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.

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.