Are these anxiety symptoms?

We have a 6 month old Cavalier puppy and my brother has a 5 year old Boxer. They were introduced back in February and the Boxer has been really good with our pup. They have met once a week since then and the only thing that has changed between them is that gradually our pup has become more inquisitive of the Boxer and the Boxer less so of the pup. One day however, the Boxer began shivering and panting and when he was taken outside, had a really bad case of diarrhoea. He was taken straight to the vets but they couldn’t find anything wrong.

This has happened twice since then when we've met, but with the dogs meeting up in between these episodes with no problems. Again the vet couldn't find anything wrong with him. He had normal temperature, was not off his food and seemed fine in himself. The only thing suggested was that it could be a possible allergy and to look at all the things that the Boxer comes into contact with in that situation. We actually meet at our mum’s, so we’ve been trying to figure out if anything has changed there, e.g. carpet or furniture cleaner, but can’t think of anything.

I wondered if the Boxer could be getting anxious because of our puppy and this is causing the shivering and loose bowels. We try not to give our puppy any more attention than the Boxer, and if the Boxer grumbles to show that he’s getting fed up, our pup immediately becomes very submissive and backs off.

The Boxer was quite happy with our last Cavalier, who was 7 years older than him, but he had known her from being a puppy himself.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

What sex is your Cavalier, are both dogs neutered, is your boxer generally nervy?

Our puppy is male and not yet neutered (too young at the moment). My brother's boxer has been neutered, but he is not generally nervy, no. He is very playful but has been quite calm around our puppy, although doesn't like it when the puppy sniffs at him for too long.

Not enough information at the moment to come to an informed guess, are you sure you are not adding 2+2 =5?

Boxers can be very sensitive. As we got first Katie & then HArvey & my nephew used to bring his staffi x, our older Boxer got very anxious. The Staffi x was very confident, acted like he owned the house & when he left our girl would still be anxious for a while. Maybe your brothers Boxer feels like his old friend has gone & this new (altho delightful pup) pup has taken over. He could be grieving for the loss of his old friend.

Could your brother try getting to the house first so the Boxer is there to greet the pup, rather than arriving to find the pup there?

You mention the Boxer grumbles at the pup, before that happens i would remove the pup. Let them play for max 10 mins, then distract & remove pup. At 5 the Boxer is middle aged & you cant blame him for not wanting a bothersome pup round him. As the pup gets older he wont find the older dog so fascinating, in meantime respect the older dogs place

If you are there for extended periods, i.e. A weekend you could try Daf difusers plug-ins or Back Rescue Remedies.(Boots etc sell them) Couple drops placed on the tongue half an hour before meeting the pup

Rather than allergy in the house, could the dog be allergic to something in the garden?

We have had success with Bach Rescue Remedies - so long as the dogs been cleared by the vet, i would give rescue
remedy a go - it was a vet recommended it to us initially.

The only other thing your brother could do if its a day trip, is leave his dog at home.

Hi smokeybear, well yes, that may be the case, that’s why I’m asking here
Hearing comments that suggest that the only thing that has changed recently is that there’s a puppy around, and then leaving that comment hanging in mid air makes me think all sorts of things.


Hi Velvetboxers, thanks for the suggestions. I'll give these a try. Because the Boxer is so playful, I hadn't really thought of him as middle aged. This has always happened before he's had a chance to go into the garden so I don't think it could be that either.

Thanks very much.

It does seem that there may be an anxiety issue with the boxer and maturing puppy.It could be the boxer is reacting to a puppy beginning to make a stronger presence felt causing him to feel he is being displaced.This can make him feel insecure and resentful of the puppy.If anything help the boxer to feel more secure about his position with family and territories and that includes extended family and territory or he may become to reguard the puppy as a threat.Being neutered won't necessarily make any difference to estabished behaviour concerning family and territory.(This of course is only a possibility)

Some older dogs just don't like puppies you know, especially both being males. I've heard of a lot of dogs around my neck of the woods, that tolerate them, but don't really like them, and there's a big difference. I agree with Reuben, the boxer might just be getting over anxious that this new kid on the block might end of a threat of some kind, i.e. taking all the food, all the attention, blah, blah, blah.

I know from my youngster, that whenever we got back from a vet's visit, where she would shake through the entire procedure, she would get out the car, and rush to have a poo, which was always diarrhea, so there you have it! Stress, anxiousness, it all affects the bowels, and I'm surprised the vet didn't tell you that? It happens in humans doesn't it, so why not dogs? Hence the phrase "sh*tting yourself", because in a fearful/anxious situation that's what you want to do isn't it.

I'm sure this is all it is, and like Velvet has said up there, try and make the whole meeting a lot less worrying for him, what about meeting beforehand when you're going round your mum's so that they can actually walk together for a few minutes or half an hour, and then go round there and see if you notice a difference? That's the route I'd take in this instance, and good luck, I hope it all stops.

Thanks for the replies.

We wont be seeing them now for a couple of weeks due to holidays, but when we’re all together again, I’ll definitely be trying out your suggestions.

We haven’t had the 2 dogs together for a while for various other reasons, but this Saturday just gone, I met up with my brother before going to mum’s, and we all went for a walk in the woods. Both dogs were quite happy doing their own thing and sometimes snuffling around together. We then went to Mum’s and kept Jasper (Cavalier puppy) on a lead and a few feet away from Diesel (Boxer), and gave Diesel lots of attention. They both fell asleep! Diesel had no shivering, panting or diarrhoea!

Here’s the one time we managed to get them together and sitting (fairly) still at the same time.


And this is Jasper when he finally got back home.


I know it’s only the start, but it was a good start!

Thanks for everyone’s help, we all really appreciate it.