Expert: Robin Flynn - 9/22/2010

Question
Have a 12 year old wolf hybrid.  He is the sweetest dog we ever had and last couple years started acting weird.  He cannot be alone.  He follows me everywhere.  then the past few months once in while, id say once a week he starts trembling and trys to hide.  Iv taken him in for checkups and other then his behaviour his health is perfect.  He looks like a puppy still and has perfect health.  Does it seem like senility?  And if so, at what point would you put a dog down?  I dont want him suffering. He is obviously afraid of something in his own mind.

Answer
Hi James,

If the dog is healthy then I certainly wouldn't put him down. Did you give the vet all of these details? If the vet is not helping you with this issue I would suggest finding a new vet. I'm not sure if this behavior has anything to do with senility but I'm not an expert in that area. They do have veterinarians and other well informed dog behaviorism experts on allexperts. I would contact one of them, they may have more information on this behavioral issue.  I would suggest Susan R Griffin
http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=4&expID=114417&catID=3721
or Christina Chambreau.
http://www.allexperts.com/ep/700-104750/Ask-Veterinarian/Dr-Christina-Chambreau....

There are several others you can contact as well.

I did find this information that you can review and talk over with your veterinarian.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2110&aid=1095

Thank you for caring about your dog and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

For the animals,
Robin