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Behaviour advice needed please

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frogdog

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Hi all,

I've just joined this forum and am hoping someone might be able to help me.

I have a 12 year old shar pei, he's not my first, i've had many of them but this is the first time i've had these type of behaviour issues.

I have had the dog 4 years. Over the last year his behaviour has been in a steady decline but we are now at the point where i am snatching an hours sleep here and there and I and my other dog is suffering.

I am going to group these into two sections, his behaviour at night and during the day.

At night:

He paces, from one side of the bed to the other, he gets himself so worked up he pants then lets out moans, he breathes in and out really loudly. The only way i can get him to calm down is to put him on my bed, which is a problem because i end up with about an inch of bed and don't get any sleep anyway. Last night this didn't work, he was up and down all night. A few weeks ago i woke up and i couldnt move, i thought someone had broken into the house and was in the process of assaulting me or worse, i managed to turn the light on (i have a cord over the bed) and the dog was on top of my blanket, pinning me down, staring at me, i yelled at him but he didn't move, he just kept staring. In the end i managed to summon the strength to get him off, we're talking a 35kg plus dog, i was petrified, he really frightened me.

If i get up in the night and take him downstairs and open the back door, he stands there for a few minutes and runs away. So he doesnt need the toilet. I've even tried actually taking him into the garden but he still comes straight back inside.

During the day:

He paces, pants and howls, up and down all day. He will ask multiple times to go into the garden, when i open the door he will stand there, then run away. Then a few minutes later will ask again, then again. He walks into things and when i tell him to stay there he looks at me then starts moving again and sends them flying. He will lay down on his bed, then a few seconds later jump up in the air like someone poked him. I've washed the beds, replaced the beds, he's free of fleas .etc

He has become aggressive toward people - walkies can be very trying, if he sees a person or another dog he throws himself around and tries to get at them. He's tried to bite me and i mean really bite me, not a nip, not him telling me to back off. Sometimes when i stroke him he growls at me.

I have tried (NOT at the same time) rescue remedy, Valerian, massage, aromatherapy oils, i've walked him for hours and hours, firmly told him "NO!", cuddled him, tried to reassure him, but nothing is working. I do genuinely feel he is deeply troubled and he isn't trying me out. But i don't know what to do. I don't think sedatives are the answer but i'm out of ideas and I'm hoping someone here has experienced similar and can provide some help and advice. Physicially he's fantastic, has no problem eating and getting it out the other end, is on a very good kibble, have tried raw/barf diets but they've made no difference.

I am completely at a loss. I feel like the kindest thing to do is to help him to doggy heaven, but i want to try my best to help him here first then if he has to go to heaven then so be it, i don't think it's fair to rehome him, but i am finding it harder and harder to cope with him especially with the lack of sleep i am barely able to function on a day to day basis.

Thanks x
 
Has he been to the vets for a check up?

It sounds like he is uncomfortable with something.

If it were me I would take him to the vet to rule out any medical problems that maybe causing the behaviour problems.

I do think this may need some professional help especially if he becomes aggressive.
 
I would also get him to a vet asap.... It sounds like there is really something wrong and perhaps neurological rather than behaviour?

I am so sorry to hear about this, it sounds really really stressful :(
 
Please take your dog to see a vet as soon as possilbe. At 12 years of age it could be a number of things, he needs a physical examination.

Jenny
 
Thank you for your kind replies.

He saw a vet a few months ago (had routine bloods done) and received a clean bill of physical health. He has a grade 2 heart murmur but that is it.

I havent told anyone else not even the vet about his behaviour because i am so ashamed of myself that i can't do anything about it.

Thank you x
 
frogdog said:
Thank you for your kind replies.

He saw a vet a few months ago (had routine bloods done) and received a clean bill of physical health. He has a grade 2 heart murmur but that is it.

I havent told anyone else not even the vet about his behaviour because i am so ashamed of myself that i can't do anything about it.

Thank you x
Click to expand...
Don't be ashamed! No dog is perfect and it's not like it been a lifetime issue.

You have done nothing wrong, and it maybe even something really simple that the vet can help with.
 
The dog could be senile now...............sounds like doggy heaven may be a realistic option............
 
Wow, that sounds like a huge set of 'undesirable' behaviour to deal with all day and all night.

My first thought when reading your post was to ask whether he's been checked for evidence of epilepsy? Lots of dogs have small 'absence' seizures that upset them enormously and there are quite a lot of dogs that have them at night but not in the day (just as there are humans who only have seizures when they are asleep). Epilepsy is eminently treatable and can result in a complete remission of symptoms, but vets do need to discuss lots of things with you and I'm afraid that the definitive proof of epilepsy can be a very expensive diagnosis, particularly if you want to have a check as to whether there's anything causing the seizures, rather than the fits being idiopathic (posh word for 'we don't know why' or 'without any real reason'). In older dogs a lot of epilepsy is caused by tumours.

If he's not having seizures then he could either be in pain or have dementia, neither of which are nice to live with and both of which would lead me to agree that doggy heaven is less dreadful both for him and for you than continuing with the upset and pain. With his age, pain could be from joints, tumours or all sorts of other causes.

