Hi Julie!

 

Wondering if you could offer me some quick advice.  We have a 15 year old Lab/Aussie shepherd mix.  She\’s still super sharp mentally, but she has very bad hip problems and she\’s gone essentially deaf.  When younger she was always very active, as you can imagine, but because of her physical condition it is hard if not impossible to keep her stimulated.  Most days she gets 2 walks, 20 minutes or so each, and she can\’t walk much longer than that without resting.  She can’t play ball in the house anymore which she used to do incessantly.  The upshot is that she has taken to barking, we suspect just out of boredom.  She never barks when we are away, just at us.  But like I said, she can’t really play anymore, she just hangs out and woofs.  Before she went deaf she responded well to voice commands, now of course she can\’t hear us telling her to calm down.  We’ve tried sending her to her bed which used to be her punishment when she was bad, but now she just barks from the bed.  She used to be very well trained, now she\’s just obstinate.  Any ideas how we can get her to calm down?

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve!

 

I can understand a little bit about what you are going through because my own dog is now in his senior years and experiencing hip problems.  Life has begun to change for us as well. 

 

As dogs age they can undergo physical changes that can affect them in different ways and even alter their behavior. They may vocalize more and show signs of not wanting to be left alone.  Painful underlying medical conditions such as arthritis or dental problems can cause a change in your senior dog. A change of vision or hearing can cause different sensory problems that may also result in changes in behavior. Sometimes even decreased mobility can affect how a dog reacts to events. You’ll need to discuss this with a good Vet and see if there are treatment options to help make her more comfortable.  Make sure your Vet does a thyroid check on her as well because senior dogs often have thyroid issues that can actually cause anxiety.

 

I know how important being busy and exercise is for a dog’s state of being, and how difficult it can be on them once it becomes harder to do because of the arthritis. Does she like car rides? My dog loves going in the car so that might be another possibility for something to do- new smells to smell, etc. Also, try taking her to new places-she doesn’t necessarily have to walk so far these days but the sites and smells of a new park can be quite stimulating to reduce boredom.  Just like people, dogs like to explore the world. 

 

If you wonder how to replace the full exercise routines she once enjoyed you might try looking into Canine Hydrotherapy, which can be great for dogs with Arthritis.  Water is a wonderful way to support joints while still providing exercise and stimulation.  Also, a type of massage called the Tellington T-Touch, which is a method that uses specially designed circular movements of the fingers and hands all over the body has many benefits, and has been used extensively to improve circulation and possibly reduce your dog’s pain levels. I first became aware of the benefits of using this method while training at Guide Dogs for the Blind. It puts your dog into a calm state, which may also reduce the barking.  This would feel great to your dog too!

 

Regarding being deaf:

Keeping up on your dogs daily training expectations can still be important even if she can no longer hear.  You’d be amazed at how well deaf dogs can be trained; you just have to go about it a little differently.  Here’s an article I wrote about training a deaf dog that may be helpful to you:

 

Training a Deaf Dog

Deaf dogs can make great pets. They adapt to their hearing loss quite well because a dog’s primary sources of communication are through body language and scent. You might notice that when two dogs greet each other, they communicate all kinds of signals to each other without using any sound.

 

While barking and growling are additional ways dogs send messages, they aren’t their primary method. So in training, too, verbal language isn’t necessary. In fact, dogs pay more attention to cues in our body language and facial expressions than to what we are saying to them.

 

When training any dog, the most important factors are:

• Be clear in what you are asking your dog to do
• Reward for the correct behavior

This is true for deaf dogs too. But since they’ll be relying on visual cues as opposed to your voice, it’s important to be very precise and clear with your hand signals.

 

Even though your dog is deaf, it’s important that you have the same behavioral expectations you would of any dog. Don’t make the mistake of allowing your dog to get away with negative behaviors, just because you feel sorry for her. A well-trained dog is much happier anyway because she gets to spend more time with you and the family. And like all dogs, a deaf dog will thrive in a home in which expectations are consistent.

My trouble is with my 10-year-old dachshund, Earl. I adopted him from a shelter last year. Besides Earl I have a 13-year-old female that’s been here for two years and two older male foster dogs that came in January. They are all dachshunds and everybody is spayed/neutered.

 

Earl is a friendly guy, but usually prefers to keep to himself. In the past three weeks or so Earl has started barking and running toward the foster dogs when they walk past him. They can be 10 feet away and just walking through the room or standing there and he will jump up and run barking toward them. The foster boys just keep on walking past or go the other way. He never does it to the old lady of the house or my prior male foster who was with us for five months, but he did do it with a female foster who went to her new home last week and an annoying young child who visited. I figure he is just protecting his space, but it seems to be getting worse and I’m not sure how to get him to relax and realize there is enough room for everybody.

Julie’s Answer:

Subject: Senior Dog barking at foster dogs.

Hi!
I am so glad you are enjoying reading about my solutions to other people’s questions! It’s wonderful to hear from people like you that are adopting senior dogs and also fostering! Thank you for all that you do!

As dogs age they can undergo physical changes that can affect them in different ways and even alter their behavior. Painful underlying medical conditions such as arthritis or dental problems can cause recent onset aggressive symptoms in senior dogs. A change of vision or hearing can cause different sensory problems that may also result in changes in behavior. Sometimes even decreased mobility can affect how a dog reacts to events. Because your dog also had a new issue with a child who may have gone past the limits of acceptable behavior towards your dog, it sounds as though there may be some physical or even mental changes going on due to his aging. You’ll need to discuss this with a good vet and see if there are treatment options to help make him more comfortable. If it does turn out to be a physical cause then you’ll have to watch for signs of stress and carefully monitor interactions with visitors and between the dogs. There may even be times your dog may be safer and happier to be given a quiet place to hang out that allows him to be away from some of the situations that make him feel stressed.

Other things to consider are that in homes with multiple dogs there is a pack structure where one dog is often more dominant and oftentimes it’s the dog that was there first, usually the older dog. But, as the dog ages, new, younger dogs come into the picture there can be dominance challenges. This may also be what you are seeing. You as the owner will have to become the dominant one and use strict control of who gets what and when while working with obedience as well with commands such as sits and down stays. Close supervision of the dogs may be necessary and separation when they are alone.