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Emmamae269

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Hi

A newbie here! I have a 12 year old Norwegian Elkhound called Shadow.

I will be needing some advice for him so I'll have a look around to see if I can see anything that has already been mentioned.

Emmamae269
 
Welcome to the forum. Lots of helpful people here - just ask away! :)
 
Hello everyone and thank you for the warm welcome!

My problem is around his behaviour, but I think it may be due to his age rather than something that can be trained. It started last summer when we had to put him in kennels for the first time in ages as where he normally went couldn't take him. He was a bit clingy after that but nothing too bad. Since Christmas, his clingyness has become a lot more of an issue. He has always slept upstairs on the floor next to my bed, but he used to want to come down in the early hours. He would just curl up on the settee and sleep until morning.

Now, it's gone from that to him not even sleeping upstairs at all (this has happened gradually over the last few months) but he doesn't want to be on his own down there, and one of us has to sleep with him (we're on the settee and he's on the floor). If we don't go, he just barks and barks with no let up and nobody can sleep, which isn't great as we have neighbours on both sides. He can get upstairs, as he comes up to check where we are upstairs in the evening but he runs back down when he sees that we are there.

So far the Vet has tried him with Aktivait tablets (to help with brain activity) which didn't help and more recently she gave him diazepam to help with anxiety but he reacted really badly to them and ended up falling downstairs, vomiting and being really disoriented. Plus, he still didn't sleep on his own!

As you can imagine, it's making life pretty difficult at the moment. My husband doesn't sleep well anyway, and less so on the settee, although I don't mind, I am tired all the time due to interrupted sleep because when he gets up for work at 5am, I go back to bed for a bit (we're like a tag team) During the day Shadow isn't on his own too much, but he does seem ok, he just sleeps all day and doesn't really have much energy for anything else. He has started limping on longer walks, so they are kept shorter now.

I'm sorry for the really long post - I would really, really appreciate any advice or tips!!

I'll post some pics soon xx
 
I wish I could offer some advice :( But don't worry, experienced owners will be along shortly with some useful tips.
 
Sorry to hear this, it is so sad when they get upset and unsettled. I would go back to the vet as a first step - there are alternative medications that may not disagree with him - just like in humans, sometimes they need to try an alternative. Did the vet by any chance also check his thyroid function? If it is off (and I believe it is one of the things the breed is prone to), it also can lead to behavioural changes. Hope you get a solution soon.
 
Thank you. I haven't been back to vets since the diazepam incident - she didn't mention thyroid but it's definitely worth checking out.

I'll book him in and see what happens.

Thanks very much x
 
Maybe not want you want to hear but it does sound like doggy dementia and just like humans they tend to have whats known as sundowning ( Sundowning Syndrome in Dogs: How to Help Your Pet ) this link has some tips.

When mine were near the end and needed us to be with them we invested in one of those fold out beds that reverts to a chair shape. Much more comfy than a sofa and they were able to lay close which seemed to comfort them a lot.

Wishing you luck with finding a solution.
 
Hello Mad Murphy

You're quite right, I don't want to hear that but he certainly seems to have most of the symptoms relating to sundowning :(

The link you gave is really good, there are some tips on there I will definitely try. He seems to be going deaf as well so I can imagine he is feeling anxious because of that too.

Thank you for your help, it's much appreciated.
 
Bit behind on this thread but sorry to hear your problems @Emmamae269 - watching our dogs get old is horrible :-(

Amazing link @Mad Murphy - a really interesting read.
 
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