Are Your Pets Behaving Strangely?

I'm not sure I've posted in the correct catagory.
My dog is very sensitive to anything.
The night that the Tsunami hit Indonesia he was asleep at the foot of my bed but he was jumping and twitching like maybe he was having a bad dream.
I reached down to pet him and he turned totally around and jumped in my face and I could feel his teeth on my cheek. If I hadn't been wearing my glasses he would have broke the skin on my face.
I believe that he was sensing what was going on , on the other side of the world.
Well, he has started acting strangley again in the past week.
In the middle of the night he jumps into my bed and sits behind my head and he's shaking and breathing real fast.
I will put him on the floor and he jumps back on the bed .
Needless to say I'm not getting any sleep.
This has happened almost every night for the past week.
He seems like he is very afraid of something.
I just can't figure this one out.
Has anyone else noticed any strange behavior in their pets?
They say that an animals can sense things before they happen.

Magical, i dont have pets at the moment, but i would say this behaviour is certainly something to keep an eye on.

I beleive pets can tell when something is about to happen.

Hope you get some sleep.

I have three cats that are behaving normally right now, but I live in Canada, so I may be quite a distance from you ?

I lived in Los Angeles for a few years in the 80's, and I've witnessed cats act strangely just before a tremor. I've seen my cats start walking back and forth, wanting to go outside, meowing, etc.... just before the room started to shake.

From experience, I trust my cats instincts. They do seem to know when something is going to happen.
They may be more sensitive to the subtle changes that occur before a quake that we just don't feel.

As a side note;
When I come home the first thing I look for is a cat. If I don't see a cat greeting me at the door, I get the feeling that something is wrong. If I'm alone at night and a cat pricks up it's ears and looks around, that puts me on alert too.
This may be the reason that people have pets as companions.
They have abilities that we lack..........

my pets always behave strangely LOL...one is a silly dog, grover maxwell underfoot and the other a fat lazy cat named smokey stinkybutt...the dog is a terror to anyone who comes on the property, from behind me and the cat is too busy eatting to chase mice. in short they are both useless.

I live in Colorado and my pets are perfectly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. They are somewhat highly strung but nothing is going on now and never has.

My horse is acting extra calm and laid back. My whippet is being her normal clingy self and the mutt is his normal laid back easy going guy he always is.

So, no, no issues here

Sonds like your dog is suffering from nightmares. Dogs do dream, and sometimes they act unpredictablly because of them, because they can't distinguish between reality and fantasy.

I would say you have three options:

1.
Animals are very sensitive to signs we cannot feel or are not aware that we are feeling. Take an eye on where you live. Have you felt something strange nowadays?

2.
Sometimes, pets feel that we are not healthy or that we are feeling a little down.

3.
The problem could be his health. Have you checked if he´s eating well. His behaviour is normal during the rest of the day?

I know, I have given three completely different options, but I am sure you will be able to select the one that suits with your pet´s strange reaction.


Sometimes, the true finally seems to be the first idea you got.

I hope you can have some sleep,

Well my dog goes mental a few hours before a strom, other than that, perfectly normal, he's just sleeping on my lap.

My cats ok. Or at least she is no weirder than she was yesterday.

Make sure your pooch isnt sick. Sounds like a nightmare though. I used to have a lab that had bad dreams all the time. It used to break my heart 'cause she would wake herself up and look at me with this look of absolute confused terror. They dont know real from fake when they first wake up.

My dog has been acting strangely the past few weeks.

He has always slept on the couch in the livingroom at night, lately i have been waking up to him being on the floor next to me or in the bed with me.

He knows that he shouldn't be because my husband don't like him on the bed and he has always respected that.....i'll keep a watch on him see if it develops into anything more.

Where do you live, i am in michigan.

My dog has acted strange since the day he was born

Yes your dog was having whats called a nightmare, if you wake a dog up from one they most likely will snap at you

All good replies.
Thanks.
Well he did it again last night. Jumped on the bed and got in back of my head and was wide awake shaking like he is so scared.
I live in Florida for the person that wanted to know.
I have been under alot of stress lately .
Do you think he is sensing that?
But why does he act this way only at night?
He seems to be eating well and he doesn't seem sick.
How can you tell if a dog has a fever?
I heard that their nose is supposed to be cold or is the other way around?
Anyway, his nose felt warm the other day and I thought he may have a fever.
This sure is puzzeling to me.

If I were you, I would see the vet. That behavior is indicative of something going on. Have there been any changes in your neighborhood, say criminal activities, people sneaking around in the night? Your dog is signaling something, now it is up to you to find the source and take action. Take him for a walk around the area and see if there is a place he doesn't want to go near or becomes agitated around. Clearly something is going on and if it isn't external, then he has a sickness that may be causing him pain and discomfort. Important for his sake that you have it checked out.