Another thing to think about is that his heart murmur could have worsened to produce heart symptoms, which can include breathlessness, discomfort in the chest and a panicky feeling that makes it hard to settle.

I'm afraid I'm a militant putter to sleep of animals that I don't think have good quality of life, which makes me the enemy of some of the people who think that allowing nature to take its course is much more the way to go. My rationale is that if they aren't enjoying life (and your lad doesn't really sound like he's happy) and there's no way to make them enjoy life better (this step usually involves a heart to heart with a vet) then why am I putting them through it? I've had very old animals who have poor mobility, poor sight, poor hearing, poor liver function but are still contented and clearly not in pain, and I've had younger animals who have had tumours or serious untreatable pain who I don't think it's fair to make them go through it a moment longer.

Where you draw the line about what is tolerable varies from animal to animal and I don't think that there's a loving animal owner in the world who would judge you for questioning whether having your lad put to sleep would be preferable than seeing him struggle (no matter what the reason) for every waking moment.

Please do take him to a vet and have a good talk with them. A simple examination could find something fast advancing that pulls everything else into focus as why his behaviour is deteriorating so quickly.

I hope that you get some answers and that this helps you to be at peace with whatever decisions you make :)
 
My dog was not this bad but symptoms similar but to a lesser extent

~ I did describe to the vet a couple of times when he seemed to be trance like vet diagnosed a form of epilepsy he has started on medication and is more settled then I have ever known him I know have for the first time in over 8 years a calmer 12 year old dog

The neurological idea may be right
 
Thank you for such warm, kind replies. Words of support and words of advice, it is very much appreciated.

I am touched that you all extend such a warmth to a new poster like this.

He is still here as I am trying to save a bit of money up so i can take him back to the vet, he had a lot of money spent on him a few months ago so am trying to get a bit together so he can have tests done to try and see if this is Epilepsy, to do with his heart murmur or senility. I was told not long after I gave him a home (about 4 years ago) that his heart murmur was a grade 2 so it is very possible that it has escalated and could be causing discomfort, my vet didn't say anything about his heart though when i saw her last.

He does suffer with fluid retention on his rear hocks and he also has hip dysplasia. He tends to be a bit stiff sometimes in getting up.

Am just trying to sit tight with him until i can get something sorted. I am going to try to take him to the PDSA so he can be seen sooner, but my other dog is registered with them so have to see if i can swap them over.

Thank you x
 
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Nothing to add to the excellent advice already given. Just wanted to say that I hope you can get to the root of the problem for your sake as well as your dog's. You sound to me like a very caring owner.
 
I really feel for you as it sounds to me like it's probably his age which is the problem and, as someone else mentioned, he's probably becoming senile.

I had a quick look online and there are lots of items about senility in dogs, but there is also a medication mentioned called Aktivait. I must admit that I've never heard of it before so not even sure if it's still available, but it might be worth investigating. I'd have a good old trawl through Google, simply entering 'senile dog' in the search engine and have a see what comes up. At least if the way he's behaving fits the bill then you'll know what's wrong and can decide from there what's best.

I wish you all the best as it's a horrible situation when an old pal gets like this and deciding what to do isn't easy. Best wishes. x
 
I'm so sorry i didn't come back here and reply sooner.

We went to see the vet and told her everything, i printed out what i had written above and she was greatly concerned.

She gave him a very thorough examination.

His heart murmur remains the same, neurological examinations were normal, he has hearing loss but manages to hear high frequencies, his eyesight is poor, but she said overall physically he seems in good health. As we were talking he was just wondering around the room having a sniff, he stopped dead then started to become distraught, he was crying, panting and then started pacing up and down, the vet listened to his heart again and said nothing was wrong (apart from the murmur obviously)

She said he has Dementia.

We discussed the options open to us, the first being euthanasia. I don't feel we are at that point yet, but the vet stressed to me the importance of deciding whether or not I and my other dog can cope with his behaviour, especially with the random aggression he'd been displaying and now he blocks the front door and barks when i try and leave the house. The vet said she felt personally it would be worth trying him on some medication to see if it improved things first, which i agreed to, it seemed a shame to put him down off the bat when we could throw him a lifeline, if not, then at least the last few weeks of his life would be calmer for him.

We have some tablets called Vivitonin to try for two weeks, the vet advised me that within two weeks i would know beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not these tablets are helping him, then she said we could have a chat, but i feel if these tablets do not help him then i know deep down what is the best thing to do, because i dont want him to get to the point where he is going to the toilet in the house and where he is so disorientated he is so incredibly upset. I feel to allow him to that point would be a step too far and very unfair.

He has been on them a few days and seems not as stressed and his eyes are not as sad, but part of me feels all we are doing is buying time and prolonging the inevitable.
 
((hugs)) its so sad when we have a pet that has an age related condition... Its so unfair that we outlive them.

At least you still have him and I hope what they have given him alleviates some of his discomfort.
 
I'm so glad that you are getting to the root of the problem. You hsound such a caring owner, but you do need to look at your own needs here, as well as all your animals. Hopefully these meds will help, but if not (hugs)

Tanya
 
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