Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Canine dementia ?

Lately my big 12 YO yellow lab has been displaying very out of character behavior in that he's been walking in circles quite a bit, panting frequently, moving furniture, getting stuck behind furniture and a host of others. Just last week he locked himself in the bathroom 5 times in a single day as well as several times at night then howls for me to rescue him. He's always been able to open and close doors but I've never had to rescue him.

I'm afraid for my big buddy as a few google searches indicate that he may be in the beginning stages of canine dementia and I don't know what the future holds for my best frend and walkin' buddy.

Any of you folks gone through this with your pets ??? I'm almost sick with worry.

Yes, it exists and is very similar to human dementia. Your dog seems to be showing typical symptoms I'm sad to say. It's no more curable than human dementia. The only good part is that the victims don't really know they have it. Their friends and family are the ones who suffer.

When my mom's poodle went blind, she went through a phase like this. It may be eyesight and not dementia.

On the other hand, I knew a friend's dog that really did get dementia. He'd get weird and lash out at nothing. He'd stand in the middle of the room and act like he didn't know where he was.

Either way, it's probably time for a checkup at the vet.

Wave you hand quickly past his eyes to see if he reacts or blinks.

My oldest setter has similar symptoms and need to include piddling in the house on occasion. It is likely his future will be similar to your dog's. His seems to be relatively slow moving but the changes in mental and physical being is noticeable. I originally had doubts of his making it to Christmas but now the timeline has swung to not making it to the spring.

Sorry to hear of this in your dog, hold on to the memories and do not hold your dog responsible for what comes. The great but also hardest part is knowing you can end his degeneration when the time comes.

Our little rescue mutt was 14 when he started acting weird, he started biting us, just out of nowhere. One morning last summer my wife bent down to pet him and he leaped up and bit her on the upper lip, took 23 stitches to close it. He was off to the Rainbow Bridge the next morning, a very hard thing to do but had to be done. RIP, Roscoe.

Not uncommon for dogs to have strokes, or so I've been lead to believe. They also tend to loose their hearing and vision so they don't hear you coming and get startled and then lash out. They just don't know what it was.

I always hate to see a pet go, even if it's not mine.

Neighbor's short hair was diagnosed with stroke issues in late life. Out for his normal AM pee and wandered off to be found a couple miles away. Was never the same animal again, although it did live for about another year.

Tough deal. Blind and deaf can still be a good life, but when they begin to exhibit obvious signs of suffering, it's time to go.

Three dogs over the Rainbow Bridge here over the last eight years. They all did act different towards the end in the final month or two, mine not to the same degree as yours.

Video the behavior, and take him to the vet along with the videos. Dogs tend to behave normally at the vet, so you will need the video. Could be something treatable.

This fall I walked in and found my old Beagle with a thousand yard stare, spoke to her and it was like see was in a trance she snapped out of it and tried to bite me. Got the leash on her and she calmed right down. Vet said it was proably a siezure of some type, so I sent her over the bridge. Got to the truck and bawled like a small child. I'm 62 years old I've buried both my parents and that was the hardest can remember crying since I was six when my hero (Grandfather) died.

My sister's dog just went through sundowners (dementia) and had to be put down. At night he would not know where he was and freak out, running around the house in a panic. There was no consoling him. She tried some medication and a couple other things. After a week or so he started having them during the day and she finally put him down. He was a 14 year old Jack Russell. Vet diagnosed it as sundowners, which I had no idea dogs could get before this. Good luck, hope it isn't dementia, nothing worse than feeling so helpless when your buddy is hurting.

Look up “ Vestibular disease” in dogs. Might be this.

I've known some women with that.

I’m very sorry to hear this.

Sorry to hear this. I have a 12 yr. old yellow lab starting to show some similar symptoms. This past fall she was panting excessively and going in circles among other things. I took her in for annual checkup and the Vet thought it might be a heart/cardio issue. Told me to watch her diet and if she started eating less to bring her back for tests. Those symptoms went away when it cooled off, but she still has odd behavior at times. Her up close and peripheral vision is about gone, but she can see a squirrel at 200'.

Some days she seems perfectly normal, like the good 'ole days. Hopefully your best friend still has some good days ahead.

You have my sympathies.

All, many thanks for the concerns and thoughts.Muttly is at my feet ATM snoozin' with not a care. Will see what tomorrow holds.

Hope it's just a passing thing

Very similar to what we went through with the 7 year old Doberman. He’d walk into a corner of the house and be lost. Growling at the wall. Snapping unexpectedly. He went over the bridge, just too much risk with the redhead’s niece around frequently.

It sucks, sorry.

My Dazy dog is going through this and dementia. She is a lab 14 years old. Plus she can't sleep at night. I am in terminal stages of lack of sleep.
No more dogs after these two.