My dog is getting meaner with age

October 16, 2009 1:23 PM

I'm afraid my old dog's mind is going before his body -- he's peeing on the floor, growls and snaps at us when we try to put him outside, and other odd behaviors. How should my wife and I handle this?

Our oldest dog, Rusty, is approximately 16 (give or take a year). He's a 45-pound border collie/heeler mutt that I adopted from a rescue organization when he was about 1. We have two other dogs, both very mellow.

Rusty has always been high-strung -- he actually bit a couple of people when he was 2 or 3 (one was a landlord, the other an acquaintance, yes, it was a big hassle and animal control had to come check him out in both instances), has had epic fights with other dogs (he doesn't start them, but responds viciously to any attempt at domination), and has reliably gone berserk at the vet's office, crapping and growling and biting, that sort of thing. As a result, he has had a minimum of veterinary care, only emergencies. Unlike our other two dogs, he's never had his teeth cleaned, regular shots or anything like that.

I've tried all sorts of training programs and a couple canine anxiety meds over the last 15 years, and none have made any difference. A decade ago, I basically adapted to the fact that he's just kind of crazy, and have sought to keep him out of bad situations. He has always gotten lots of exercise, and physically is in very good shape, despite his age.

But recently, it appears his mental condition is declining. A few months ago, he stopped going outside in the mornings. After he eats, he slinks back to his bed or a favorite corner and won't listen to a word we say (he has previously been very obedient). If we try to pull him by his collar, he will snap and growl menacingly.

For a while, we'd trick him to get a leash on him by telling him we were "going for a walk," but it didn't take long for him to figure this out. My wife is understandably frightened of him at this point, and it's becoming an issue between us.

He is also pacing around at night and peeing and defecating all over the house, about every other night. I usually clean this up quickly, but it's damaging our wood floors, leaving stains, etc.

Rusty has always been an indoor dog, and I think just leaving him outside at night while the other two are inside would make him really sad. But I don't want him to bite me or my wife either during the morning ritual of getting him outside.

All this aside, he still enjoys his walks, playing fetch, barking at the mailman, etc. His quality of life does not appear diminished.

tl;dr -- So I guess my question is: at what point do you start considering putting down an otherwise healthy geriatric dog that is becoming frighteningly obstinate? Obviously, if it got to the point where he injured one of us, that'd be it, but I'd rather avoid that.

What would you do in this situation?

posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! to pets & animals (20 comments total)

Does he willingly go outside at other times? Is the resistance only in the mornings after breakfast? Would he go out before, or maybe go outside to eat and you make him stay there until his business is done?

It's such a weirdly specific behavior change, I wonder if he's having some sort of pain (arthritis/stiffness early in the morning? dental? gastric? might explain the elimination issues). Refusing to move to the point of snapping and pacing are both red flags for pain. If it's that hard to take him to the vet, I'd see if they will work out a system whereby you hit him with some valium in the morning (fasting) and get him in so they can put him all the way under and at least do an abdominal x-ray and look for really bad teeth.

I would be reluctant to give up without trying to find a cause.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:34 PM on October 16 [5 favorites]

My first thought is to eliminate the possibilty that something is making him grumpy - that and the fouling of the house may point to the fact that he's actually in pain - especialy given that he's not had regular check ups at the vet it may be the case.

I don't know if this would work, but it might be worth a try to see if you can get him sedated and then given as through a check up as posible - that would at least eliminate that possibilty...

On preview - what Lyn Never said...
posted by Chairboy at 1:36 PM on October 16 [1 favorite]

Oh, I should have mentioned that during his last emergency surgery (after a dog fight) they checked his teeth and said they were dirty but otherwise fine. This was about a year ago.

I hadn't thought of pain, but I had wondered if there was something weird in the yard that was freaking him out in the mornings. He's happy to go out later in the day, after his evening meal, for instance.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:37 PM on October 16

The specific timing of it is concerning, as LynNever says. You need a vet to look for obvious sources of pain, and perhaps a routine of anti-anxiety meds that could be prescribed for geriatric dogs.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:40 PM on October 16

This is a really difficult situation, and I'm very sorry you're having to face it.

As I was reading your description of Rusty's behavior, I couldn't help but wonder: Are you sure he hasn't gone deaf? That could explain much of the oddities in his behavior.

Assuming that his hearing is still sufficient, there are some steps you can take to ameliorate the problems, like confining him to a crate or a single room (with easily-cleaned floors) at night. Or inviting him outside to play fetch in the morning and staying with him until he does his business.

Beyond that, and addressing your original question, another aspect of his quality of life, of course, is the connectedness and affection with you and your wife. From what you've said, that has become seriously compromised. But I've never considered "quality of life" to be the primary consideration regarding putting a dog down. Rather, I think in terms of what is kindest for the dog.

