Bit worried about Pup

[Malika]

My dog is 8 (of a breed that lives longer than average, to about 14 or 15 years). I have only had her a month so do not know if this is new behaviour for her but for some time she has long episodes - she is doing it now - of just standing still and kind of staring at the ground, as though in a trance. She will do it for long stretches of time, just not moving. It is almost as though she is sleeping standing up.
It is like some form of dementia, yet she still recognises people, answers to her name.
Ring any bells for anybody?

 

[buddy]

How odd. Some dogs do have seizures. Maybe she is meditating??? lol, sorry, I know you are serious. So, she responds right away.... I wonder about joint pain or something...if she freezes and just doesn't want to move until the pain lessens? One of the therapy horses does that. she will then lift a leg and stretch like a human sometimes she gets so stuck she nearly falls over.

Are you worried enough to go to a vet? give her a tummy scratch for me.

 

[Malika]

Ha, ha. Yes, maybe she is meditating, Buddy. She does yoga... Stretches herself in a way that looks just like yoga postures.
I will ask the vet about it when I take her to get the stitches out. Maybe this is why she is such a very good dog. Oh dear, that is very cynical.

 

[InsaneCdn]

If it was NEW - as in, post-surgery - I'd be calling the vet, because it could be infection or pain.

Maybe contact the original owners and see if there was some pattern of this?

 

[Malika]

I can't really remember if she did it before the operation but she is certainly doing it a lot more now, if so... I'd already asked the previous owner about any health problems and she told me (but then she would) that there were absolutely none.

 

[InsaneCdn]

We've never adopted an older dog. Ours were a year old or less...
No idea if this would be related to the adjustment?
Our one-year-old took 6 months to even begin to settle in. I don't recall this particular behavior, but it was so long ago...

Maybe ring the vet anyway?

 

[donna723]

It could be a hold-over from the surgery if she hasn't gotten her stitches out yet. Does her incision still look OK? No redness or swelling? I wouldn't worry about seizures - if she responds to you during the episodes, she's not having a seizure. Older dogs can get arthritis too, just like people, and it can make their joints stiff and sore. If it is, there are supplements that you can give her that help a lot. If she's still doing it, I would definitely ask the vet about it.

 

[Malika]

To be honest, it seems more mental than physical She just stands, staring at the ground, looking dazed or as if in a trance. If I accidentally jostle her during it, she will "start" and open her eyes as though she was in some other state.

 

[DammitJanet]

I had a dog that would stare into space but he also foamed just a tad bit at the mouth. It was seizures. He only had them rarely and they didnt hinder his life in anyway.

 

[Nancy]

My dog does that all the time lately. I started noticing it about 2 years ago and talked to the vet about it. She asked me a lot of questions to see if her cognitive skills were decreasing and we think they are starting to. She's 12 in a couple weeks and she stands there sometimes for hours just staring into space. I don't understand how she can do that without getting so tired she just falls down. I give her geriatric vitamins now but she still stands and stares.

Nancy

 

[donna723]

I have one that's twelve too and she does this sometimes. She just stands there motionless, just off in her own little world. She responds if I talk to her. Physically she's like a much younger dog and with her, I think it might just be because she has nothing better to do at the time. And sometimes she's standing there watching television!

 

[Malika]

Well, maybe that's it - maybe she's just doing what I advocated to IC. Just standing and staring

 

[Steely]

You know Malika - I pet sat a dog that did that. It was a Rottie and she would just stand forever and stare at the wall, or ground. I was so concerned I called the owners. You know what the problem was? For a period of time they used a laser light pointer as a toy with her. (Very popular here, not sure about there.) Well, she became so addicted to "hunting" the laser light, that she started becoming obsessed with any sort of reflection, glimmer, or shaft of light. They had stopped using the toy with her, when they realized what was happening, but it was too late. I wonder if the previous owners used that with your pup as a toy, and that is what you are seeing in her behavior. Maybe look to see if she is actually staring at a glimmer, or refraction of light when she is zoning out?