Yea take him to the vet asap.

From your comment about being under a lot of stress lately, your dog may be concerned about you. I have a cat that adopted me about 6 months after I moved into the house I live in. I just went out the door from the garage to the back yard one evening and she came up and introduced herself. I fed her, and she's been around ever since. First she had a spot in a cat cubby right outside the front door, now she has a pet bed on the couch and rarely leaves the house. Talk about taking over.

Anyway, I have been under extreme stress lately and she is extra attentive, coming up and rubbing against my feet, sitting beside me while I type on ATS, much more attention than usual. She also mews this plaintive little sound in the living room sometimes. My ex finally moved out of my place a couple months ago, and cleaned me out as much as she could of furniture and electronics and stuff, so maybe the cat still isn't comfortable with the changes to the furniture layout, and all the missing stuff. My ex used to say all the time "that cat isn't human," meaning the cat had way too many human characteristics and seemed to know what was going on.

Some pets are like that.

Do you have sleep apnea or any other sleep deprivation condition that could be triggering your dogs behavior? The dog seems scared for some reason and is ending up right by your head, either because it feels safe there or because that is the source of the problem.

[edit on 21-3-2006 by Icarus Rising]

Vets say nose thing is just a wise tail first of all, I say he is sensing something, I wonder if there is a spirit in the house, like in ghost? Because dogs do sense that too!
I have 2 dogs, they acted just like your saying yours did, when we had a small earthquake few months ago here in MA. & they acted strange when New Jersey had a few quakes over the last 4 months or so. He was shaking & trembling, my male dog is more affected than my female!
Of course when I started noticing this, brought him to the vet, all was ok, but to keep an eye on him & earthquakes and see if they are related! Sure enough, even if they are a 1.5 for instance he goes bonkers! And Yes, only at night! I think because all is quiet the Vet and I came up with - and they can sense the vibrations & sounds more easily when there are no other sounds around to distract them, like their would be during the day!
If he checks out a ok & their are no quakes, maybe like I said you could also have a visitor in the house that he senses and doesn't like!
Well, here is hoping you find out what it is! Let us know, were all animal lovers here, and I will say a special prayer too!

Just a note...in addition to checking him out at the vet, also realize that this is the season for critters to be born...

Short story. Two years ago, I thought my 4 cats had lost their everlovin' minds. Leaping at the ceiling; dancing on the bedstead. Climbing the walls, yowling at the wall, growling at the wall. Attacking anything that moved, and some that didn't. Chasing dustbunnies and pushing each other around. This happened nightly. I swore up and down we were due for a big quake...even made a post about it somewhere else. I knew it was gonna come. And soon.

About a week after the first epsiode of "Cats Gone Wild", I was laying in my tub. I submerged myself, and bolted right back out of the bath...I had heard some scratching in the walls, and a sort of coo-ing sound; a humming coo.

Come to find out, after some investigation and much caution, I had a Mama Racoon with a pup (kit? Dunno) hanging out in my walls, between my bedroom and the master bath. Actually, I found out when the 'coon tried to walk in my house from the back porch, but that's another story (involving neighbors coming to my shrieking rescue while other neighbors called the cops...but I digress...). I didn't believe it, because I live smack in the middle of a metropolis, but there she was...and currently I have a possum that doesn't play possum when confronted...LOL, I'm waiting for the alligator to crawl out of the storm drain next.

What my cats were sensing/hearing was the movement in the walls from the Mama and baby, and it set them off. They all think they're the best mousers in the world, although none have ever actually hunted. So their instincts were up and running.

Perhaps you have a similar visitor nesting in the wall...it's that time of year, so it might just be you have a lurker.

Regards to all-
Aimless Searcher

I live in Washington and all my critters are behaving normally well normally for them. I do believe that critters can tell before we can if something is going to happen but I would also take your dog to the vet asap. Good Luck.

Originally posted by MagicaRose
Well he did it again last night. Jumped on the bed and got in back of my head and was wide awake shaking like he is so scared.

Wondering how things are going with you and your dog...

Dogs are so extremely sensitive to our feelings. Your stress may well be the trigger.

If you coddle him AT ALL when he does this behavior, if you pet him or soothe him, you are encouraging him to do it. You are training him to. He will get in a cycle and it will be hard to stop. That could explain why it's only at night. He's in a habit. The sooner you break it, the better.

I suggest you don't let him on the bed, but instead, talk happily to him and make him go lie down on his bed. Don't reward him for this behavior.

The only sure way to tell if a dog has a fever is to take his temp rectally. Take him to the vet for a simple check up. It will be worth your peace of mind and then you can treat the behavior, KNOWING it's not because of an illness. The nose thing is not at all dependable. There are too many things that contribute to a dog's nose temp and moistness.

My animals are behaving normally, btw.

Good luck and let us know how it's going.