NWR - Anyone have a dog with CCDS (Old Dog Syndrome)?

We took him to the vet and discussed all his symptoms. With his age and taking into account the symptoms, the vet agreed it’s probably a case of dementia. I expected it, but it’s still sad. Before going to the vet, I looked up the medication Anipryl and read a lot of good things about it and how it’s benefited dogs with CCDS. Our vet wrote a prescription for that and recommended Purina Bright Mind food for him. We’ve been giving him that medicine and food for a couple months now. We noticed significant improvement – yay!

When I first started noticing that he seemed “off” again, Andrew pointed out that it’s probably the same as it is with adults with Alzheimer’s – they have some good says, but they occasionally have some bad days. I think there is still some improvement from the medicine and food, but he seems to be having more bad days than good lately.

Seeing Charlie confused and staring off just breaks my heart : ( He always seems confused and a little uncomfortable (twitchy, and sometimes gets startled and jumps awake). He is very attached to us too. When we get up he immediately gets up and follows us around until we sit down and he can sit or lay down next to us again. Even with the medicine, the barking during the night didn’t stop, so we finally had to bring him upstairs to sleep in the bedroom (I’m completely opposed to letting the dogs sleep in the bed, but he’s done okay staying on the floor on his bed). But he’s gotten more restless again during the night.

Today I came home from work and was going to try to motivate myself to use the treadmill, but I just couldn’t tear myself away from Charlie. The 20 minutes I would have spent on the treadmill would have been a good start to working out again, but in the big scheme of things, 20 minutes on the treadmill is nothing compared to 20 minutes of comfort and peace Charlie has sitting next to one of us.

I get teary-eyed lately and have to hold back crying when I look over and admire Charlie. I just worry that we don’t have as much time left with him as we hoped we would, even knowing he was an older dog : (

I guess this was more of a vent about my sadness for Charlie, but I’m also wondering if anyone else has a dog with Old Dog Syndrome that can relate. Anyone…?

My 3 year old dog does everything but the twitching, and he doesn't pace very often. But the growling or barking at random shit at night and staring off into space and being spacey is something he does too. I would take him to a vet if you're concerned, although I'm not sure if they can do much for him. He's a cutie though, my dog is a white and brown pit, kinda has the same face as your dog!

ETA: saw your update. Omg, I got teary-eyed reading that. I've lost dogs (childhood ones) and I know the pain of watching them slip away. I'm so sorry

I don't have any advice for you but wanted to say he is very handsome and that you are awesome for adopting an older dog. I hope you figure out how to help him!

Aw, AlmostMrsE, your ETA response made me cry! That's interesting your 3 year old dog does that stuff. It's very hard to watch pets slip away :'(

Thanks, Rachel. He is a handsome old man (we call him Mr. Grumpy Pants because he always looks a little grumpy, haha). We'll help him as much as we can, and no matter how hard it is over the next few months and years, I just have to hope we're giving him a better life than he would have had elsewhere. P.S. Great name ;-)

Rachel - *sending big hugs* My dog is a special dog lol. He does A LOT of weird things. It might be their breed (they are probably in the same family of dogs because yours is smaller, but has the same face lol) and don't worry, the only thing he'll remember before he goes (which hopefully won't be for years!) is the better life you gave him in the end!

This is Chief lol.

My mother had to put her dog to sleep in May, because of doggy A.D. He was a couple months short of 17, though. In hindsight she should have taken him earlier, but wasn't able to, because she had surgery in March.

He usually started in the evening, but it got earlier and earlier. He would hide under their bed and whine a lot and keep them awake. He was on up to 6 mg. of Lorazepam/Ativan a day, but he eventually got up to 12 mg. My Dad said "what good is it to keep him alive, just by drugging him all the time?" One night he didn't fall asleep until 4:00 AM. My parents were delirious/like zombies.

My Mom took him to the vet, who said he wasn't suffering physically, but he was mentally. At that point, my Mom had lost weight, her coloring was off, she was on her last nerve, and exhausted. She took him home for the weekend, but said goodbye 2 days later.

It as really sad, but one of her neighbors said to her he had a former neighbor whose dog would sit in one corner of the living room and cry all the time. It was like the dog was trapped in his own mind. My grandfather had A.D. and the end was terrible. His quality of life was about zero.

I had no idea what this condition was until my very good friend walked home one day to find her sofa in pieces, as a result of her elderly dog showing extreme behavior changes. In the three weeks since (and after an official vet diagnosis), we've both come to learn a lot about this condition. I'm sorry Charlie is going through this but rest assured that you're offering him a much better quality of life than what he would've had at the shelter. I applaud your decision for adopting an older dog, as heartbreaking as this may be right now. Wishing you strength xx

Thanks, AlmostMrsE! Your dog is so cute! What kind of dog is he? Charlie is a pit bull/boxer mix. What's funny is his name was Chief at the shelter and we renamed him Charlie, so it seems they do have some similarities ;-) He was severely underweight at the shelter. Animal control said he was even thinner than he was when we adopted him! He was in the mid 40-pound range (maybe 47 or 49?). He's now in the low 50s. He's only gained a few pounds since we got him, but he looks MUCH healthier! Even in that photo, he's super skinny (it was just a few days after getting him). He was so bony and scrawny. He's at a much healthier weight now.

Beach Babe - Thanks for sharing. It's so sad and so hard putting dogs down. That is amazing he was almost 17 though! It is very exhausting caring for a pet with this type of condition, especially when they're up all night. "Trapped in their own mind" is the perfect (although tragic) way to put it. We have an ADT camera in the living room so I can watch it throughout the day while I'm at work, and it's tough seeing Charlie sit and stare and not relax for most of the day. He does lay down sometimes, but mostly it just stares at the floor and looks like he's lonely and waiting for someone to get home. He still has his good moments... his favorite thing in the world is running outside and throwing himself onto the ground and rolling around like crazy in the grass. He's a happy boy when we're with him, so I hope that happiness lasts at least for a little while longer.

Spirit - Thank you very much for your kindness and support! Charlie destroyed a bunch of things at first. I think the dogs played of one anothers behavior and were bad influences... if one would destroy things, the others would. Our other two dogs we have to crate during the day because they chew on and eat things (so crating them is not just to save our stuff, but because the one dog has had numerous emergencies requiring services or surgery because of things she's eaten, like the rug). We've tried crating Charlie but he's broken out of his crate several times (even when it's been zip tied shut!) and hurt himself, so we stopped crating him. Now that he's the only one left out, he doesn't misbehave like he used to. I'm wishing your friend strength and hope for her dog as well!

Wanted to bump in case there are more people online during the weekday with older dogs.