Suggestions anyone? Elderly poodle

**Moesha** · 06-17-2008, 09:05 AM

I've worked for this family for over 13 years and they have had this sweet little black poodle the entire time. Recently, well in the last year, they have learned that she is in the early stages of kidney failure. Her behavior has changed in several ways. I'm staying at their house while they are gone on a business trip for 3 days to watch EmmeLou. This is the first time both of them have been gone at the same time since her changes and they thought it would be best if she were here in familiar surroundings. During the daytime, when someone is with her, she is the perfect pup that she always was. At nighttime she was getting so destructive and having numerous urinating accidents, they decided she needed to be confined during the night. She has a crate that she's used all her life, but now when she is in there she will shred anything and everything she can reach. If a towel is in there, it comes out as threads, literally. Right now they only put her in the crate when they leave her alone in the house. That is 3 hours at the very most. At night she goes in a bathroom with some newspapers on the floor. Needless to say they are shredded in the morning. She has been known to pull the vent up out of the floor and has broken a trash can in half. Since she is only 7 pounds, I have know idea how she manages to do this. Last night I heard her shredding the paper as soon as I put her in the bathroom. There is a shower stall in that bathroom and she doesn't touch the shower curtain or anything in the shower. There is a car seat and a pair of shoes in there right now. Anything left on the floor is destroyed. There must be a method to her madness. Another change in her behavior involves riding in the car. Her parents have a home here and another one in Nashville, about an hour an a half ride. They go back and forth frequently throughout the week and she's done this all her life. Her usual routine has been to sit on her mom's lap and look out the window. (I know not something I would do or advocate, but that was their routine.) In the past few months Emme has tried to climb the steering wheel and get on the dashboard. Her mom has now been putting her in a crate in the car. (Much safer I know.) The problem is that Emme barks nonstop a terribly loud shrilly bark. But her mom says that if she is out, she tries to be on the dashboard. I took her in her crate with me yesterday for a short ride while I had something to do. The bark was terrible. The headache I had when we got home was wicked.
I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions. The vet has checked her numerous times and contributes the behavior to her age. I think I may have my camera here. If I do, I'll try to get pictures of the sweetie. She doesn't see or hear as well as she used to either. Old age stinks for everyone!

**Pam** · 06-17-2008, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Moesha

She doesn't see or hear as well as she used to either. Old age stinks for everyone!

I have heard of something like "doggie Alzheimers" in dogs. Yes, old age does stink for dogs and people. I would just continue to love the little sweetheart until it is evident that her quality of life has become so poor that she is just not enjoying life at all any more. Her people sound like they are doing all they can and I know they are loving her through it all. Please give EmmeLou a little kiss from me.

**Moesha** · 06-17-2008, 09:53 AM

I think the vet may have used the word senility in explaining her behavior. Her people will do anything for her. In fact, when they were trying to decide how much to pay me for staying here with her for 3 days, the husband said that to him $1000 wasn't too much. Of course it was too much to me!
Here are a couple of pictures I just took of her. You can sort of see the film on her eyes. It's so sad to me to watch her get older, I can't imagine how her parents feel.

**mruffruff** · 06-17-2008, 12:10 PM

Senility may have something to do with it, but it could just be a fear of being alone. We old folks tend to dislike that more than when we were young

Doggy senility is a reality. I had to send Samson to the bridge a year sgo because of it. He was destructive day and night and forgot who I was at times. In a crate, he bounced the crate around the room! He would growl at the other dogs and cats. I couldn't trust him even though I knew he had no idea what he was doing. He was somewhere in the 15 to 17 year range. (Former stray)

The only thing you can do for Emme is to crate her when she might be destructive. Don't put anything in the crate with her. It sounds cruel, but it's for her safety too. Also the crate could be in the bedroom so she wouldn't feel so alone in the bathroom overnight. Maybe a large crate so she wouldn't need to sit in her own urine. (Elevate one end slightly to direct the urine).

If she can't see well, she will dislike being alone more.

Unfortunately this isn't going to get better. The vet might have a medication that can slow the advance.

She sounds like a very loved dog. I commend you and her parents for thinking of her comfort during these stressful times.

**Pam** · 06-17-2008, 06:46 PM

What a sweetie. She looks as I imagine my Ripley might look when he is an "old man."

I am so happy she has loving people who are looking after her. I had a toy poodle who lived to be 17. He was deaf and almost blind from dense cataracts when he went to the RB.

**Rachel** · 06-17-2008, 07:36 PM

Oh my, that second picture reminds me so much of my RB dog, Tizzie, and in fact Tizzie too was afflicted with doggie Alzheimers in the last year or more of her life. Tizzie was never distructive but her other behavior changed considerably. She paced and paced and would end up in strange places like under furniture, in corners, under chairs from which she needed to be rescued. She too had a very difficult time riding in the car and wanted to *pace* there as well. There seemed to be no way to comfort her. She no longer wanted to sit on a lap or be petted. Fortunately she slept well and that was the only time she was at peace. She had always been a dog who uninated immediately when she went outside, however, with this condition she seemed to forget what she was outside for. Her last winter had to be the coldest one I can remember, or maybe it just seemed like that because I had to take her out and stand there in subzero temperatures trying to get her to *go*. She was no longer able to be outside by herself and would fall into the window wells or wander off. Her hearing must have been going too although for a while we could get her attention by clapping our hands together instead of calling.

I can't honestly say that I found any thing to be helpful for Tizzie. Her apparent distress got so bad that eventually I made the decision that it was time to help her to the RB. It was a horrendous decision and one I second guessed a hundred times, yet to think of her having to live in the state of constant anxiety was more than I could bare either.

Reading this thread and *going back in time* has been difficult. Emmelou's parents have my understanding and empathy. The journey they are on is a painful one indeed.