Thread: Ageing dog?

As much as I hate to say it, he might be going senile. On that same note, there is a possibility that he's becoming more vicious because of his cateracts. You might want to bring him to a vet to see if the cataracts is bad enough that it's effecting his vision to the point that he might not recognize people.

Cataracts in people can change their behavior- their ability to react to their environment is altered, and they cannot be as certain as to what is going on around them. One of my grandfathers, for example, spent the last decade or so of his life quite deaf and nearly blind. His inability to percieve his environment turned him into even more of a cantankerous crank than he was. Likewise, an elderly dog will not be able to recognize the world about him as well, and will react differently.

Awww, that's a toughie, Sushi!

In some ways, older dogs compensate for poorer vision. They also use their senses of hearing and smell to help with the decreasing vision. Dogs are also very attuned to the moods and feelings of those they live with. They will have heightened fear if they sense fear in you.

Bananas loved our children dearly and no longer found them threatening, once he learned that they share food and are very messy. He dealt with the stalking and exuberance by retreating from the area and finding his own protected area. If that were difficult, he had his take care of this right away growl to get the adults to help immediately. When he got old, he could no longer see well or hear the kids coming. His back legs would not always move with the rest of his body, so I had to keep a closer eye on him for the kids safety. I did see his behavior change the last six months or so of his life, and then we put him asleep. His quality of life was so poor, and much as I loved him, my children's safety was top priority.

Zacchaeus is now nearing 14. He is slowing down some, but still enjoys his toys and playing. Thunder freaks him out, which never bothered him. He seldom hears the doorbell at home anymore, although he usually hears the one on TV for a cat commercial. :roll: Figure that one out. He is protective of his family, and nips at the shoes when we attempt to answer the door like a good cattle dog would.

I would suggest that you talk to your vet about the changes you see when your dog goes in next. He/She knows your dog and the history, and can answer some of your concerns.

Thanks for the replies.... My sister did mention that she heard that dogs can become aggressive when they have cataracts. Which does make sense because they can no longer see exactly who is approaching. We were just very frightened because he growled at a little girl who hugged him the other day a bit too tight. He has got sore shoulders, but he has never done that before. He didn't really know the little girl, and some kids were surrounded him so he probably felt quite threatened and thus reacted in the way he did.
It's just that you've got to be so careful these days because there has been lots of reports of dog attacks lately in Australia, some leading to fatalities.
I know Kaleb would never kill or attack anyone like those dogs do, but if he nipped or barked at someone because of his age and state, we could have to have him destroyed.
He's a beautiful dog though, my little 9 year old sister has him out side every arfternoon jumping him over chairs and getting him to do crazy things. He just takes it all and you can tell he rather be lying down, but he loves to be played with.