|
|
Post by cath4k on Apr 14, 2016 19:17:27 GMT
My dog, Theo, is seven years old. He is a lab/beagle mix. He has bad hips and "knee" joints so he is on a special dog food, joint supplements, and doggy ibuprofen. He is the most even tempered dog I have ever met and adores all people. He has always enjoyed sitting at the window and barking at the people and dogs who walk by and he will bark when someone knocks at the door, but he has never seemed scared or been aggressive. At night, he sleeps on an old comforter beside our bed. He was crate trained, but we took the crate away when his legs got so bad because we want him to get as comfortable as possible.
His behavior changes:
My husband travels for work. About six months back ,Theo would come and lie on his bed as usual while I was getting ready for the night, but as soon as I turned out the light and got in bed, he would leave the room and go lie below the front windows (where he likes to people/dog watch during the day) instead of staying on his bed all night. I thought maybe he was waiting for my husband to come home or something because he only did it when my husband was out of town. Then he started doing it even when my husband was home.
A couple weeks ago, we came home and found two of our screens bent out of shape. The screens are on the inside, so that means that Theo saw something outside and freaked out at the windows. That has never happened before. There were no signs of anyone messing with the house at all. The next thing that happened was he left the room at bedtime and climbed on the bed in my youngest son's room. He is never allowed on the furniture because of his legs (and he doesn't try to get on the furniture), but many, many years ago when that room belonged to one of my daughters, she would let him on the bed before his legs were bad. It's like he just went and did what he would have done five years ago. He is also starting to bark at the windows A LOT more, although he is still not aggressive in the least.
I have done some research on "doggy dementia" and I am wondering if he might be at the very beginning stages of it. Even if it isn't very early dementia, it seems like it is anxiety for some reason. I know his condition could cause him a lot of pain. We have discussed with our pet how we have to watch him carefully because with his personality he is not likely to show his pain. I know generalized anxiety can be because of pain.
Has anyone gone through something similar with their dog? Any other thoughts? Right now, the changes are not severe enough to warrant a vet visit, but we will mention it the next time we are in. |
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 14:28:24 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2016 19:31:31 GMT
Some one on an earlier thread shared this quality of life check list link I found it helpful. Annette |
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 14, 2016 19:40:17 GMT
You have my sympathies in having to deal with your pooch's declining faculties! My 15 year old Jack Russell has full on doggy dementia, I'm sure of it. We really started noticing it a couple years ago with the senseless barking. He would sit at the patio door facing into the room and bark like crazy, or look at the blank wall (no reflections, shadows, etc.) and just start barking for no reason at all. Now he even goes into our mud room (basically a very large walk in closet with no windows), look at the wall and bark his fool head off sometimes for 15 minutes straight if no one goes in and physically stops him. In his younger days, he would bark but not excessively and would pipe down if we told him to. Now he's just crazy, not to mention deaf so he doesn't even hear us when we're telling him to knock it off!
|
|
|
|
Post by disneypal on Apr 14, 2016 21:26:38 GMT
I've never been through that but his behavior could be a result of a couple of things
1) Pain - he may be acting sleeping in a different area because he is more comfortable there. He may be acting out a bit because he is frustrated and not sure how to cope with the pain.
2) Anxiety - since your husband is traveling, it could be causing him anxiety - not understanding the schedules and what is going on and such.
I'm sure you already know this and will do this, but I would ask the vet to get a good opinion. He seems a bit young to be getting doggy dementia but I suppose it could be possible.
|
|
|
|
Post by cath4k on Apr 15, 2016 16:04:48 GMT
I've never been through that but his behavior could be a result of a couple of things 1) Pain - he may be acting sleeping in a different area because he is more comfortable there. He may be acting out a bit because he is frustrated and not sure how to cope with the pain. 2) Anxiety - since your husband is traveling, it could be causing him anxiety - not understanding the schedules and what is going on and such. I'm sure you already know this and will do this, but I would ask the vet to get a good opinion. He seems a bit young to be getting doggy dementia but I suppose it could be possible. I did think the bed incident could be because of pain, but that also meant he had to climb up on the bed which would hurt. The spot under the window would not be more comfortable than his bed. That's one of the reasons I find it weird. I suppose he could have generalized anxiety about my husband's travel although the travel is nothing new. But maybe as he is getting older, he doesn't tolerate the disruption of it as much. He does seem young to be having aging problems, but I feel like he is aging faster than he should - maybe because of his health problems and dealing with the physical stress of that? He has definitely slowed down and he has a LOT of white that has come in on his face.
|
|
|
|
Post by BeckyTech on Apr 15, 2016 17:06:32 GMT
7 seems very young for doggy dementia. Sometimes dogs do change some habits, mainly yours seems to be changing where he is sleeping. Have you considered a slightly raised bed, like a Kuranda bed, that is supposed to be very helpful for dogs with joint problems? Is that most of it, the sleeping place or am I missing something? I got the dented screens thing, but that could have been due to something unusual, perhaps a rabbit or something your dog doesn't normally see?
I did notice that as Kayley aged, she was not nearly as "aggressive" as she used to be concerning strange people and whatnot. She stopped doing a lot of barking at things that she used to bark at. Of course some of that could have been attributed to her eye sight. Have you had his eyes checked? Is he perhaps developing cataracts or anything? How is his hearing? |
|
|
|
Post by disneypal on Apr 15, 2016 17:28:59 GMT
I feel like he is aging faster than he should .... He has definitely slowed down and he has a LOT of white that has come in on his face Could he possibly be older than you think he is? Did you get him when he was a puppy? |
|
|
|
Post by cath4k on Apr 15, 2016 17:54:13 GMT
7 seems very young for doggy dementia. Sometimes dogs do change some habits, mainly yours seems to be changing where he is sleeping. Have you considered a slightly raised bed, like a Kuranda bed, that is supposed to be very helpful for dogs with joint problems? Is that most of it, the sleeping place or am I missing something? I got the dented screens thing, but that could have been due to something unusual, perhaps a rabbit or something your dog doesn't normally see?
I did notice that as Kayley aged, she was not nearly as "aggressive" as she used to be concerning strange people and whatnot. She stopped doing a lot of barking at things that she used to bark at. Of course some of that could have been attributed to her eye sight. Have you had his eyes checked? Is he perhaps developing cataracts or anything? How is his hearing? I will check into that bed, thank you. Well, it is more than the sleeping place. It seems like he is getting more anxious and protective. He enjoys barking at the window during the day, but he seems to be more intense about it now. He also seems to want to guard the windows and bark even at night when no one is walking about outside. The night he got on the bed, I tried to shut him in our room and he kept banging into the door trying to get out. I think maybe it is more of a gut thing I am sensing than a whole bunch of "facts", kwim? Something is off. That is why I am not rushing him to the vet (he will be there at the end of this month.) I am not sure I can give enough hard proof evidence of anything in particular that is wrong. I was just wondering about the early signs of conditions that cause anxiety (dementia, pain.) His hearing and vision seem normal. Thanks. |
|
