Welcome back to the senior dog digest from Grey Whiskers. A newsletter written with one purpose in mind. To talk about, laugh about, and sometimes cry about how we can all improve our senior dogs' lives. It’s a place where I can answer your burning questions about senior dog care, and the products I use, and share news and personal stories that you can all relate to.

In this week’s issue here’s what we are sniffing out

• Seeing the signs of dementia in your dog

• Home care tips

• Recommendations to help

Yes, Dogs Get Dementia

Many of you know that my undergraduate degree is in gerontology, studying aging. Of course, that was the study of human aging, but in working with elderly dogs, I’ve learned that there are some commonalities between aging humans and canines. People are living longer, thanks to advances in many fields. The same is true for our dogs, and just like in humans, the longer our dogs live the more likely we are to see signs of dementia over time. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome, as it’s called, is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means that your veterinarian will try to rule out other problems before deciding if what you’re dealing with is dementia. Many of the symptoms you see in dogs with CDS can also be attributed to other conditions as well, such as sensory impairment, kidney disease, cancer, arthritis, etc, so it’s very important to talk to your veterinarian if you start noticing changes that could be dementia.

Our sweet old muppet/coonhound mix Esther started to show signs of dementia in her last year. At first, she stopped peeing on walks. Suddenly she thought she could only pee in her own yard. As soon as we got home, she would run to the backyard and pee a river. Soon we noticed she would stand at the hinge side of the door when waiting to go out. When we opened the door, she didn’t remember how to back up and go around the door, so we had to help her. She would go outside and stand forever, sniffing the breeze. Eventually, she would come back in without doing anything, and then she would pee on the floor instead. Later that year, she started getting stuck in weird places. We had to supervise her outdoor time because she got stuck by the connection between our air conditioner and the house, and couldn’t figure out how to reverse so she could walk away.

A few months later, Esther started getting up in the middle of the night and pacing the house. She also had cancer, so my first priority was to make sure she wasn’t in pain. I gave her pain medicine, but still, she paced. I gave her midnight potty breaks and tiny snacks… on she walked. We bought a FitBark to help track her wanderings (more about that another time). One night, when I was beyond exhausted and worried about her, I stayed up with her to see if I could figure out what she needed. Essentially she just paced until she was so tired that she laid down beside me and we both slept. We did try other things as well, medicines/supplements, pheromone, and essential oil diffusers, and night lights, but nothing seemed to work for her consistently. It was at that point that I realized her quality of life was declining, and not long after that we let her go.

Our ancient little chihuahua Radar forgot how to use his front paws to chew on toys, and started declining walks sometimes. He would see his little harness and turn around and go lie down instead of coming over to put it on like he used to. He lost patience with our other dog and would get testy with her for no apparent reason. While he never did that with us, he did distance himself from us, choosing to sleep in another room instead of piled up on the couch with the family in the evenings like he did when we first adopted him. He developed intense anxiety whenever he was put in the car, at the vet’s office, or when I had to perform simple grooming tasks. Because of his stress from these things, we worked with his veterinarians to keep him as comfortable as possible while avoiding trips to the vet; we stopped doing the medical tests that stressed him out and I only groomed him when I had to (which was rare, lucky for Radar!). He was 18 by the time this all happened, so we felt the kindest thing to do was keep his quality of life as high as possible for the time he had left.

I have a theory that old personality traits or training issues sometimes reappear when a dog starts to show dementia symptoms. Many clients tell me their confused dogs hate to be restrained in any way, whether it’s being held to be groomed by me, wiping faces, dry paws, or getting a hug. When I ask if they’ve always been like that, more often than not, the answer is yes, but it’s gotten much worse. These dogs were always more independent or standoffish in temperament, but now they hate being restrained for any reason. Our Esther was not housebroken when we adopted her, but we did eventually get that under control until she became confused, and then she peed in the house quite a bit. She also got snappy on very rare occasions, which was something we hadn’t seen since we first adopted her.

The symptoms I saw in our dogs are common but there is no predictable set of symptoms or progression of them that dogs show. A few more common signs of dementia are barking/howling for no reason, being more clingy all the time, or stressed when left alone, walking in circles, or pacing along the same path over and over. Some dogs I see tend to sundown, meaning their symptoms appear or get worse as the sun goes down. It’s not surprising that solutions that work for one dog may not work for another. In chatting with clients daily about dementia in their dogs, I’ve learned that it’s trial and error for each family. It’s really important to keep close contact with your dog’s veterinarian in situations like this. There are medicines, supplements, herbs, toys, games, etc that can all help.

