Our dog Dante

Thanks everyone.  We have run out of creative ideas.  In our old home, he slept in the closet and loved to settle down.  I guess it felt like a den and dogs are den animals.  it doesn't work in our new home because the closets are in a hallway.  We made a den for him that didn't seem to help settle him down.  Last night we just gave up and let him sleep downstairs until right before we turned off the light but we had to withhold late night water so he did not pee in the house.  He'll let us know he needs to go out if he is in the bedroom.  Normally he wants to be near us and if Glenn and I are in 2 different rooms, he sits between the rooms.  Now he wants to be in my office at a certain time and that's that. 

Tonight I guess we will keep trying to figure out something but I think drugs are out of the question.  The senility drug anapryl did nothing to help even after months and neither did this one.    I feel like I am always one step behind trying to figure out his latest quirk.  Ever since that pet food recall and switching him off his favorite food, it's been a nightmare trying to figure out what brand and flavor he will eat and just as we figure it out, he starts to turn his nose up a it.  He also now has developed this habit of hitting his food bowl with his nose over and over and sometimes turning it over....food he likes!  I just wish I could find some way to reassure him and calm him. It seems to change all the time.  His new thing is getting anxious when the cat is not on the same floor at night.  His life is probably more calm and reassuring than ever before which is why I am so frustrated.  Maybe when some of the snow is gone, we will try obedience again.  He really loves doing obedience training outdoors.  

Claire, thanks for the suggestion.  He has had lots of blood tests over the last two years, the last being 3 months ago and he looks good on everything, including no diabetes.  Last year he had dental surgery and the vet did even more extensive testing because of the risk of surgery on aw dog of his age.  His thyroid is low without meds but with meds it has been within normal range for quite some time.  I have to think part of this is the thyroid meds but we can't take him off those meds because that would hurt his organs and all sorts of things  I did read that thyroid meds can make dogs very thirsty and have dry throats.  This kind of behavior did start about the time we started the thyroid medication.   Every vet who has looked at him in the past two years are actually shocked about how good a health he is in when they find out how old he is.  I am totally clueless at this point. Senility?  He does get very addled if his routine changes but the anapryl did not work.

Thanks, Lady Amalthea.  He is petty special to me.  WHen my apartment flooded years ago, I walked out with one thing --- Dante in my arms.  I hope we can figure out some solution and quickly.  Buddha just stole his downstairs bed and Dante is slleping next to him on the edge of his bed right now.

Thanks Moonsong!  For some stange reason, the last week, he has gone to bed instead of thid nighttime mania....and without any medication which is the best.  About all we have done is not put up the baby gate until after he has fallen asleep and trying to feed him him a bt more earlier in the day ratherr than later.  I bet dogfood has a lot of salt in it because his obsession with water seems to be tied to his food.

THe older he gets, the more we experience these kinds of big changes.  The pet food recall really did us in.  He ate one brand of dry food that was recalled.  This dog has been a vaccuum cleaner when it comes to food most of his life until the pet food recall. He loved everything ---just the sdmaell of cantaloupe, clementines and broccoli would make him excited or wake up.  I could peel one bit off of a clementine or just slice into a cantaloupe and he woudl get so excited.  Now finding a food he likes and getting him to eat it is a struggle.  He still has an appetite but ever since we had to change his regualar dogfood, he likes only a few brands and only a couple of flavors...and as soon as we find one, he gets sick of it.  Some nights we can open up all kinds of dogfood and even treats, including what was his favorite 3 weeks ago, and he will turn up his nose.

Not long ago, he used to get upset or anxious if he wasn't in the same room as us.  Now the trick seems to be letting him sleep downstairs if he wants...but making sure we remove water so he can't sneak and go to the bathroom in the house.

I guess in a way it's like raising kids except there is a bit of a differene.  this dog has been one way for maybe 15 years and we all settled into a family routine.  Now as he ages, I feel like he is a new family member and am scarmbling to figure out what he wants, what upsets him and half the time I feel clueless because what was once "Dante" in terms of likes/comfort isn't anymore. 

Our cat is like that.  He likes one brand of dry food and only one variety of that brand and same with wet.  When we adopted him, we got treats just to bond and all that.  He hates cat treats.  We tried every kind of cat treat and finally found one kind of Cat treat he like ---Pounce chicken---and wouldn't you know it, the company went and made it "new and improved", i.e. our cat won't touch it!  Buddha doesn't even like human food.  Real tuna, no temptation at all!  How a cat can like Science Diet pellets and not tuna, who knows.  I hope his taste buds expand in selection as he gets older.