Does Your Senior Dog Do This?
Or this?
You are not alone. Talk to your vet if you think your dog may have dementia or cognitive dysfunction. Then explore this site for information and support from other people who have gone through this with their dogs.
My name is Eileen Anderson. My dog Cricket was diagnosed with canine cognitive dysfunction, also called dementia or doggie Alzheimer’s, in 2011 at the age of 15. She had been showing signs even before that.
For the rest of her days, I worked to make her life as happy and safe as possible. She lived a good life for two more years.
I created this site and wrote a book to help others whose dogs have dementia. If your dog has dementia, I hope you find out sooner than I did.
What you can find here
A guide to canine cognitive dysfunction: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and how to cope.
Photos and videos that demonstrate the signs of canine cognitive dysfunction.
A printable symptoms checklist you can take to your vet.
General tips on how best to care for a senior dog.
Stories by many other people who have also helped their dogs through this (for instance, the comments at the bottom of the Symptoms page).
Information that may help you make a decision about euthanasia if such a decision becomes necessary.
Most important: my book, which has the information you need to help your senior dog live as full a life for as long as possible.
My book can help you.
Here’s what people are saying about it.
[bg_collapse view=”button-orange” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Show Video Transcript” collapse_text=”Hide Transcript” ]
Video Transcript for “Dog Dementia: Your Dog’s Life Is Not Over”
>> EILEEN ANDERSON: Hi, I’m Eileen Anderson and this is about dementia in dogs. This is about help for you when your dog is old and losing their mental capacity.
My book, Remember Me? Loving and Caring for a Dog with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction will help you with your aging dog. This is my dog Cricket, who will help us with some examples.
Dementia in dogs is much more common than people think, and the sad thing is that most dogs are diagnosed when the disease is already fairly advanced.
I didn’t recognize my dog Cricket’s first symptoms, and she had probably had dementia for at least two years by the time she was diagnosed.
I don’t want anyone else to have a delay like that. There is medical help for cognitive dysfunction in dogs, and there are many ways you can help your dog have a good life even as their mental functioning is declining.
Remember Me? tells the story of my dog Cricket and me, and I bet a lot of you will see yourselves and your dear dogs in that story.
It describes the symptoms of dementia in dogs and the process of getting diagnosed. It covers the current, validated treatments. But most important, the focus of the book is on how to make it easier for you to take care of your dog as the condition progresses. And how to take care of yourself, too, because it’s hard on you and your family.
There are more than 30 photos in Remember Me, and it’s full of tips about everything from wandering to loss of house training to helping your dog continue to eat well.
There will be ups; and there will be downs, and there will be heartbreak, because our dogs never live long enough, no matter what their physical condition. But Remember Me? can help you through it, and it can help your dog have many more happy days.
Remember Me? won the 2016 Dog Writers Association of America Maxwell Award for best book on health and behavior. It’s available as a paperback, hardback, and all major ebook formats. Click on the link to purchase your copy. [/bg_collapse]
