When is it time get rid of the dog? My Grandma’s dog is abnormally attached to her. Follows her every single place. Won’t be friendly to anyone else in the house. Snaps at people when you try pet him. Jealous of her interacting with kids. Doesn’t play or run; basically has no personality. He’s an older small dog, but she’s only had him a year and a half. She went and got him from a shelter after her previous dog suddenly died and before her dementia worsened.
She has absolutely no boundaries with the dog. He lays wherever he wants spreading dog hair everywhere, jumps in her lap when she’s eating at the table. He won’t even allow her to sit in any of the recliner chairs alone. He jumps in the chair as she’s trying to sit down and she’s 80 years old.
For the past month and a half he has decided that he no longer wants to go out the doggy door because now my Grandma spends all of her time upstairs in her room. She’s been that way for about 5 months since her dementia has worsened and she’s no longer cooking for herself or handling her medications herself. Even with her spending more time in her room he still was going outside to use the bathroom. She leaves her bedroom door cracked throughout the day so the dog is able to come and go as he pleases. If he hears anyone of us downstairs he won’t even come down the stairs. Now it’s to the point where he’s using the bathroom in the house all the time whenever he sees fit. It upsets her but she refuses to get rid of the dog.
She just says she’ll clean up after him or she’ll attempt to come down the stairs so he will go outside but sometimes he will just stop and use the bathroom inside on the way down the stairs. She doesn’t realize her inability to take care of herself and how the responsibility of the dog falls on everyone else. Now it’s to the point where she’s letting the dog out her room all hours of the night thinking he’s going out the doggy door but he’s using the bathroom in the kitchen or the living room then going back up stairs.
Actually the reason I’m up now is because we have a sensor on her room door to alert us when she opens the door because she was wandering around the house confused at night. Now the wandering has stopped, but she’s still not sleeping through the night and continuing to open the door to let the dog out waking me up. I am not able to sleep through the night.
Unfortunately the decision to replace the dog with a younger friendly dog doesn’t fall on me. None of the decision makers want to be the one to get rid of the dog for fear of upsetting her, but in my opinion it’s unsanitary to keep the dog and it’s creating a stressful situation for everyone in the house, including her.
Dementia Support Line
FDee
saysWhen is it time get rid of the dog? My Grandma’s dog is abnormally attached to her. Follows her every single place. Won’t be friendly to anyone else in the house. Snaps at people when you try pet him. Jealous of her interacting with kids. Doesn’t play or run; basically has no personality. He’s an older small dog, but she’s only had him a year and a half. She went and got him from a shelter after her previous dog suddenly died and before her dementia worsened.
She has absolutely no boundaries with the dog. He lays wherever he wants spreading dog hair everywhere, jumps in her lap when she’s eating at the table. He won’t even allow her to sit in any of the recliner chairs alone. He jumps in the chair as she’s trying to sit down and she’s 80 years old.
For the past month and a half he has decided that he no longer wants to go out the doggy door because now my Grandma spends all of her time upstairs in her room. She’s been that way for about 5 months since her dementia has worsened and she’s no longer cooking for herself or handling her medications herself. Even with her spending more time in her room he still was going outside to use the bathroom. She leaves her bedroom door cracked throughout the day so the dog is able to come and go as he pleases. If he hears anyone of us downstairs he won’t even come down the stairs. Now it’s to the point where he’s using the bathroom in the house all the time whenever he sees fit. It upsets her but she refuses to get rid of the dog.
She just says she’ll clean up after him or she’ll attempt to come down the stairs so he will go outside but sometimes he will just stop and use the bathroom inside on the way down the stairs. She doesn’t realize her inability to take care of herself and how the responsibility of the dog falls on everyone else. Now it’s to the point where she’s letting the dog out her room all hours of the night thinking he’s going out the doggy door but he’s using the bathroom in the kitchen or the living room then going back up stairs.
Actually the reason I’m up now is because we have a sensor on her room door to alert us when she opens the door because she was wandering around the house confused at night. Now the wandering has stopped, but she’s still not sleeping through the night and continuing to open the door to let the dog out waking me up. I am not able to sleep through the night.
Unfortunately the decision to replace the dog with a younger friendly dog doesn’t fall on me. None of the decision makers want to be the one to get rid of the dog for fear of upsetting her, but in my opinion it’s unsanitary to keep the dog and it’s creating a stressful situation for everyone in the house, including her.