In one case (coincidentally, another border collie mutt), the dog still experienced moments of pleasure but overall seemed overwhelmed by the demands of living and her vanity (which was always, inexplicably, extremely important to her) was severely compromised by her accidents and falls. Another dog (a lab mix) still attacked her food with gusto but couldn't do the other things she loved to do. Actually, our biggest clue that it "was time" for her to be put down was the utter solicitousness shown by our other dog.
posted by DrGail at 1:43 PM on October 16

Having been through something like this with a dog years ago, I agree it does come down to (1) whether the dog seems happy most of the time and (2) whether any person (esp. a small child) is considered safe if the dog gets out or company comes over. If it's "yes, yes" then maybe training and veterinary care will help, but if it's "no, no" then I think the dog's misery and the risks become the real issues, especially if they can't be solved. Not many vets will even deal with a fear-aggressive dog. On another note, I've suspected that my dog fell victim to some sort of prion wasting disease, considering the massive rendering in pet food processing and the emergence of prion diseases in the food supply, so my view of all this is a bit clouded.
posted by crapmatic at 1:51 PM on October 16

I'm not sure if my response will be entirely specific to each of your individual concerns, but I wanted to respond as the overall concern--one of a dog's cognitive function outpacing physical decline is one our little family is dealing with.

We have a 12-year-old 65 pound shepherd mix in good physical health other than very mild joint stiffness who has also been exhibiting, over the last two years, a slow mental decline, mainly a few regression behaviors (chewing up things after leaving this behavior behind in puppyhood years ago), increased sleeping and hiding, confusion regarding ordinary and everyday commands, nighttime and uncharacteristic neurosis, intense food seeking/begging behaviors, a kind of doggie "sundowning" where she is better and more herself during the day and much more fearful, sleepy, and confused in the late afternoon and evening, and moments that have come with increasing frequency where she seems to sort of "forget" who we are for a moment. We haven't had any housebreaking misses, but I assume it's a matter of time.

Because of a life of premium food, lots of exercise and attention, and regular vet care, her body is much, much younger than her mind. It's been a very hard realization the last several months that it is very likely we will be in a position to need help her at the end of life to end her suffering, and that it will be a tough call because the dementia issues are so much more a gray area to make these kinds of decisions than when there is a systemic failure.

A dear friend who is also a vet suggested that we make a careful list of what makes our girl *our girl* and when she is unable to exhibit those things that make her who she is most of her days over a few weeks, than it may be time to help her go. We had a lot of long talks where me made a kind of master list divided into physical, companion, confidence, and activities of daily living behaviors. We decided what combination of losses would mean that objectively, our girl was suffering and having bad, confusing days filled with fear and neurosis. For example, if we had to coax on her once beloved walks, she spent most of her day hiding in her kennel, had lost her housebreaking, and seemed mainly afraid, this was no way to live. But if she still loved her walks despite sleeping most of the day away had some neurotic moments but was otherwise responsive to everyday commands and routines, then we would continue to support her life with comfort measures.

Things that have helped as we support her through this phase of her life with us--lots and lots of exercise, making her kennel as comfortable as possible in a very quiet part of the house, keeping an extremely strict routine with food and activity, and kenneling her during stressful transitions in our day. We also supplement with a omega type oil (talk to your vet about good supplements) which I think helps and she likes it. Also, at this point in her life, we are much, much, much more generous with things like treats, especially since she's a good weight, and this makes a difference, I think just because so many fewer *activities* make her happy at this time, and it's nice to make her feel good.

All our best--it just doesn't seem like it's been so long since they were wiggly, silly puppies does it?
posted by rumposinc at 2:06 PM on October 16 [4 favorites]

As I was reading your description of Rusty's behavior, I couldn't help but wonder: Are you sure he hasn't gone deaf? That could explain much of the oddities in his behavior.

Seconding that you should check this; our oldie-but-goodie went deaf, and until we figured it out we thought his behavioral changes were his mind going. Now we act to take his deafness into account, and things are improved for everyone (and everydog.)

However, at his age and with his lack of basic veterinary care, I think you really need to find a vet that will see him. If that's not an option, then as crapmatic says it comes down to his quality of life (and, admittedly, yours.) You say his quality of life isn't diminished, but if he spends most of his time sulking now, then certainly it wasn't as good as it was.
posted by davejay at 2:07 PM on October 16

Nthing getting to a doctor. My dog is similar in that she was a high strung rescue who was a biter. Going to a vet meant a major production. She's 13.

Finally took her to the vet last year and her teeth were a *mess!* They extracted 8 and gave her a cleaning. She is no Golden Retriever by any means but she is really noticeably mellower and calmer. The poor thing was in pain! I kick myself almost daily for not realizing but just thinking she is getting older and even more ornery.

