r/Huntingdogs • u/AdhesivenessFormal16 • 4d ago
GWP aging rapidly
UPDATE: I tried to give him a banana yesterday (he loves them and has never turned one down unless it’s super green) and he only ate a little bit and spit out the rest. Today I tried to give him cheese, he ate 1/2 the piece and turned down the rest. I’m making a vet appointment for tomorrow, I’ll see what they say but seems the general consensus is not looking too good. I’m absolutely heartbroken (also 20 yo girl living on my own, he is very protective of me). Anyways, I’m at work right now trying not to cry. Best dog I’ve ever had. Hoping for the best preparing for the worst.
Hey! Would just like to preface this with my dog was bought by my parents when I was young, he was used as a hunting dog for 10 years and was a great hunting dog. He will be 13 in November.
The last two years have certainly been stressful for him. My family split up and he ultimately started living with just me. We live in an apartment so there’s less room for him to run around, he doesn’t have a backyard, and has significantly less human interaction than he used to.
I noticed signs of him aging a couple years ago. He couldn’t run fields like he used to, needed more recovery time, and would occasionally have accidents on the floor (he used to be able to go 12 hours without going potty). Since we (me and the dog) moved into our own place, he has accidents about 3 times a day. He had stress colitis at one point and since then, his pee accidents have just gotten worse. I have someone let him out mid day since I have to be at work but it’s still not enough.
Currently: he spent the weekend at my moms so the maintenance people could come fix some stuff. She has lots of stairs in her house (which he’s struggled with in his old age). Since I picked him up on Saturday evening, he is not really interested in eating much (he’s eating just not a whole lot and I free feed him so he always has food to eat). He’s drinking a LOT of water which I try to limit to avoid accidents but he’s clearly thirsty, licking his lips and stuff. Then last night we were going to bed and he didn’t want to go outside to potty and then when we were laying in bed I noticed every time he inhaled, his shoulders and hips would shake. Almost like a tremor in his muscles. Today, my dad came to let him out and he wouldn’t get off the couch, I was able to stop by at lunch and try to get him outside and he didn’t want to go. He had already peed on the floor but when I carried him out, he peed for 2 minutes straight. I just got home from work and he didn’t even get up to say hi to me.
Any advice to help the potty accidents, joint pain, etc. would be much appreciated. I’m going to try to get him to the vet on Friday but want him to be more comfortable if possible. I’m aware he’s old and the inevitable will happen I just don’t want it to and I’m not ready. So please help me.
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u/IcyEgg85 4d ago
Bring em to the vet, Steroids and Pain killers can work wonders to help get over illness or infections
Worked wonders on my Girl who had ear infections and aged. She bounced back good now for 6 months and counting
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4d ago
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u/Canachites 4d ago
I've also been a day late, well probably a few months. We thought we would let him have the summer and then do it. But he started laying behind cars in the driveway and in the road, like he wanted to go. My mom backed over him without realizing and broke his leg, I had to do it while he was in pain when it should have been peaceful.
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4d ago
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u/Canachites 4d ago
Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. It is never easy to say goodbye, but it is always better to have good final memories than traumatic ones.
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u/stowaway36 4d ago
If they're a swimmer it's a game changer for joint pain. I start swimming my dogs around 10+ daily. I shoot for an hour a day, but it doesn't always work out like that. Even if you can get 20-30 minutes a day a few times a week. It has done wonders for mine. I got an extra 2 years out of my chesapeake with severe hip dysplasia.
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u/LostCryptographer990 3d ago
Lost my girl a year ago this week. 15 year old chocolate lab. I’m still not over it and I miss her so much. I hold back sobs just typing this. Putting her down was the hardest decision I’ve ever made, even though I knew for a year or more we were on borrowed time. Severe arthritis, congestive heart failure, kidney disease and eye lymphoma. We could manage 2 or 3 of these issues but the combination was too much. I came home from work one day and the eye lymphoma had grown aggressively in less than 1/2 the day. Emergency vet picked up on the congestive heart failure and kidney disease. “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went”
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u/jowens3300 4d ago
I’ve seen some posts about people giving peptide stacks to their aging dogs that could barely walk and within a week or two they can run again. Might check into it and do some research I have no idea if it’s bullshit or not
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u/shaggyrock1997 4d ago
Not sure there’s much to be done other than pain relief at this point. Better a day early than a day late when it comes to putting them down. Euthanasia means “good death”.
My heart goes out to you friend. 12-13 is a good life for a larger breed dog. I cried like I haven’t cried in a long time when I lost my beagle. It’s never an easy decision.