I’ve written before about my aging golden. She’s 10.5 and has had some health problems, but currently seems to be doing pretty well. But something odd happened yesterday, and I wondered if anyone else experienced something similar.
Basically, she tore up a bunch of dried flower-type things we had stuck in a jug in the living room as x-mas decorations. And she did it while my wife and kids were home, but in different rooms.
I don’t think she has chewed anything up since she was 1 year old - and I can’t think of more than one or two examples even then - and certainly none while we were home. And these particular sticks aren’t new - they’ve been stuck in the same jug for the past few x-masses.
As with many retrievers, she loves to carry things around in her mouth - socks, underwear, a couple of stuffed animals. But she NEVER chews them up.
Anyone ever have an old dog whose behavior changed like this, or have any suggestions what might have brought this about?
Did the health problems require any new meds? I don’t recall what it was exactly, but my lab once took something for severe GI upset (couldn’t stand up) that turned him into psycho-hound after 2-3 days.
And it can just be a wild hair. Same dog once totally freaked out over the flashing “12:00” on the alarm clock after a power outage. Hair up, aggresive barking, etc.
Did any of the dried flowers have a fur-like texture?
Well, it has snowed the last couple of days so I haven’t checked her stool, but she sure doesn’t seem to be doing anything differently when i walk her - wanting to go out more frequently, having accidents.
The flowers were pretty much sticks with red berries on them. Nothing furry. (Can you guess who doesn’t do the decorating around our house?)
No new meds, just a continuation of the old ones. Well, a little over a month ago she had her ear drained and was on some antibiotics. At the same time she was on some anti-seborrhea meds, and shampoo. But the pills stopped probably a month ago.
She really seems to have been pretty frisky and in a good mood for an old girl lately.
I’d suggest that this might be an isolated incident, but if you see other odd changes in her behavior, it is a good idea to have a medical check-up. Sometimes thyroid issues can change behavior, sometimes senility… for a senior dog, it is a good idea to have a baseline bloodwork run anyhow, to know what is normal and what is not.
Well, at the end of last week, we had a thaw in Chicago, allowing me to get out and clean up several weeks worth of dog poop in my back yard. Digging down thru the strata, I came upon several piles that included large numbers of small white spheres - very resemblent of pearls. Couldn’t figure what the beast had gotten into. There must have been at least a cup of these pearls in several loads. Couldn’t have felt too good going through her.
Then I remembered the berries. Apparently passage through a dog’s digestive tract turned the red berries white…
In the “new tricks” column, my wife had bought a couple of rawhide bones for Daisy for x-mas. They were up on the kitchen counter, still shrink-wrapped in plastic. She heard a “THUNK”, and upon investigating, saw that the beast had reached up to the counter, and pulled down the bones. Apparently, she didn’t want to wait for x-mas.
Man, she must think she is really entitled in her dotage. Must have heard us discussing how long she has left, and figures she doesn’t have much to lose!