Scottsmum

Ta Corvus. Could very well be a contributing factor but we're also about as sure as we can be that he's gone deaf :/

But would an African Swallow have the required air-speed velocity to grab a Chihuahua puppy? Yes - if it was already unladen.

Or to give him a spot with similar features. It's pretty clear to me that he wants a comfortable, cosy hideaway. Which is particularly understandable for an elder, especially if the house is otherwise disturbing with kids running around or something. I'm glad you're looking into this, KismetKat. I'd prioritize that before getting the baby gate. I think it's important to give him somewhere to go before cutting off his source of comfort. A vet check wouldn't go astray either. Dogs can hide out if they aren't feeling well. Yep - I think I agree here. Where does he usually sleep? What's changed that makes this the new place to be? Scottie was climbing up behind the TV and the Toilet (pulling out the TV plug and moving the loo rolls) for a long time before we cottoned on it was the beginnings of lots of anxiety based behaviors - bought on by feral neighbours having drug fueled domestics during the day. Not sure what we'd have done but also wish we'd realised sooner.

All good points.

When Frodo's hearing faded this was so good for a while - but when the eyesight fades also it's a new challenge to work with. You can certainly teach an old dog new tricks: Frodo has good sense of smell still, and knows a hand in front means come forward, and which touch can mean stop or turn or keep going or drop. He's still playful within the constraints of some arthritis and being careful of leaping into the unknown. Very slight signs of oncoming dementia so it's just watch carefully, he is okay for now. Pretty good in fact at 16 and with an unfair background of illness and injury he has overcome. Hope Scottie settles, I know Fro went through a bad patch at the onset of losing hearing and sight, became very nervous and extremely clingey. He has worked through it and I'm proud of him (as always) - and he knows when he is a bit lost or needs to go outside, or food, or a drink, that he can just vocalise quietly and help comes. When he is home alone he sleeps very well for which I'm glad: separation stress would be hard to deal with. :) I know it's always different - but I'm glad we've been here before. Feel like second time will be easier (in some ways). Guin had pretty significant sight loss too - for a long time. we'll just take it one day at a time.

Thanks PK - I was just about to hit Facebook. Happy enough with the vet care we're getting - We use the local teaching hospital so I feel OK we're getting a great level of care and anything outside the box will go up the chain if the vet thinks its needed. unfortunately, all that said, the behaviourist has closed her books anyhow - I looked locally a few months ago and settled with a trainer & the vet to help us through. I should just try what the vet is currently suggesting but I also need to get my head around it all - this time two days ago I was blissfully un-aware of CCD - we'll you know - it wasn't a factor in my life or on my radar. Feeling terribly guilty we can't just treat as we would have in the "old days" - THIS is the number one reason not having a job sucks. I really hate making choices about his treatment based entirely on cost. Will grab some Omega 3 / fish oil for him from the pharmacy when I'm in town next. He'll take it in some mince no worries - so that's OK. No hope in tell of getting him to eat sardines.

Oh dear that was quick...I grabbed two, even though I am not sure I even need more beds :laugh: ha ha - one can never have too many beds.

Sold out now :)

Yes. He certainly is lucky to have such a willing slave. I'm not sure he'd agree on the observant part. Observation usually leads to a visit to the vet for a poke & prod. :D The latest thing is that the drug which we can afford (selegiline) can't be used with endep/Amitriptyline - he'd have to go off it completely for a few weeks before starting a trial of the selegiline. It's a tough call to make - the endep/Amitriptyline has some pain relief aspect too. I'm very hesitant to take him off something which has served us so well. But we do need to try and treat the new symptoms - Possibly with a constant higher dose of endep. Anyone here tired Aktivait?(off to search the forum) It costs the same as vivitonin

Lots in your post PK. :D Thanks. Will try to address it. I) Yes - I think from what I've read that it might be the start of CCD. When I searched here for Hills B/D I found myself nodding along to a lot of what other threads said. Especially WestieMum talking about dear old Mac. We're starting a drug (when it comes in) - name of which escapes me. We're not going to try the vivitonin straight away. As much as I hate saying it - we just can't afford it at the moment. The vivitonin is about $100 a month and the other one is from a different family of drugs but has similar outcomes for $20 a month - so we'll start there. (Bring on paid employment!) 2) I'm not entirely sure what his actual allergy is - I suspect it's gluten - he can eat fresh corn and normal rice - but admittedly I've never given him large amounts of either -just an occasional spoonful if there is some left in the pot at dinner time. So he's off anything commercial which does not explicitly specify grain free. "Low grain" kibbles have been known to stuff him up. I once grabbed some "low grain" wellness thinking it was grain free - it was in a place in petbarn which made me assume it was ... I didn't read well enough and he reacted to that. I also bought him some "gluten free" dog roll the other day and he reacted to that too. So fresh/frozen meat, grain free kibble (& other grain free goodies) only here. He's currently on VIP grain free (because he likes it), Ziwipeak for training treats and the occasional meal (he likes it but not enough to eat every meal + its a bit rich for his belly) preservative free meat patties chicken and/or "power patties" (100% New Zealand chicken and mutton with offal [heart, kidney, liver and green unbleached tripe]), chicken necks & drum sticks. The power patties are a special treat - make up no more than 1/3 of his fortnightly feeds. I try to keep red meat to an absolute min to help his liver cope - not too willing to change that despite the good bloods. Eggs - fried or boiled about once a fortnight He gets the squirts on anything too rich. He's not a huge fan of sardines or salmon I have tried both canned. I have also tried fresh salmon steaks. He will occasionally eat tinned tuna but I don't think there's a lot of helpful nutrition in it. I really only use it if we've run out of dog food. I've also tried green lipped mussel treats I do use golden paste when I remember. I usually give him 2 scoops of dry a day - might up the ziwipeak ratio / frequency. We're using a night light - leave the kitchen light on - which covers the kitchen, some of the hall, the "back nook" with a dog bed in it and just enough light to navigate around the bottom of our bed. Not sure how much he can hear. I walked up behind him and said his name the other day with no reaction at all. I am still leaving the radio/audio books on for him when I leave him alone. ??? Who knows. Tooth/dental one is interesting. He had a full dental Nov/dec 2014 and I was told by two (Aussie) vets since he needed another dental. BUT Every vet I've seen here - two vets and two final year students - have commented that his teeth are pretty good.... so .... go figure. Thanks again :)

