anyone to come up with a solution to this but thought Id ask anyway. Our JRT x Corgi rescue did a weird thing in the summer, he’s a very quiet boy but loves coming out in the car to the stables with me because he gets lots of fuss. He sits on the passenger seat, on a saddle pad, just curled up quietly until we get there and then I lift him out and off we go. When I open the car door he never moves because he can’t jump down and, like I say, he’s an extremely quiet boy. One day in the summer we had just set off from home when he suddenly jumped up as if someone had stuck a red hot poker up his bum and kind of yelped then started loudly barking in a really agitated fashion, trying to get off the seat. I pulled over straight away and he could hardly get out of the car fast enough, even trying to follow me out the drivers side. Once out he ran up and down the pavement (on his lead) still barking – he isn’t a barker – until he eventually calmed down after a couple of minutes and I was able to pop him back and carry on. Now at the time I assumed maybe he’d been stung because there were a few bees around and he certainly reacted as if he had.

Yesterday it happened again. We’d been to the yard early morning and we were almost home, he was curled on the passenger seat as usual and suddenly jumped up and yelped then started frantically barking loudly at nothing in particular. I pulled over and he was trying to follow me out of the driver’s door but I kept him in and when I ran round the car he was in the footwell going bananas. I got him out and he ran up and down again barking and highly agitated, hackles up. Once he calmed down he was fine and we continued home.

Both times I was driving straight, 20mph, radio on in the car, he was calm and nothing seemed to trigger it. He went home yesterday and had a doggy biscuit for his breakfast and continued being perky. He has been toileting perfectly normal. There doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong because he’s under the vet for his arthritic front legs and he has regular physical checks and his bloods done because he’s on Loxicom. Wondered if anyone had ever experienced anything similar? I will add that the only other time I've posted about him was last year when he seemed to pass out briefly when he wore a coat at the stables (random I know but the rescue did say that he hated dog coats but that day he'd been fine until I tried to do up the Velcro again while he was wearing it) but that has not happened since and the vet said he was absolutely fine.

 

[Bellasophia]

Two ideas..
Check his anal glands. My schnauzer would spin her head round to check her rear if glands overfill..ive altered her diet and she’s fine now.

Check his rear spinal area..for any sensitivity./pain. You say he won’t jump down from car..is arthritic at front...maybe he’s getting stiff/ pain in his rear area too..?

Re dog coats..many dogs don’t like Velcro or zip noise..
I make my own coats..basic rectangle,warm material,with elastic / buckle closure ......well tolerated by many dogs who formerly refused a pet shop dog coat.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Do you have electric seat warming? Could he have either overheated or got a mild electric shock?

 

[CorvusCorax]

Query anal glands, back injury or static shock, like PaS the heated seat was my first thought.

 

[PurBee]

Great suggestion...it could be static, as the dog is on a non grounded saddle pad (acrylic/polyester material) on seat and static can build up and then suddenly be sparked through the dog.
Car seats themselves are grounded onto the frame of the car - but as the dog is on the saddlepad its a material which will cause static, and that shields from grounding the static through the seat onto the grounded car frame.

Switch the saddlepad for a 100% cotton towel or something.

My dog yelps like a bugger with hackles raised when she gets a zap from the horse electric fence.

Even my cat and me get a static zap when i stroke him inside on eva foam matting. He looks at me as if i do it on purpose!

 

[Smitty]

I was stood outside talking to a friend yesterday and noticed the largest bee/wasp/hornet I think I have ever seen. It hovered near her which is when I first noticed it and then flew 5/6 terraced houses along, at which time it was still visible. Just saying.

Other than that I would be wondering about static shock or nerve pain.

 

[Brummyrat]

Thank you so much for the replies already! Yes he certainly acts like its a kind of shock and both times it happened while he was on this saddle pad so you could be onto something. My car is a complete nail and I don't have anything fancy like heated seats so it wouldn't be that. I do regularly give him massages and he hasn't ever reacted to his back hurting, he doesn't jump because he has little Corgi legs which are arthritic and rather plump body which is a work in progress! But thanks, food for thought so far

ETA.... I read somewhere last night that said anal glands could cause it too, will consider this.

 

[Birker2020]

Two ideas..
Check his anal glands. My schnauzer would spin her head round to check her rear if glands overfill..ive altered her diet and she’s fine now.

That's what our beagle does too. She will smell very strongly of fish when they need discharging. The vet taught us what to do but as she is often at the vet for vacines or checkups we wait until then.