Why is my senior dog acting this way!?
My dog Chance very recently got arthritis. I took him to the local pound vet and she prescribed him pills. It’s been about three weeks since then and he’s back to normal in his activity level.
Well, about 4 weeks before his arthritis became noticeable he started to act out. He is very well trained and has been since he was 1 year old. He is now 11 years old.
He is a mutt dog. He is half pit bull and the rest is Rottweiler, border collie, and possible German Shepard.
He knows tons of commands and he has always listened when we tell him to do obscure things. Such as, get off the couch, Get out of the mud, settle down or things like that.
There has been no changes in our lives. Everything is the same as it’s always been since Chance was first brought into our home at six weeks old.
Lately, he has been eating out of the cats bowl, not following normal commands, standing on his hind legs to see what’s on the counter. Also, when I punish him for not listening I segregate him from myself just by putting him in the living room and shutting the bedroom door. When I do this he growls and shows his teeth to me. I do not touch him at all. I stand tall and dominant and tell him to ‘get out.’
His safe place is in his dog bed next to my bed, no where else.
Why is he doing this and what do I do about it?
Do not tell me he is going through “turning” on me. I don’t believe that for a minute.
Oh. The only significant change I can think of is my becoming pregnant but I’m 6 months pregnant and his acting out has only been the past 2 months.
i would have to say vet check for medical problem
Instead of going to the “pound” vet, go to a regular vet. This dog needs to be checked out from head to toe. Bloodwork needs to be done. Aggression, particularly in an animal that was not previously aggressive, can be a symptom of an underlying illness…thyroid, lyme disease, just to name 2, can cause aggression.
The smart thing to do whenver there is a severe change in temperment is take the dog to the vet.
I agree with the previous poster, there is possibly an underlying medical problem.
One slim possiblity is Canine Cognitive Dystfunction Syndome (CDS, or ‘canine snility’), wich can cause behaviour changes in senior pets (paticularly ‘forgetting’ things they once knew), but do not take my inexperienced word as fact here! The onset seems rather sudden for this to be the case, but you might want to mention it to the vet if you do bring him in for a check-up.
Has his ‘acting out’ changed any since his arthritis medication began working? That’s something to think about.
Hey I see that you need some sort of guide that will give you tips and tricks
to help your dog become fully trained and more healthy. Recently one of my friends really
needed some advice on how to train his dog, he followed the dog training academy course
to successfully have a full trained dog in a few weeks.
Best Regards;