Anyone had/have a dog with dementia?

My old dog had that. I called it Dogheimerz. He was a terrier who lived to be 15. The last year and a half was not fun for him. I don't think he totally forgot who we were, but I couldn't leave him alone anymore. Fortunately I was able to take him into work with me.

Being alone made him scared. He got disoriented easily. He was going downhill physically at the same time. He took to sleeping next to the clothes hamper. I think the smell of people he was familiar with was comforting to him. The nose still worked even as the mind was going.

Keep your vet involved. That's your best chance for helping your pup to have the best life possible at this time.

Best of luck.

My old dog was never specifically diagnosed with it (I think the vet attributed her symptoms to general age-related decrepitude) but my husband and I were both convinced she had dementia. She grew increasingly confused and hard to interact with. She would do things like walk headfirst into a corner of the bedroom and start crying because she was now "lost" and couldn't figure out how to get out. Towards the end, she didn't seem to recognize us most of the time, and she would start howling at night because she couldn't figure out how to stand up and got scared. (We used to jokingly call this "But how do my LEGS WORK?", because you have to either joke or cry at that point.)

Sympathies to you; it's hard dealing with aging pets.

We had a dog who lived to be 18. He lost some mental and physical abilities when he got older (it didn't help that we once ran over him with a tractor).

My brother took him out for a nice long walk one afternoon (we lived in the country). The dog was always running ahead or going off on his own in to the brush so my brother didn't worry about the dog not staying with him. When he got back home he noticed the dog was no where around.

He waited and the dog still didn't show up and it was getting dark. My father and brother went out looking for the dog. They retraced my brother's walk. They discovered the dog on the porch of an old abandoned house way back in the woods (way back). The dog thought it was our house. He barked threateningly at my father and brother as they approached as he normally did whenever someone came to our house.

I heard Phenobarbital is sometimes used in epileptic dogs to stabilize them. It's a drug that dulls the mind so it can't play tricks on you. Tried it myself.

But the symptoms don't sound that bad? As long as the weightloss can be managed, he sounds like any other hyperactive dog. You may also try Pet-Ease by Nutri-Vet though my Akita spits them out and I have to jam them down his throat manually.

I'm going through that with one of mine right now. She was never the brightest bulb in the box but now she's just plain confused. It makes mealtimes challenging. She'll stop eating her dinner to go drink some water, then forget to resume eating. If we stand by the food and call her, she short circuits and can't figure out what we want. She'll sit, she'll shake, and when neither of those seem to be what we're going for, she'll flip over on her back for a belly rub.

We have a mealtime ritual where all three dogs lay in one spot while their food is prepared and then go to their bowls when their names are called. The only way to get her to resume the interrupted meal is to restart the ritual from scratch. We make all three lay down (which the other two are happy to do. Even though it hasn't happened yet, they always seem to think they're getting seconds), call her name, and off she goes.

I don't know if she's hearing things or if it's just the confusion, but she's also taken to barking at random moments. It's always just one single bark, as if she knows herself there's no real reason for it.

When my previous pug got old she started doing the endless circling (no yipping), spacing out, and lost her vision. She would sit and stare at the corner a lot, and needed guidance or she'd walk into the doorframe when being let in or out. Her tail also uncurled which can be a sign of fear/distress in pugs. It was heartbreaking.

I've had two who lived to be demented doggies.

My Jack Russell was to be fair about 20 when she died and wasn't too bad but she had moments when she would go to the wrong back door to be let in or bark at the wrong postie (she had one she tolerated) or she'd start running across a room stop think and change direction etc

My lurcher was worse and a lot younger at 10 but she developed separation anxiety and started barking, and forgetting she was house trained.

Yes, they definitely get a form of dementia. Many will bark, sometimes for hours on end, for seemingly no reason. It's very common.

Arztwolf said:

Deputy my 75lb mixed breed was diagnosed last January with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. We tried Anipryl with no results and he appears to have "plateaued" in regards to symptoms for now.
His symptoms:
*He has moments where he spaces out and then his little light bulb clicks on and he remembers what he was going to do.
*For the past two years (even before diagnosis) he would randomly loose 4lbs-7lbs. With no change in diet or exercise.
*He had a spell of random circling and yipping that went away with a steroid and pain meds. Xrays where clear.
*He barks more then ever before.
*I exercise all 4 dogs in one 3 acre pasture. He has been in there since the day I got him. He dug under the fence (hard to do with our rocky soil) and escaped twice, behaviors he had never done before.
*He also (thankfully has stopped) started door darting and running for the hills. Safe to say he is no longer allowed anywhere outside of the house off leash.

The vet has done thorough exams on him, twice. He checked his blood, urine, stool and palpated/checked the whole length of him.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this. Anipryl is the approved treatment - doesn't mean it always helps. It sounds like your vet has done all the appropriate tests.

The only thing I can think of (medically) that you might try would be to get a referral to a veterinary neurologist in your area. They may not be able to help, but it's worth a consult.