Not saying that is what you're doing, but you really do have to give her valium, warn the vet that she is a "problem dog," (Good vets will know how to handle that, and find out if there is something causing pain.
posted by xetere at 2:08 PM on October 16

You've got some great advice here thusfar. The only thing that I was thinking that hadn't been added was since the action is a morning specific occurrence, does it have something to do with sleep and stiffness (joint pain). Is there a way to ease him into his morning moreso than heading straight outside - even if that means his morning is not with the other dogs?

Hip dysplasia, rheumatism, or arthritis can all start to affect dogs differently. Even if he's pacing at night it doesn't mean that he feels good enough to step outside first thing in the morning... even when living someplace warm.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:25 PM on October 16

As I was reading your description of Rusty's behavior, I couldn't help but wonder: Are you sure he hasn't gone deaf?

Nthing this. As our vet explained when our flat-coated retriever went deaf a year or so ago, deafness tends to be very sudden-onset in older dogs.

Also nth'ing the pain recommendation. This sounds very much like morning old bones joint stiffness kicking in. I know that my knees and ankles hurt like a mofo when I get up in the morning, and I'm half your dog's (relative) age. I can't imagine it's any better for your pup.
posted by deadmessenger at 2:32 PM on October 16

I didn't think about the scare, but that could also be it. My fearless little doberbeagle will go out but not stay out on Friday mornings, when she can hear the trash trucks many streets away, and I have a friend with a dog who falls apart if anyone within birddog-hearing starts a lawnmower. If you can get him to go out, you might hang with him to see if maybe a schoolbus or something is going by in the mornings and freaking him out.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:59 PM on October 16

If people in the house are not safe, you have to take that very seriously.
You have my sympathy. It's very hard to watch a dog grow old.
posted by valannc at 3:16 PM on October 16

Nthing you really need to get Rusty to a vet. If a lot of his weird behavior turns out to be caused by arthritis, you can medicate him for that and he will seem a lot better. My parents are going through this with my childhood dog right now and she's facing a combination of arthritis, severely decayed teeth, and as mentioned above, she's going deaf. The deafness in particular has *really* changed her a lot...the only noises she can hear are the really loud noises and, as you can imagine, if you almost never hear anything hearing something loud is terrifying. For us the big clue was how freaked out she was on 4th of July...she didn't stop shaking for at least a day after the fireworks had stopped.

Sorry about this, I know it's hard. But you really do need to get him into a vet's office and get him examined, because especially if this is all just due to arthritis, medications and supplements will make him visibly, noticeably happier and more comfortable.
posted by crinklebat at 3:25 PM on October 16

It sounds like getting a vet checkup would be helpful, but that's really hard for/with Rusty. If you live somewhere even remotely rural, try calling vets that handle horses or other farm animals.

Until we had horses/donkeys I did not really realize that vets make house calls, but it is standard for them. They charge a bit for the call. If your other dogs might need routine shots or anything, you can let the vet know ahead of time what to bring, and s/he can do it all at once. This dilutes the house call cost.

Wishing you and Rusty the best.
posted by fritley at 5:33 PM on October 16

This is hugely sad...

There is some good advice upstream... I'll second the thought of using a crate at night...it make take some days of difficult adjustment, but eventually it might help.
posted by HuronBob at 5:45 PM on October 16

There is such a thing as canine dementia that affects some older dogs. We recently dealt with this. Our old guy was receiving pain medication for arthritis and did fine for while, but he lost his housebreaking and started getting lost in the house and yard. He would wander into a corner and bark because he didn't know where he was and couldn't get out. He didn't want to be petted anymore. His life became an ordeal and so painful to watch.

I think you will know when it's time to let go.
posted by lazydog at 6:14 PM on October 16

fritley- That's probably less common or non-existent in areas that don't have horses or livestock. In more citified areas, I'd bet getting a vet out of the office would be just as hard as getting a human physician to make a house call.
posted by gjc at 7:28 AM on October 17

There are vets in small cities that make house calls, and/or who go out in RVs to do it. But is the dog's problem anxiety about going to the vet, or about being messed with in general? If it's the second, house calls probably wouldn't help and might actually make it worse - to be messed with on his own turf might make his reactions stronger. But he needs a vet, either way, and it sounds like he may be in pain (and possibly scared).
posted by dilettante at 6:43 PM on October 17

So if anyone's checking back -- I've been making an effort to give Rusty extra attention, walks and ball fetching by himself, etc, and he actually seems to be doing better. The pacing is greatly reduced, and the disobedience is sort of half-improved. He's at the point now where he'll ignore me when I call him while we're hiking, etc., but he does go outside in the mornings, so we're pretty happy for that.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 8:09 PM on December 14