Category: Rehabilitation

Of all the dogs I have had in over 7 decades of my life, I have only had one with dementia. One was sadly stolen and never found; one young one was run over and killed; 3 were lost to cancer; one had dementia. The rest lived long and happy lives.

It was my borderline collie (99% border collie/1%spaniel) who developed dementia and it was upsetting to see. I’d find him standing still with no idea where he was, what direction to go in, straddling a low brick wall, snapping when caressed. He was in his teens by then, so it was part of the natural ageing process for him. In the end he became so confused it was kinder to comfort him as he was pts.

This is a weblink about recognising and caring for a dog with dementia.

A weblink to a book by someone living with a dog with dementia.

I certainly believe they do. 4 years ago I lost my much loved galgo Polar to lymphoma. Galgo Bracken became very clingy, as did little Podenca Bebe. 3 months after losing Polar we lost Bracken to a tumour in his lungs. Bebe couldn’t cope with the loss of yet another housemate and just gave up on life. She would not eat, drink, get off her bed – she was just wasting away, no matter how much we cuddled her, so we had to make the kindest decision to send her over the bridge to join the others.

Do dogs grieve?

It’s a sad fact of life that a lot of senior dogs are dumped in shelters and perreras when their owners either can’t afford the vet fees for medical care, or in the case of hunters because the dogs have served their purpose and they no longer want them!

This article explains how to care for an older dog, although I’m sure my readers are already well experienced in caring for their senior dog.

Learn about performing CPR on your dog

Read the full article on this weblink.

We have always had more than one dog so we’ve been lucky that we have never had to deal with the problem of separation anxiety. But galgos and podencos are used to living in packs, so it is something which could be a problem if a rescue is adopted as an only dog. Having said that, some – notably ex racing greyhounds – have to live as an only dog.

This article from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals PDSA explores the problem.

A question was raised on social media recently by a lady adopting a rescue podenco, which will have spent 3 days travelling to her in the UK. She was concerned about the podenco being stressed out and asked for advice on any product to help calm the dog. This was my comment in answer.

Pheromone is a natural ‘product’of a female body when it gives birth as it calms the newborn and takes away the stress of birthing. This is why it is so important for a newborn animal to suckle soon after birth. I occasionally use a product with pheromone called Beaphar CaniComfort for my blind podenco when travelling distances, as he sometimes gets upset by the very loud noise of car tyres on rough tarmacadum – because of course he can’t see it. Not all products which claim to calm an animal contain Pheromone – so you need to check the ingredents of a product and discount it if it does not have Pheromone.

Read about Pheromone on this weblink. It calms the animal without tranquilisng it.

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