Looks like a warm, safe snuggle space to me :/

We're going to try medication - the name of which escapes me (not Vetanonin) as a i said on the other thread. We'll try to work on the clapping thing so he learns to look around for the source when he hears it and I'll try to stop cracking my knuckles :) I've tried adaptil on another dog - didn't find it helped too much in that case. We'll just plod along at this point and see what we can do. Good news is that he's otherwise very healthy with perfect bloods - which is great news.

I'm sure he'll settle. Guin adjusted perfectly to being deaf - I mean the old bitch never listened anyhow. The real bonus was that she shopped reacting to storms too. But it is hard - when he takes off you can't call him back you have to go and find him. I'm thinking I'll try to work on clapping while we're playing fetch so he associates it more with fun things and (I hope) he'll look around for the source when he "hears" clapping in the future - instead of just taking off. Yeh - It's a gross habit but one I've had most my life. I'm a krickety rickety (not so) old thing after a few too may horse accidents as a kid.

mmm. I saw that the other day. Poor pup

LOL. Dag

I'll try to not go too off topic but is that with K9 Nose time? If so - you'll have a blast and are in 1000% the most capable hands in the entire world :) Seriously amazing group of trainers. There's a few more places doing it in Sydney now! I'm interested in going to The Dog Project in Wollongong. Positive Paws in Campbelltown also run classes. K9 Nose Time at Castle Hill are too far out of the way for me. :) Cool cool. Enjoy. We both loved it. I miss it a lot.

So just updated the thread where I post about Scotties 6 monthly seniors check ups. But thought I'd pop in here & tidy it up best I could in case some one searches it in the future. Asked the vet about the noise aversion - she had no ideas :/ Other than to suggest it could be frequency of the sound. I asked if it could be a a weird vibration & she looked doubtful & said she thought it could be possible. I said in my OP we had wondered if he was going deaf - we'll we're as sure as we can be that he's basically entirely deaf. I got out of bed on Sunday morning (only human at home), walked the length of the bed room, stood directly behind him and said his name 3 times. Only time I got a reaction was when I moved in front of the window and my shadow moved into his line of sight. I'm not entirely sure what lead Hubby to his conclusion, something similar involving a squeaky toy I think. So that's is. A pretty inconclusive result to the knuckle cracking question. He also jumps at claps and the other night Hubby dropped a spoon on his bowl and Scottie was off like a shot - so I assume its all vibration related. So back to life with a deaf foxie! At least we're in a better spot then when Guin went deaf. He knows signals for stay, drop, sit, stand and come.

6 monthly poke & prod today. Eyes look OK. Heart, lungs sound fine. Temp normal. He's put a touch of weight on - I'm still trying to get that down but it's not terrible. Discussed a few "new issues" - mainly the hearing / leaving the room when I crack bones, night pacing & licking things (long story - but basically I've found him licking odd things lately). Took bloods - they'll call back with results this afternoon. Vet also suggested we could try Hills B/D to see if it makes any difference - which we can't because he's grain free. But I came home and had a look around the forum - found a number of threads which sound really similar to our current situation. Also note that a lot of threads which mention B/D also mention Vivitonin - so I'll ask about that this afternoon when they call with the blood results. In other news - while the vet had nothing to offer on his sudden aversion to knuckle cracking *we* have decided he's deaf as a door knob & she said if we thought that there's not much to do - other than to live with it. Edit: Bloods are back and are all well within the normal range. We spoke about the vivitonin & we're probably going to give that a try. The vet said it's not cheap(?) So she wanted to get a price to run past me before ordering it in.

but wouldn't you be just as unco. using your mouth/voice or your hand to operate a clicker? Nope. It was just another thing to put in my pocket, or have in my hand or to forget to take entirely. Just wasn't for me. :)

I dont know. I think they dont like using "yes" or other words because they can get confused if they hear them at other times, that's why they use a sound. Do you clicker train? I just dont know if making the sound with your mouth is any different to making it with a manufactured clicker. I know the sound isn't identical but would it still work? Nah. I did try but I'm too uncoordinated. ;)

Funny. I looked, read the post. Didn't have clue. But it didn't register as a view... edit: Ok - ignore me now - I just did a hard refresh and it's showing a number of views now.

Isn't that pretty much the same as marking with a (happy, excited, high pitched) "yes" or other word?

Lovely photos Huga

I'll try to not go too off topic but is that with K9 Nose time? If so - you'll have a blast and are in 1000% the most capable hands in the entire world :) Seriously amazing group of trainers.

How stressful. Sorry to read this Teekay.