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  1. #1
    Senior Dog
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    Unhappy Sunnie's getting old

    Sunnie's been on Rimadyl for a while now...doing great...pain obviously diminished....playing more.

    On yesterday's walk...a longer one that we sometimes still do once in a while (about 1.5 miles)...she showed weakness. This is the first time that she buckled a bit (about halfway through the walk...we were going to stop and let Bob go on and get the car to pick us up but decided since the weakness was a passing thing and not seemingly pain, that we'd continue...more slowly...she did it another two times before we got back to the car). We'll stop those longer walks and just do the "1/2 mile" walks we normally do...as long as those still seem to agree with her.

    Her back legs have obviously not worked really well for a while now....you see it when she's walking slowly and she's slower going up stairs. Lots of times when she sits, her legs (both but mostly the right one) will go out at 90 degree angles and her tail will be either under her or under one of the hind legs. (That's not the knee problem weird sitting...her knees are fine...thank goodness.) It's like her legs/tail just don't really know what to do.

    I'll spare her the humiliation of being talked about publicly regarding her obvious senility. Oops....sorry, Sunnie.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Sigh... I'm not getting older- why should they? Sorry to hear Sunnie's slowing down even more. I checked her birthdate in your signature, is she really about 15? She just passed her gotcha day- hey, Happy Gotcha Day, Sunnie! Tell Mom there can still be plenty of good smells on shorter walks.
    Sue

    Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
    Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
    Henry 7/14/18
    Joey 5/14/2022

    “Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

    Mary Oliver, Hidden Content

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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog
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    Labs and their back ends...

    Watching the decline is hard. Hugs to you.
    Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
    Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
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    Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts



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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

  6. #4
    Senior Dog Jollymolly's Avatar
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    Its so hard to see them struggling to do the things they love. Sending hugs

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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

  8. #5
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    sending good thoughts. I hear you, it's hard and it sucks

    it sounds just like rocky. not knowing where the back end is, the tail flipped under them (i still find that weird years later). For rocky this is due to nerve issues in the back end. There are things you can try to help her if that is what it is (accupunture, physio, chiro, laser really depends on what the issue is, whats available and the cost - i haven't tried them all and can't do much often due to cost). Gabapentin works better for him than nsaids (though I need to revisit the potential use of nsaids I think - we stopped them 2 years ago after some bad numbers in the bloodwork).

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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

  10. #6
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    Sigh... I'm not getting older- why should they? Sorry to hear Sunnie's slowing down even more. I checked her birthdate in your signature, is she really about 15? She just passed her gotcha day- hey, Happy Gotcha Day, Sunnie! Tell Mom there can still be plenty of good smells on shorter walks.
    Yeah....I can't say that. My lower half took a downhill turn last Fall so Sunnie and I are in the same boat. What's funny is that our house has two females who want to Go Go Go and can't anymore...and two males who are perfectly capable but uninterested in much more than sleeping. (at least Dan still likes to play, if not walk)

    We guess at Sunnie's age based on what a vet dentist told us years ago after looking at her dental x-rays. If his range was correct, she will turn/turned 14 - 16 this year. I'd rather err on the side of older so that I won't have to think of her as being "so young" when something happens. I'll be more prepared on some level. I have to get out the camera. She's had that soft face look for a good while now...guess it's white that doesn't really show up against her yellow...and she spaces out a good bit. Actually, I don't know if that spaciness is age-related, which I suspect, or perhaps a side effect of the Rimadyl (it increased her anxiety, so....).

    Dan senses that something is "up" with Sunnie...he's more reserved around her and doesn't sniff her as much in general. He sometimes stands between me and her when I'm about to do nails...which she doesn't like...of course, that may just be his bid for attention. He's an attention sponge. They still play but not as much as they used to. She likes to bark and get him stirred up but doesn't chase him as much (still some, though, and she bounces around with stuffies). When Sunnie is feeling playful, it's a joy to watch. When we got her she was so quiet, didn't know what toys/chews were for, and didn't know how to play...she actually acted a lot older then than she did as time went on...until more recently.

  11. #7
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    It is a tough time. How is Sunnie's hearing? I still think Jet suffered more from hearing loss, being unable to know what was going on in the house and people seemingly sneaking up on her, than she did from obvious pain and loss of ability to move. If only she could hear she could still interact with us on a verbal basis from her bed, but she couldn't, the hearing loss was profound.
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    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
    Oxtongue Rapids Park. Oct. 2019 Hidden Content

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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

  13. #8
    Senior Dog
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    Her hearing and vision are really good...don't know if they've faded some or not but I can whisper "cookie" in the kitchen and I hear her jump off the bed upstairs to seek me out. And she sees things on our walk from far off...I definitely need to get closer to pick out the squirrel or bird. I think Dan's hearing has lessened some, though...he used to always (!!!) hear the UPS or FedEx truck even before they got to our house and now the men themselves sometimes sneak up on us. Maybe he's just sleeping harder.

    These guys will most likely freak out if they lose either sight or hearing. They're both flinchy dogs....they startle a lot. I still remember the first time I bumped into the metal crate I used for the puppies when I was changing the whelping box...all five little ones jumped in unison. I had to be really careful to not hit anything around them. I imagine they felt a lot of nervous reactions when in utero and that stayed with them and also got worse with age. Danny's brother Louie grew up flinchy, according to his "mom". I don't know about the others.

    My female Akita took deafness in stride. She always kept an eye on us anyhow. I remember only three things I did differently: I had Honey go fetch her from where she was sleeping on the deck at dinnertime; I woke her up by putting my palm under her nose; and I talked to her with my chin on the top of her head hoping that the vibrations would make sense to her.

  14. #9
    Real Retriever amyb's Avatar
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    aww. know how that goes... Hi, from mt airy!!
    DOGS ROCK!!!

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  16. #10
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Sunnie cannot be that old! Gosh, it was yesterday she had those sweet puppies.

    Old age sure creeps up on all of us, the mind is ready, the body not so much.
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    SunDance (03-11-2018)

 



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