Health and Behavior in Older Dogs

Some of the difficulties we have with our dogs, such as not coming when called, can be fixed by reward-based manners training. Some, such as food-bowl guarding, respond to counterconditioning and other behavior modification techniques. Behavioral medications often help. But some behavior problems are at least partly health problems in disguise. This week, I’ll describe 3 common age-related health troubles that can change a dog’s behavior for the worse.

First off the bat, disclaimers. Many physical problems can affect a dog’s behavior – not just the ones I mention, and not only in older dogs. I’m not a veterinarian, and probably neither are you. Please don’t diagnose your dog on the basis of this episode, but head for an actual veterinarian if you suspect trouble.

Many physical problems can affect a dog’s behavior. If your older dog’s behavior has changed, head for the vet.

Arthritis

Dogs can develop osteoarthritis as people do, from normal wear and tear. Canine arthritis also often arises from dysplasia, an inherited malformation of the joints. (Dysplasia may cause pain at any age, by the way.) However it comes about, arthritis hurts, and pain can have a number of behavioral effects. In addition, since animals often conceal pain, we may be unaware that anything’s up until Dogalini’s hurting pretty badly.

Chronic pain can affect behavior in many ways. It may make your dog irritable, and protective of the painful part. So an older dog who’s always loved kids may snap at Timmy when Timmy trips and falls on his arthritic hip. Or maybe she’s never minded you clipping her nails, but one day she growls when you lift her forefoot — could be you moved her elbow joint  just so and ouch, a flash of pain.

The pain of arthritis may make Dogalini reluctant to get up and move around. This can give you a quieter life, as shoe stealing drops off to zilch, but if your dog finds it unpleasant to go for walks, she may not get as many toilet opportunities as she needs. (And she may need more toilet breaks at 12 years old than she did at 8 or 5 or 3.) The result? Housetraining breakdown. You may also see housetraining fall apart if pain makes it hard to posture for urination or defecation.

The first line of defense against pain-related behavior problems is pain relief. Put Dogalini on a diet if excess weight is stressing her achy old joints, and make sure she’s getting enough gentle exercise to help her keep as limber as possible. Get your veterinarian’s advice on these and other ways to help your old friend.

Vision and Hearing Loss

Dogs rely much more on their noses than we humans do, but that’s not to say their eyes, and especially their ears, don’t matter. An old dog who can’t see or hear as well as he used to may get along perfectly in his familiar home but lose track of you on an off-leash walk. (As powerful as scents are to dogs, scent travels on air currents, so if the wind’s blowing your scent away from your dog he may not catch a whiff of you.) He may not hear you when you call. Recipe for a lost dog.

A dog whose sight and hearing have gone downhill may also startle more easily and intensely. Especially if your dog has been skittish all his life, let him know when you’re approaching him – that goes double if he’s asleep. One way to alert a deaf dog is to stomp so the floor vibrates as you come near. Speak to a dog with poor vision to make sure she knows you’re on the way.

Or suppose Zippy used to bark and lunge at bicycles, but you did a lovely job of changing that behavior through counterconditioning and rewarding attentiveness to you. He hasn’t lunged or barked in years – till one day a bike comes up behind you, and elderly Zip hits the ceiling. Before you decide all that behavior modification was for naught, consider the possibility that Zip no longer hears bikes coming.

Get his sight and hearing checked, and make it your business to be his eyes and ears. Because we all relax when fast-moving objects much larger than us suddenly appear right behind us, don’t we?

Canine Cognitive Dysfunction

Canine cognitive dysfunction is a dog analogue of Alzheimer’s disease and resembles it in many ways. Your old dog may act less engaged with you or seem not to recognize familiar people. Her sleep patterns may change; she may wander aimlessly and get “stuck” in a corner or at the hinge side of a door she’s trying to pass through. She may bark or whine seemingly at random. Some dogs with cognitive dysfunction develop separation anxiety for the first time, or other fears and anxieties may get worse. And housetraining often falls apart, as do other learned behaviors.

If you suspect cognitive changes in your old dog, head for the vet pronto. All the symptoms I’ve described can also be caused by other, treatable conditions. Impaired sight or hearing can make a dog seem disengaged or confused, too, and you can help your dog cope with sensory loss while still giving her a high quality of life. Cognitive dysfunction itself can’t be cured but there is medication to slow its progress; your vet may also be able to help you alleviate your dog’s anxiety if that’s a symptom.

Old age will slow your dog down and may change her behavior in some ways. But you can do a lot to keep her happy and comfortable. Give her daily gentle exercise so she stays lean and as limber as possible. Treat any pain she may have. Play with her and teach her new tricks – she may not play as vigorously or learn as quickly as she once did, but she can learn, and she can have fun. What’s as sweet as a happy old dog? Not much.

In preparing this article, I drew heavily on Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy, and Comfortable, by the faculty of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.  As always, write to me at dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.com. I can’t answer individually, but I may use your comments and questions as the basis for future episodes. And you can talk to me on Facebook, where I’m The Dog Trainer. Dogalini is me on Twitter. Thanks for reading!