My dog is having some weird symptoms.. what could be causing this?

Question

my 3 yr old dog is suddenly becoming agressive torwards me. out of the blue he will start to growl at me, and get really tense like he is going to attack. this was only me at first. now he has growled at my son and our other dog. he also has shown signs at him becoming very tired after only playing for a short time. he is ONLY 3. also, within the last couple months, he has started to pee in our house. mostly downstairs but the other night he peed right infront of me on our DVR player. now, today, i noticed his pee a different color. it is a dark yellow with a tent of orange. i dont know if he is sick, and trying to tell us? i am the main care taker for our animals, so could he be growling at me telling me hes in pain? this has been going on for a few months. we are making an appointment with our vet, but until then i was hoping to get a few ideas on what could be going on with my dog, i would have made the appointment sooner, but i just put two and two together when i noticed his pee color. i didnt realize that it could be because he could be very sick, but i also could be completly wrong. please shoot out a few ideas! thanks

Answer 1

It's easy to not notice symptoms when you live with an animal, and they come on gradually - but your dog definitely has a problem.

Your vet will be able to tell a lot by doing a urinalysis - the dark pee is a bad sign.  Ask him to also check for Lyme disease - pain will make a dog aggressive, but so will Lyme disease - often out of the blue, and the symptoms will disappear with treatment, as well.

Here's hoping your dog's condition is treatable -

Good luck-

Answer 2

Dogs are stoic and don't often show symptoms until they're very sick.   to me, this sounds like a health issue. could be a kidney issue or a uti.  usually when urine is dark it is because they are dehydrated.  best of luck.  try not to beat yourself up over this.  you're doing the right thing by getting him to the vet.  

Answer 3

Yes, you'll need to take him into the vets and get a work up done.

Thyroid problems are a big reason for sudden onset of aggression, tiredness etc..

but so are a host of other issues...

good luck

Answer 4

My first reaction is definately illness.

Whether it's neurological and virtually untreatable or something the vet can help you deal with remains to be seen.

Prepare yourself for A LOT of tests, and possibly not a lot of answers.  You will have to decide just how far you want to go and how much you want to put your do through.

Ultimately, it could be something neurological that cannot be fixed, in which case you will have to decide if it's fair for both you and the dog to keep him around.  

For now, keep an open mind and see what the vet can tell you.  With any luck it will be an easy fix and you will have no more problems.

Best of luck to you.