Clawing the ground

Anne123

Anne123

Location
Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
It doesn’t necessarily have to be stress. It could be that she is a bit confused....Our first lab Doerak was in her old days confused, it looked a bit like Alzheimer’s...She started peeing and pooping in our house. Also she was confused when we let her out, couldn’t find us anymore. So I think the behavior comes with the aging, starting being a pup again. Like we used to say, starting being childish
 
JES72

JES72

Location
SW London UK
Homer scratches and digs at the carpets in the corners, or next to furniture to move it away so he can get into the tight space when he is anxious.
It could just be a thing she enjoys though, or there is a good smell from there.
 
Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
Sky developed a couple of new behaviours in her last few months - clawing the ground wasn’t one of them. Both of hers were we felt dementia setting in - she often nodded her head in a strange way and towards the end, she’d go outside and then be waiting at the wrong door to come in. Not sure what clawing the ground means but new strange behaviours are disconcerting :hug:
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
This could be due to stress and a bit of anxiety. Difficult to say. Might be a good idea to keep a diary for a while. This may help determine any patterns in behaviour linking this to just an odd random behaviour, stress and if so the diary will help work out the source. Is the behaviour lessened/increased after a walk, food medication for example? Just a few thoughts... x
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Cath said:
Has Lady done this before @David or is this a new thing?
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It's something that she's done from time to time but lately it's become quite frequent to the point I'm noticing it. As Anne says above she could be getting a bit confused. She's not that old (11yrs in September) but she's on quite strong drugs so that could be a factor as well.

Atemas said:
Sky developed a couple of new behaviours in her last few months - clawing the ground wasn’t one of them. Both of hers were we felt dementia setting in - she often nodded her head in a strange way and towards the end, she’d go outside and then be waiting at the wrong door to come in. Not sure what clawing the ground means but new strange behaviours are disconcerting :hug:
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Agree it's the strange new behaviours that's the worry. As Beanwood says, it could also be anxiety I guess. I am concerned now about the amount of drugs she's on. The other thing that's developing is refusing to go for even short walks which I put done to reaching the final chapter, but my OH said she actually just looks zonked out. I'm trying reducing the Gabapentin and the Tramadol a little to see how we get on. Last night she was much more active having been on 2/3 Gabapentin dose and 3/4 Tramadol dose, but this morning refused to walk again. I popped her into the car and took her to a wood she likes and she started off a bit reluctant, but then led me along the trail for about half a mile on a circular walk back to the car.

The clawing started prior to reducing the drugs, but of course a bit of withdrawal could also be making her more anxious. I think I'll keep on trucking for a few days to see how we get on. The key factor is if her pain becomes very apparent again.
 
Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
Sky’s anxiety levels were high in her last year. She had always been such a laid back, easy going, quiet, not make a fuss dog. It was hard seeing her anxious. She also refused to go on walks but would then surprise you and want to go and do things you thought she couldn’t do anymore. I expect you are having to assess everything from day to day
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Is there an alternative to the Tramadol you could discuss with your vet? I know mine does not feel the evidence points to it being an effective analgesic for use with dogs. There are side effects which could lend themselves to changing her behaviour.
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Could it be anything to do with the heat? Lots of dogs dig and lay in the hole to keep cool. But I imagine you would have seen Lady do that way before now if that was the case.

It's hard not to worry when they start doing new behaviours in the senior years. :hug:
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
I cut her dosage of gabapentin down from 3 tabs a day to 2 and her tramadol from 2 tabs to 2 x 3/4 per day a couple of days before we went away for a long weekend to Harrogate. I let the kennels know about the revised dosage of course and said to put her back on the normal dose if she got into difficulty while we were away. Well I picked said SBD up this morning and I must confess to being a bit nervous about how she had got on on the lower dose. Caroline always looks after her at the kennels where she has stayed for a couple of nights a month plus annual holidays ever since she was a puppy at six months old - so home from home really and always with Caroline in the same kennel with the nice run and shady oak tree.

Caroline appeared and called across the lawn that she'd got her old girl back! Meaning Lady was back to full bounce mode albeit with a bit of a limp. Apparently none the worse for the reduced dose except for slightly more apparent lameness, but now much more alert and taking an interest. I took her for a short walk when I got her back this morning. She was eager to go but of course no magic - pretty lame. Having observed her all morning (including barking at the postman which she hasn't done for ages) I'd say the somewhat increased discomfort is worth it for her being more alert and taking an interest.

I'll keep on with the lower dose for the time being and let the vet know as well so he's aware.
 
Stacia

Stacia

Location
Malvern Worcestershire
Good to read she feels brighter on reduced medication. Have you tried her on CBD drops, seem to do a lot for Rourke and also just 5mg Prednisolone every other day and no other pain killers. Apparently my vet has tried this (not the drops) on another dog and is very pleased with the results.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Jelinga said:
Good to read she feels brighter on reduced medication. Have you tried her on CBD drops, seem to do a lot for Rourke and also just 5mg Prednisolone every other day and no other pain killers. Apparently my vet has tried this (not the drops) on another dog and is very pleased with the results.
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Not sure about mixing drugs. I'll ask the vet this afternoon when I pick up a new supply.

I think we are getting near a decision time if I'm being honest with myself. One tends to think all is going to be ok even if things are bad with the arthritis, but the reality is she's in a mess and it's actually her spinal problem. It's getting harder for her to keep standing and it's pretty hard to watch. This morning she wasn't even interested in a car ride at first but after a while decided it was ok so I took her to the woods to do what she has to do and a sniff around. She is much brighter but I think we are pretty close to the last lap.
 
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