Elderly Dog Aggression

[1muttsfan]

unfortunately the only way to check for a brain tumor would be for her to have an MRI, which can run into the thousands of dollars Anipryl is the medication for k9 dementia. It also is fairly expensive.

It sounds like for both her sake and the sake of all the animals and people around her, she should be confined 100 percent of the time. Is she going to live a happy life like that? If not, than euthanasia may be the only way. Eventually she is going to hurt someone badly, kill another animal, or be hurt herself seriously.

 

[SillyChicken]

Sadly, I would agree. It sounds like a mental change (did they rule out brain tumor, or stroke). Try getting more activity for her... but if that doesn't change her behavior, it would be like trying to change some one with Alzheimers if her mental capacity has changed no amount of activity will really help. If she starts moving her aggression toward people, you may want to consider it.

 

[Stacykins]

They did a full blood panel, and the vet did check to see if she had hypothyroidism. But everything was in normal ranges, including electrolytes, liver and kidneys are great. The vet did say that doggy strokes aren't that common, but they can happen. Though if she had one it wasn't a dramatic vascular accident causing very noticeable physical symptoms (head tilt, falling, seizures, lethargy, etc.). Didn't mention anything about a possible brain tumor though. But since we don't have dog insurance, I think the cost to get an MRI would be prohibitively expensive.

I will talk to the vet about the medications, either the doggy dementia med or see if a 'puppy prozac' is available. I've dealt with having to euthanize sick dogs before (one with liver cancer, one who went into status epilepticus when meds stopped managing his seizures, and an old girl who had congestive heart failure that stopped responding to treatment), and it seems like that is easier to understand, they were beyond help. But an otherwise healthy dog? Definitely making my heart break.

Cane Sisters, nothing has changed. We stick by the exact same routine, there isn't anything new in the house, nothing has moved around in the house. We're too far away from the closest neighbor (about a half mile) I think, for changes there to affect her, and we are lucky to have no wandering dogs. Her diet is the same too, blue buffalo senior. She gets two daily walks, at least a half mile each, since she is quite active still.

 

[Avalon1984]

We had our 13 year old barn cat start acting up in her last year of life. She just became stranger and stranger by the day. In the end, after 13 years of seeing us slowly pull into the driveway, she threw herself under the back tire. It would have been her last year, that I am sure of, but the ending wasn’t pretty. I hope you can find an answer

 

[WoodlandWoman]

For the moment, I wouldn't allow her loose in the house or out in the yard with others without a muzzle on. For meals or times when you want to let her have time to chew on something, I'd confine her until she's done. That should keep everyone safe, until you work through this.

As long as she checks out as healthy, I wouldn't focus on her age too much. I would handle her the way you would any dog of any age with these problems.

I wonder if she's getting a clear message from you that you find her aggressive behavior unacceptable or if she thinks you're maybe not that happy about it, but basically okay with it. I know you have to deal with the immediate chaos at the time of the incident, but are you also correcting her? Is there any consequence to her behaviors?

Do you think she thinks she's in charge and can do as she wishes? Is she submissive to you? Do you do regular obedience work with her? Does she obey commands well for you?

Elderly dogs can get a little more crotchety or a little more independent in their last few years. In our house, a couple of years before they pass, they can get a bit of a Diva thing going. Sometimes, too, we love them so dearly, see the end of their life getting just a bit closer and have a harder time being firm with them. I don't always keep up as much with obedience work as they get older, either. I'm wondering if any of these things could have let an underlying issue flair up into a more extreme problem.

Maybe think about it and think about whether you want to try to work with her for a little while. I think using a muzzle on her might buy you some time and peace to think. You might want to think about keeping her on a leash, so you can physically control her. I'd also do obedience work with her. You could check out some of the NILIF information that's out there and some of the sites on aggression. Some of that might ring true for you, when you read it.

In the end, only you can make the decision on how you want to handle this. I don't think anything you decide is wrong. Keep your animals safe while you give yourself time to work through this decision and just do what you think is best.