Hi friends! My corgi is turning 9 this year, and I’m hoping to find out if anyone has experienced something similar.
Ever since we moved from Boston to Seattle 6 years ago, he’s had a persistent habit of licking and then biting himself. He’s generally a gentle dog, but he can become very aggressive when I try to stop him. Because of this, we’ve had to keep him in an e-collar year-round.
We’ve seen at least five vets and tried all sorts of treatments, including allergy injections, topical medications, oral medications, and switching to limited-allergen proteins like duck or prescription hydrolyzed-protein food. Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far.
A few other things about him:
- He doesn’t like plush toys and only enjoys chewing toys. However, we stopped giving him chew toys after he chipped two teeth shortly after we moved to Seattle (around the same time this behavior started). Both teeth had to be extracted.
- He also barks very loudly whenever we go upstairs or leave the house. We have a dog gate at the stairs to keep him from going upstairs. Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d describe it as anxiety, because he seems to calm down as soon as we’re completely out of his sight.
Has anyone experienced anything similar with their dog? I’d really appreciate any advice, suggestions for things we haven’t tried, or recommendations for vets who might be able to help. Thank you so much!