As your dog gets older, all kinds of things happen to its body and also in terms of behavior. The senses become less acute and fear or aggression can suddenly occur.
In older dogs, two types of pathological behavior are distinguished; with and without aggression. Aggression will be displayed in cases of pain, sensory changes, and dysthymia. Regression or depression and confusion or disorientation disorder may or may not cause aggression. As it ages, the animal may become aggressive. However, this is often due to a physical problem. Physical disturbances such as pain are the most frequent cause of aggression in the elderly dog. The prevention of aggressive behavior in an older animal is therefore very important and relies primarily on pain management.
When the dog feels pain, the aggression will be caused by irritation. The origin of this pain can be very diverse. You will notice that this is suddenly emerging aggressiveness, often during grooming or touching, directed rather toward people the dog knows, and you see the full aggressive behavior repertoire, ranging from threatening to biting and fleeing. This behavior is reinforced with every successful outcome, and the dog often tends to anticipate afterward and develop instrumented aggression. This means that he eliminates the threatening phase. Often, in addition to pain relief, the animal is also helped with behavioral medication.
Aggression can also be caused by changes in the dog's sensory capacity; for example, a deaf dog is startled and snaps out of fear or irritation. You take a preventive approach by communicating with the dog using a sense that is still functioning.
Regression or involutional depression: here the dog loses the ability to react quickly and, for example, to assume a submissive posture or a play bow. This leads to conflicts with other dogs.
Out of confusion, the dog may no longer recognize its own family members and attack out of fear. Repeated punishment by the owner, who is frustrated by things such as the dog's house-soiling, can also lead to aggression.
Besides aggression, in the older dog you also see other behavioral changes such as house-soiling, because the dog is no longer aware of the proper surface after disrupted sleep; exploitative behavior that becomes oral again, so the dog starts chewing things to pieces again; the loss of learned knowledge, excessive attachment, states of anxiety, confused and dazed behavior, poor orientation, waking up and walking around at night, and so on.
Regressive behavior can be found in animals of an average of seven years and older, sometimes from five years in molossers and, for example, after 10 years in poodles. It occurs twice as often in female animals. There are factors that can trigger the behavior, such as stopping a certain activity, bringing a new dog into the home, a different form of attention from the owners, a move or more busyness in the family, increased use of punishment, and so on. Sometimes a new young dog can be useful to keep the older dog active, but one must be certain that the old dog is still capable of normal social behavior, such as adopting a submissive posture.
In behavioral therapy, it is important to create a calm and safe environment for the animal, not to punish the animal, and certainly not to cause more fear. It is also important to notify the owner that it is a degenerative process and that normal behavior can no longer be expected. It is important to prevent risks of aggression and to administer appropriate behavioral medication. The most common behavioral medications are: Selgian, Clomicalm, and fluoxetine.
Consulting a veterinarian and a behaviorist (www.apbct.be) is recommended.
Bibliography