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

My dog cookie turns 14 in feb
He is half rhodesian ridgeback and half american staffordshire terrier.
So he is an old dog for that combo
On a thryroid med and a chewable arthritis med.
Had the whole 9 yards blood spectrum run on him about 4 months ago trying to see what was going on.
Thyroid was low.
Asked doc about the aging brain
He basically said dogs age like humans in the brain and lose their minds also.
Been dealing with it for about a year and a half
Been creeping onwards since its onset
Good in the morning for a couple hours.
Takes a nap
Good for late afternoon
Active for a 14 yr old dog after dinner.
Towards the end of the day and before bedtime his brain is styrofoam for the last 4 or so hours of the day.
Same symptoms
Gets a nights sleep.
Brain recharges
Twiches and leg jerks alot some nights.
I wake him up to get himto stop.
Sometimes its 5 6 7 times a night.
Affecting my sleep also..

It is what it is.

Good dog after his brain has been rested.
Worrisome as his brain gets tired thruout the day.

I think he knows he has issues in his brain and dont like what it does to him either.


Sad to see my dog who was once the mightiest and smartest dog I have ever had turn into a senior citizen like humans do that need attention and supervision for his own good.

But i owe him that in my mind.
He is that "one dog" for me, most dog owners have had that " one dog"in their lives also.


Just be nice to him and spoil him is all I do now.
The alpha role in my 3 male dogs shifted to Rico about 2-2.5 yrs ago.


Dogs..........


Best thing that ever happened to humans, 10,s of 1000 s of years ago.
2 seperate species that evolved and worked together to survive and endure.

I have a one-eard, manic depressive cat with a bad attitude.

She gets along with me.
Lets me pet her and purrs.


That cat dont take no crap from them dogs.

Lol!!!

Bullshît

She hauls ass at sound of that bic lighter.

hahaha, I wonder why 😁

There is dementia, as many have mentioned and it manifests itself in some REALLY out of character behavior, like biting etc. There is also cognitive dysfunction, where the dog simply does weird things, like staring into a corner, laying in the dark at barking for no reason...etc.

Conditioned to kitty bottles rockets and strands of firecrackers.

Lol!!!

100 string black cat grenade toss

They love that game

And you gotta yell it out like that “he’ll I was there” guy

Or whatever some chit

This. Lost my 11 yr. old retriever to cancer on December 5th. Diagnosed on 11/22 with metastatic lesions all over his lungs and a bleeding mass in his abdominal cavity. Only symptoms were he was very low on energy. Walked instead of running. Lay down in the snow instead of rolling in it. Once we saw the x-rays that explained it. He never showed pain, which was a small miracle. Some days it was a treat to get a tail wag out of him. Other days he would act almost normal. Last day he couldnt stand even when we would pick him up. Local vet came to the house and we all said goodbye. Tough. I still tear up some times. Knowing everybody else goes through it helps, which is the only reason I put this out. Thanks to all.

I lost my wife to cancer Aug 13 2018,then our 9 year old boxer Oct 15 2018. Vet said he thought it was cancer but I think it was from a broken heart cause she was a 70 lb momas baby. I still and will always miss them both just like the day they left.

I'm pretty sure that's what took my old boy, Milo, but it was mercifully quick. I saw him standing in the corner of our den, in front of the back door to the yard, but clearly looking at the wall next to the door. I let him out but he was afraid to walk, just inching his paws along. He had already been deaf fro a year or two, but this blindness was too much for him, then his gait crumbled to a stumbling lurch. I laid with him on the den floor all that night, with a hand on him, or petting him, to let him know he was not alone. Periodically, he would lift his head up, than back down. we took him the next morning and bid him goodbye... for now...
I miss him.

In the hound dog world we've coined a phrase for this, it's called dogsheimers disease....

Very sorry to hear that. Could it have been a mini-stroke??

sorry to hear this, myself i have been thru this too, my daughter ,husband,grandkids just went thru this too. i have no dogs now ,dogs are wonderful and become part of the family. here`s the hard part for many of us our love of dogs, dogs just don`t live long enough,with all the breeding to make smarter,faster super dogs they just don`t seem to figure out how to make a dog to live much longer ? like a 30 year dog life span instead of 10 -15 years ?

Last year my wife's old min pin had a stroke. She was diabetic and blind anyway. The stroke knocked her hind legs out from under her. We had to put her down.

My 1st English Cocker @ 14 got to the point that he was "alive" but no longer "there", just existing. He didn't ever show signs of aggression, but, was very often surprised by contact when someone would pet/scratch him. My oldest daughter was 4 and my youngest had just been born. Too much risk to have that much confusion around toddlers.........

My best buddy Pete lost it at 12+. He way a rescued English Pointer. I would take the old man for an hour plus walk and he would be happy. Come back to the house and lay on his bed. Ten minutes later he would get up and walk the length of the house urinating the entire way. I have had incontinent pets and this was different. He didn’t know it was happening... it happened fast. To the extent of taking him out 8-10 times throughout the day with just as many accidents in the house. He had no idea. He made his rounds checking on the house and kids and went to lay back down. Zero aggression issues with the family. I miss that dog so much. Lost lost of people and pets in my life and that one still hurts.

I’ve heard good things about the bright minds dogs food.