Dog wanting to spend more and more time alone

meames_2

Hi

My dog is approx 13 / 14. I have had hime for 6 1/2 years. Around April last year the dog stopped wanting to come upstairs on a night, it upset me a bit but thought perhaps it is cooler and he can trot about a bit if his arthritis is giving him gyp.

He has two beds downstairs one in the living room and one in the dining room, although sometimes he prefers the bottom of the stairs which are perfectly dog sized. The gouse is a terrace so you goin through the living room through the dining room and through to the kitchen. Since November he has stopped using the bed in the living room if I am home and only uses it if I am late home from work. If I am home he tends to stay in the dining room. He occasionally trots in to check I am there then trots back to the dining room again. He won't stay in the livibg room so I can't shut the door. He no longer likes being groomed either.

Also if I cough or sneeze he runs off in a panic!

He does greet me when I come in and always wants to show me where he has buiried the bones.

I'm starting to think he doesn't love me anymore.:(

Is this commonn amongst old dogs

Welshwoofs

Nah of course he still loves you! If he's waiting when you get home and he's always coming in to check on you then his bond with you isn't broken.

Have you had a full vet check-up recently? Often if animals (and quite a lot of humans!) are feeling generally unwell they just want to crawl off somewhere quiet and be on their own.

marmitepotato

I think he is in pain from his old joints. A visit to the vets is where I would be taking him. I am sure Metacam every day will perk him up.

Miss_Havisham

ah bless him, still burying bones ! Hopefully he'll be as right as rain with something to dull his pain and make his joints more mobile.


Miss H

Stephb1986_2

My dog is around the same age, sometimes she just prefers her bed in the dining room instead of sitting with us some nights she sits with us instead.

She likes her naps now and my folks have the telly on really loud so she might not want to sit with us for that reason lol

Steph xx

meames_2

He had a bit of a check up before Christmas when he has a kennel cough jab.

He is currently walking up and down between me and the back door with the latest bone he wants to bury. I've opened the back door but he turned tail back into the warm! He buries the bones with his nose on in the gravel part so there is usually a patch of skin missing from the top of his nose.

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elsien

My typical greeting off mutt when she got older was to open one eye as I came in the house, then swiftly close it and carry on snoring.
And she spent a lot more time in her bed, coming in occasionally to check I was still around then heading back off to her blankets. There were times when I used to say to her that for all I saw of her I might as well not have a dog. And she stopped trying to climb on my lap, although I think that was the arthritis.
But if you're worried, get him checked over just in case he is feeling off colour.

meames_2

maybe he is just so comfortable he doesn't feel the need to with me 24/7. but I miss him under my feet when sat on the settee - better than apair of slippers.

mum2one

Our dog has cod liver oil, (gd for joints), evening primrose oil and garlic - we buy them from zipvit or healthspan - my parents have them as well.

Our last dog had them as well, and it did help him.

Sounds like the old saying "its a dogs life" def applies.... xx

elsien

meames wrote: »

maybe he is just so comfortable he doesn't feel the need to with me 24/7. but I miss him under my feet when sat on the settee - better than apai.r of slippers.

I know what you mean - mutt used to lie by the chair for a bit to have her belly scratched but a hard floor (even when carpeted) just doesn't compare to a box full of blankets. So she'd scoot off back to sleep. Now she's gone, I think it's the lack of physical contact I miss as much as anything.

meritaten

he is getting on hun - he doesnt want to climb those stairs if he doesnt have to! he may decide he has a preference to a dog bed too - perhaps its a tad more comfortable/warmer?
my springer ALWAYS slept outside my bedroom door - until she got too old/fat/lazy/creaky! then she too slept on the bottom stair. sounds to me like your lovely dog is doing his best but old age is catching up with him! He still loves you - just isnt physically up to showing you like he did as a pup!