Yorkie is terrified
 

Hey my name is Tyler and my yorkie is worrying me.

So Leo is an almost 3 year old yorkie (he will be in august) and he is an awesome easygoing dog with a loving personality (really friendly with people he knows). Me and him are the best of buds and he always used me for comfort and affection whenever he was scared.

Two days ago he started acting a little weird with me when I was petting his head. He let out a little yelp when I placed my hand on the side of his face. It worried me because I thought maybe a foxtail was caught in his hair but when I was looking through it I saw nothing. I checked it one more time and he let out another yelp as if I touched the spot that was bugging him. After that he ran off and into his dog carrier, which had me bothered because he never ever ran to his dog carrier.

Now yesterday he wanted nothing to do with me. As soon as I got home he came up to me but then ran away as if he was terrified? Now if I am in the same room as him he hides behind my girlfriend and shakes. If I make eye contact with he runs and hides. I am just so confused because me and Leo are like two peas in a pod, and now he is terrified of me. I was reading some things about just leaving him alone and not even looking at him so he doesn't perceive me as a threat, but I miss having my little buddy with me.

I think he is associating the pain he is having with me touching him?

I am getting him groomed today just in case there is any foxtails or something bugging his skin since his hair was on the longer side and if that doesn't work then I will have a checkup with the vet for him either friday or monday to see if he has any infections or illness.

Please help with any advice
Tyler

Leo
 

That is scary to have Leo react so badly to your touching his head area. Could be something with his teeth/ mouth or ears that hurts and that is why he fears you.
I think you would see any defect or object in his fur or skin?
Yorkies' ears are not easily accessible and you may not be able to see any foreign object or infection etc.
Is it wise to take him to a groomer when you don't really know if he hurts somewhere? If you examine him well and can see nothing in his fur or skin, I would take him to a vet to get checked out rather than the groomer.
My dog had fox tails in his ears when I adopted him and he had to get them removed under anesthetic.
Hope you find out what is wrong soon.

Thanks for the response dottiesyrky, I should have thought it through a little better about the groomers because I don't want him to be in even more pain from them handling him. The vet is definitely going to be the next stop once I am home from work. Also could you visibly see the fox tails in your dogs ears?

Hi!
When was Leo's last dental cleaning/check? I would have the vet check that out right away.

Hope things get better! Keep us posted. We learn from each other!

Leo
 

Thank you. If the dog is still sensitive to touch, perhaps you could narrow the sensitive area down more? It could be a few things in the facial area.
No I could not see the fox tails in the ears. My boy was just very sensitive in the ear area and that is why I saw the vet. I think it was at the same time as a dental and so the vet was able to probe in the ears. The fox tails were deep inside.
But you may have a more simple issue and I hope it is. It is good that you are not going to take him to the groomer as she might hurt him when she tries to do the grooming. Hopefully when you check him out again he will be ok:)

I am sorry for your baby's reaction to possible pain issue....sounds like a tooth problem to me....possibly an ear issue, but broken teeth/abcesses are terribly painful, and the pain is often "referred", that is, his entire head could be hurting and not just where you touch! The vet would be a great place to go, prior to the groomer!

@yorkiemini The last dental checkup for Leo was a year ago and he had to get two of his lower teeth removed. (He retained his lower puppy canine teeth and they were crowding his adult canine teeth, so the baby teeth had to be removed.) I will definitely keep everyone posted.

thoughts for Leo
 

Oh Tyler, poor Leo, I pray it is nothing serious. Please, let us know. I hope it is just a toothache. Jaz sometimes gets this. Does his little mouth look infected inside? Is he eating? I am so sorry that he appears afraid of you. I know it's not you, he probably just associates your touching a painful spot on his head with you.

I would not get this little guy groomed, at all...you don't want someone handling him and hurting him. To me, it sounds like he is having bad pain from somewhere....a tooth, an ear, a bite/sting, perhaps even a neck pain issue. I'd get him to the vet asap.

Did you ever get to the vet? We would all like to hear the outcome since the worst thing that can happen is our lil guys suddenly acting afraid of us.

Is there an update , hows your pup doing now ?

Tyler and Leo
 

Hey Tyler, are you back in the good graces of Leo? Did you find out what the problem was?
Kathy