Dog Shaking

[Steph4302]

On Wednesday, my 2 year old male mini poodle started shaking all over his body - like he was very cold. But, he's not cold nor scared of anything. When he was shaking like this, he wouldn't eat a treat and wherever he would walk, his tail would be down, between his legs. You could tell by looking at him that he just wasn't feeling well. I held him for a little while to see what would happen before calling the vet. Within 45 min, he was fine!

Came home last night and he was shaky again for about an hour, then fine! Same thing happened tonight.

He is eating and drinking normally as well as pooping and urinating normally too. No vomiting or diarrhea. Up to date on all shots. No possibility of him ingesting any kind of cleaner, poison, plant, etc. No history of seizures or any other neurological problems.

Any ideas???  

[Thomas Dock, CVJ, Vet. Technician]

Good afternoon...sounds like you are pretty worried about your little guy!

This would be a great question to post in the Ask A Vet section here on MedHelp.   Just post in the General Health forum.  

I agree with ginger and olivia that there are numerous different things that could be going on with your little guy.   Your description almost sounds like a petite seizure (instead of a grand mal).  It's probably best to go ahead and get him checked out at the veterinarian's office.

I have found that keeping my cell phone handy (or a video camera) is helpful for when these events occur.   That way, the doctor can actually see the shaking behavior along with your description.

Good luck!

[olivia13]

My dog does this when he has an upset tummy or when he gets spooked. If it's tummy related then he occasionally spits up afterwards. There's never any diarrhea. Have you tried any new treats? Or given him any different people food?

[ginger899]

Usually when a dog shakes and shivers like this it is because of pain. Also they often refuse food when they are in pain.
It could be that he has some kind of intermittent pain somewhere. Dogs are great at shaking things off. If the pain isn't actually there, they forget all about it, and carry on as usual.

To be on the safe side you could ask the vet to run some blood tests to 'screen' your dog to see if there is any problem going on. This shouldn't cost TOO much.