And here’s something we don’t talk about when it comes to dementia in pets… Caregiver stress is REAL, and caring for a dog with dementia is HARD. Anyone who has dealt with a family member who has dementia knows this. In many cases, it is much harder to be the caregiver for a canine or human loved one with dementia than it often is for the person or animal affected. It further complicates things in that there is still a stigma around talking about how much stress we dog caregivers go through, because there are people out there who will tell you “It’s just a dog” and who just don’t understand the amount of emotional trauma and exhaustion you’re dealing with. To the extent that you can, it’s important to have support. If you have a dog-loving friend or family member, talk with them. And many of us get to the point that we feel we can’t safely leave our confused dogs alone, but it’s important to take breaks for your mental health, so ask for help for a few hours if you need a break. Also, saying goodbye to a dog who is fine physically but really suffering from dementia is okay. Keep assessing quality of life, both yours and your dog’s. When you get to the point that your dog is anxious about more than he loves, or has very little that makes him happy compared to what he used to, it might be time to consider letting him go. A lot of us struggle with this because we feel like it’s wrong to let our dogs go before they’re physically sick. But there are definitely situations where a dog has very little quality of life left, and our own quality of life is taking a serious hit while providing care and losing sleep.

Your veterinarian can help you with assessing the quality of life for your dog. This is also a topic I can cover later down the line if there is interest.

Home Care

Fill out this CDS checklist when you start seeing changes in your older dog. Give it to your vet so they can check for other health conditions. Keep filling it out periodically to determine how your dog’s condition is changing.

To the best of your ability, keep predictable routines. Not all do, but many confused dogs like to eat, and walk at the same time every day. We used to give Radar a snuffle mat every day to eat his lunch out of. Until the very end, he loved that thing and would wait beside it to have it filled up. It kept his little nose busy for 20 minutes or so, and what joy it gave him! Here are a few more tips to make the daily routine a bit safer:

1. Protect your dog from hazards such as stairs, pools, etc.

2. Supervise your dog in the yard. Confused dogs may not be able to find the door to come back inside. And many dogs who used to alert you when they want to come back in no longer remember to do that and can be affected by sun, heat, cold, or snow very quickly.

3. Try to minimize moving food and water bowls, toy boxes, beds, furniture or starting major renovations if possible

4. Nightlights can help orient a middle-of-the-night pacing dog but in other cases keep them awake. Try it and see if it helps your dog!

5. Teach new simple tricks, or review the ones they’ve known all their lives. Even if they never really learn the trick, as long as they’re having fun, that’s the most important part!

6. If your dog still enjoys walks, be sure you allow lots of sniffing for brain stimulation.

7. Monitor eating and drinking to be sure your dog still remembers to do those things and that no other pet is stealing his meals. Bring water to your dog if you aren’t sure he is drinking

Product and Resource Recommendations

Education. This book has a lot of good information if you’re just dealing with CDS for the first time:

Toys and Enrichment. Very safe and fun, but supervise your dog for all these treat and toy options. Your locally-owned pet supply store probably sells a lot of this! Go now and check them out:

1. Food puzzle Keep these simple so that your dog doesn’t get frustrated, and help her the first few times she does it, if necessary.

2. Licky mats are a great enrichment option and very simple for dogs to figure out if the food puzzles are too hard. Smear them with peanut butter, pumpkin, squeeze cheese, yogurt, or a combo!

3. Snuffle mat - your locally owned pet store probably sells versions of these. If your dog eats kibble, you can sprinkle his meals around in the folds and let him dig it out. If you are filling it with a meal, be sure other pets don’t get into it and deprive him of calories. I always shook these out after my dog was done so that I was sure he ate everything. It’s important your old dog gets the calories he needs.

4. This pheromone diffuser helps some dogs if plugged in by the bed they spend the most time in. There is also a spray or collar option.

DIY options if that’s your preference:

1. Check out this guide on how to create your snuffle mat

2. Food Puzzles: You can hide treats or kibble under a blanket, towel, or under his bed and let your dog hunt them out. Does your dog have too many toys? Pile up his stuffies and hide treats in the pile for him to find.

3. Licky mat inspired: Freeze a small mixture of pumpkin, peanut butter and yogurt in a freezer safe pet bowl. If your dog eats canned food and can’t/shouldn’t have extra snacks, you can try part of his meals this way. Monitor to be sure he eats the whole thing and none of your other pets takes it from him.

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

☞ A New Study To Help Cognitive Decline

☞ The Rising Trend 

Senior Dog Humor

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House