Difficult Times .....

I've been having problems with my Max.  He has always been a bit grumpy but around Xmas he became really aggressive, growling and baring his teeth when I went near him and he ended up biting me twice on the leg just breaking the skin!  Pepsi just ran away in total confusion and fear though Max didn't touch him. I was absolutely horrified at the change in his behaviour and thought there must have been some physically problem that was causing this. So, the other day I took him to the vet and she found that he had pain and guarding in his thoracic spine. All his reflexes etc were normal so she was confident that it was not the dreaded slipped discs dachshunds are prone to get because of their long backs. The vet felt it was arthritis, which, as he is 77 in human years is probable! She gave him a pain killing injection and I have meds to give him each day.

Now it's the second day of treatment and Max is much more himself, he must have been in so much pain he didn't want me to touch him.  I must say though, after him biting me I am wary of him, it's amazing how scary even a small dog is when they get aggressive!  So, hopefully we have his problem under control and Max and I can now learn to trust each other once more.