My dogs cry out randomly and bite the side of their leg

[ladomca]

I have 2 basenjis about a year apart. With my oldest, during the first few months, we noticed that he would cry out at random times and start biting his leg. After exploring his leg we felt a ball like mass and thought maybe that was what was bothering him. However, the vet said that the “ball” was not a cause for concern. As he kept getting older he complained about it less and less. With our new dog (5 month old) we are experiencing the same behavior, and he also has a ball-like mass on the leg that he bites at. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas what it could be or what I should do?

[Annie]

The Vet said the ball mass not a concern ok so what is it. Seems be be a concern for the dog....

[Kembe]

@annie
I agree! I’d want to know what the BALL-LIKE MASS is too! Doesn’t sound normal and seems to be bothering your dog. I’d get a second opinion ASAP!

[elbrant]

@ladomca Is this something we would be able to see in a photo?

[Zande]

Where about on the leg is it ? If it worries the dog, it ought also to worry the vet !

[eeeefarm]

Why two dogs with the same symptom? If there something else this has in common? e.g. somewhere in your house or where they lie that could somehow cause a minor injury or sore? Or a piece of equipment, like a harness, that is causing a sore spot? It seems very strange that both dogs would have the same complaint. Is it by any chance in the same location or on the same leg?

[love_Leeloo]

Our 6 month female does kind of the same thing, she won't cry out so much but will freak out and randomly bite her thigh on her back leg. No ball-like mass or anything (maybe I should do a more detailed check). I thought maybe something on her skin that we can't see.

It is interesting that it is happening to both dogs, I would go to another vet for a different opinion.

[eeeefarm]

There is another explanation, and that is self mutilation. In dogs it is more often expressed as lick dermatitis, spinning, or tail mutilation, but there are other behaviours associated with it. Horses, particularly stallions, may bite at themselves. There may be a genetic component to these behaviours but stress may be a trigger, e.g. a dog or horse that is confined too much, dogs in crates, horses in stalls. I would consider it unusual in a young animal unless there is a history in the sire and/or dam.

[Isabob]

My Izzy gets little pea size bumps in his skin a lot, the vet says dont worry about them it is just like a big pimple under the skin, sometimes they get as big as a small marble. The vet says they will absorb back into the body, and lots of times they do but takes a long time. But Izzy never bites at them or cries.

[Pawla]

@ladomca where do you live? I heard that out West in the US there is a weed that cause horrible problems for dogs.

[elbrant]

@pawla said in My dogs cry out randomly and bite the side of their leg:

there is a weed that cause horrible problems for dogs.

True... actually, what I learned about is that the seeds from weeds and tall grasses can become embedded under the fur and work its way under the skin. It can create quite the problem and may end up requiring intervention from your Vet.

(this was the first article I came across regarding the issue.)

[DonC]

Sorry I've never seen anything like this. I've seen dogs yike and then bite at some part, especially when a puppy, but usually seems like a startle response. Never the same spot over and over and never accompanied with a mass of any type.

It seems odd that your two dogs would both have this. Makes you wonder about environmental factors.

@eeeefarm said in My dogs cry out randomly and bite the side of their leg:

There is another explanation, and that is self mutilation. In dogs it is more often expressed as lick dermatitis, spinning, or tail mutilation, but there are other behaviours associated with it.

Definitely seen this. Assumed it was an allergic reaction. Seemed this was right because this behavior in the one dog we have which currently exhibits this have disappeared with Cytopoint shots. Better living with biologics.

[RugosaB]

Is it possible the dogs get bit by fleas?

[Zande]

The question has been asked but not, as yet, answered. Two dogs in the same household are similarly affected, but is the pattern the same - are the lumps in the same place on both dogs ?

Years ago, one of my Basenjis lost his fur down both sides, completely symmetrically. The skin became dark and leathery. We tried everything, vets, herbalists, homeopathic practioners. The main consensus was that, because it was symmetrical and equal on the two sides, it had to be glandular.

It didn't bother the dog in the slightest - it just looked unsightly but even that didn't deter judges from placing him highly, even with raised eyebrows !

Till one day at a show, a fellow exhibitor exclaimed 'you're burning him, Sal.'

Yup - the symmetry was because he would lie facing north, or south, tight against the Aga (four oven kitchen range, coal fired, permanently hot). And we all know Basenji like to lie close to heat.

Marvin deconstructed a wire cage and with that and long pieces of timber, fashioned a fender the length of the Aga, so no dog could lie and actually touch it. About 4 inches separated them from the hot metal.

Within 3 - 4 weeks, with the help of applications of Tea-Tree Oil, Econeem and Vitamin E oil, the fur grew back, completely normally !

So it is always as well to look at the environment when two dogs are suffering similarly. It might just be from external causes.

[Patty]

i'D CONSIDER CHANGING MY VET. yOUR bASENJIS ARE WORRIED IF EVEN TEMPORARILY SO THE VET SHOULD BE TOO.