Does your elderly dog have "senior moments"? (lab, poop, vet)
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My sweet Hobbs, lab mix, is getting up there in years, losing some hearing, and had what seemed like a senior moment the other day. He went up the stairs to our loft and couldn't figure out how to get down to me on the main floor and I had to go up and show him the stairway down. Anyone else experience this type of forgetfulness with their older dog?
Yes. I have had 2 different old dogs that acted senile when they were given wheat. I put them onto gluten free and they cleared up. They hadn't had any issues with wheat when they were younger.
However, it is possible for old dogs to lose their mental sharpness.
For dogs that are getting deaf, switch them over to hand signals and use the light of a flashlight at night. The dog can't hear you call him to come in, but he will see the flashlight and you can teach him that means to come to you.
You might have his vision checked. My senior citizen is getting cataracts and won't go down stairs in the dark. I have to light her way with a flashlight so she can do her nightly potty walk.
Yes. I have had 2 different old dogs that acted senile when they were given wheat. I put them onto gluten free and they cleared up. They hadn't had any issues with wheat when they were younger.
However, it is possible for old dogs to lose their mental sharpness.
For dogs that are getting deaf, switch them over to hand signals and use the light of a flashlight at night. The dog can't hear you call him to come in, but he will see the flashlight and you can teach him that means to come to you.
You might have his vision checked. My senior citizen is getting cataracts and won't go down stairs in the dark. I have to light her way with a flashlight so she can do her nightly potty walk.
Thank you--excellent suggestions and helpful. Good idea about the use of a flashlight at light-- I don't have problems with getting Hobbs back into the house yet--he can't wait to come back inside and onto the couch!
Yes my poor old girl is losing her sight and hearing. I use a flashlight to help her see for her nightly walks as she did fall off a small curb one night. She also doesn't hear as well so if I am behind her I come up very slowly and gently pet her so I don't scare her.
My Molly has lost most of her sight and hearing in her old age, and right now I'm about to lose her to heart failure. She has always slept in the bed with me, and she has always walked to the edge and whimpered when she wants down... well, a few nights ago I felt her suddenly get up and she walked right off the side of the bed and hit the floor. It's a miracle she didn't hurt herself because she hit the floor pretty hard.
I'm not really sure what she was thinking at that moment, but I think she totally forgot where she was at. With the speed she done it, it's almost like she was running towards something that wasn't there. Now I'm having to make her sleep in a crate.
Yes. I have had 2 different old dogs that acted senile when they were given wheat. I put them onto gluten free and they cleared up. They hadn't had any issues with wheat when they were younger..
to oregonwoodsmoke!
This happened with our older dog. When she was 12 or 13, she started to lose weight, not absorb her food (her poop looked mostly like dog food) and hen started walking into walls, not remember simple commands or even buzz words (like car or dinner). She got so sick we spent thousands on vet visits and were getting ready to put her down. She also started going potty in the house and got lost a couple times outside, when she never had before.
On a fluke we tried grain free dog food (the vets had no answers). She was healthy with in a month on grain free food and much of her mental abilities came back. Over the past couple years we found out its specifically wheat. She never had trouble with wheat before then! The recovery was amazing!
She is now 15 and still doing very well. She is still fairly thin, drinks a ton of water, a slow eater (we put her food in her crate over night so she has time to eat) and has lost most of her hearing. But she is mentally sharp still. She is a golden mix, and her life expectancy is 12-14 years based on her size. But so far so good.
We had another dog who also had a similar life expectancy of 12-14 years. When she was 12 she deteriorated rapidly. It was mostly pain due to her hip dysplasia. But you could tell she was not connecting the dots in general. We ended up choosing euthanasia because her pain was so severe and the meds stopped working (she couldn't squat to even go potty or scratch herself). But before that, even her vet said he thought she had dementia.
So yeah, it definitely happens. But I like to share the wheat story because it was so remarkable and I think other dogs might have similar issues and be able to live years longer with a wheat free diet.
My mom had a lhasa apso who lost most of her sight, and probably some of her hearing in her old age. It started with her walking into things, like the curb outside, or the bottom step. Eventually it got to the point where she would go to the door, my mom would take her out, and she would just stand there not knowing why she was out there. When she let her back in she would go in the house.
Nellie is starting to get there. Her little legs can't jump as high anymore....or, she'll jump high enough but totally miss her target (usually the couch).
She doesn't like the steps I bought her yet.
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