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Dementia

Sweetie's picture

Well,it's been an interesting few days and I am still trying to figure out what to do about my fifteen year old dog. I really don't think his problem is organic, much more than I just think that at his age, it's just payback time, and he is becoming evil and demented. I can't seem to get ahead of him at all. And you wonder why people have cats and put them in bags. Maybe that sounds ill, but I am seriously saying my dog is driving me up the wall with making these messes on purpose. It's actually gotten so bad, that we've even twisted his name into a nickname of "Goldi-Comet". I just never win. Today he got me twice. I can usually tell a day or two in advance if he is going to do something. It's like the calm before the storm. Unbelievably, I've had this dog for 15 years, and he's still chugging along, but I don't know if he's demented, or he's intent on making me demented. He's treated well, has a prescription diet, treats, prescription medications, but we finally had to start crating him again. And last weekend, we evicted him from our bedroom and moved him into the kitchen area. But I am literally at the end of my rope about what to do about him because morally I just feel bad that he's so old. But he's driving me absolutely nuts. And as the years have gone by, his personality has gotten much nastier. At first, he was a bit spoiled, but now, he'd bite all my husband's fingers off at once. What to do? I'm at a complete loss here.
Sweetie

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Sherrylyn's picture

I used to live in a rural setting where all the pets we had lived outside and slept in the garage or barn. When they got older they just wandered off, it seemed so natural. Now that I live in an urban setting I haven't had a pet because you can't let them roam free.

I expect that crating him is only the beginning. It's hard to make the decisions about what to do, because the animals have become a member of the family and you just don't ditch family. I hope that you find a resolution to the problem.

Sweetie's picture

Dear Sherrylyn,
As for "Goldi-Comet", he's either "Quackers" or Jekyll and Hyde these days. Yes, he got me a total of 3 times for the day. I can just barely stand it. I try to think about something else, anything else, just to keep my sanity. Because, usually I am the only one here, during the day, and even if I wasn't, it isn't likely that my husband would clean it up. He's one of those government workers, very traditional, straight laced guys, very analytical which is why we're here in the first place. Basically, he does his thing at work, and I take care of the stuff at home. I was planning on working but then we bought this house in a rural area and the drive to the city is an hour so it's too far for me to work for accounting work. Anyway, I only have the dog in the house when I can watch him 100% of the time or we are out and he's crated. Because even then, if he's crated he still makes messes. And, yes, my morals do get in the way because if it were anything else, I'd just say get rid of it. But there has to be some limit to this situation somewhere.....I am going to talk to my vet again this week. Thanks for listening, I know this is a crummy subject I just don't know what to do and am about to pull my hair out. I cut his hair today so how he'll probably be extra nasty tomorrow. Lucky me.
Regards,
Sweetie