She's like a different dog

I'm worried, but really worried. My 13 year old Yorkie cross bitch thinks only about food. When I say she only thinks about food I'm not exaggerating, nothing else matters. At one time she would stay with us all the time and want affection and attention. She used to want to play a lot and was so human like and great company. Now all she yearns for is food, nothing else. She used to religiously sleep in between my wife and I, but no more. The problem has been getting slowly worse over the last year but it's now at a level that is very worrying.

I think it might be our fault because over the last couple of years there have been drastic changes in all our lives, including the adoption of a six year old Shihztu dog. She was at first jealous, however we took special care to ensure that she was, and still is, the Alpha dog. We also moved house and are in limbo at present, living with in laws. She looks sad and we don't know what to do. Physically she is relatively fit, apart from bronchitis that makes her cough first thing in the morning.

We're losing her. She's also making way for her adopted brother to fulfill her role. Even as I write, she's at the bottom of the bed while her Bro is at the top in between us.

Any suggestions will be most appreciated.

This sounds a little odd indeed!

I don't know what to suggest other than get her to your vet and rule out anything medical first that could be affecting her behaviour.

Hope she gets better

Good luck x

Also keep in mind that as dogs age their hearing and sight starts to go and often their world becomes much more insular. It may just be age creeping up on her. If you haven't done any blood tests recently I'd maybe ask the vet do do a general blood panel on her. If all is good then you have a baseline if things go wrong in the future, or if not then it may flag up an anomaly that may explain her behaviour.

In the meantime just keep loving on her as much as she'll let you and don't beat yourself up over anything. Sometimes things just change. One of out dogs when younger was definitely a daddy's girl. In her old age she became more mine. Another has been mine from birth, now she's his. It's hard not to be a little hurt, but it's just the way things are.

Wendy

She could perhaps be becoming senile? I have a 15 year old terrier and feel this is the case for him.

chelynnah said:

Also keep in mind that as dogs age their hearing and sight starts to go and often their world becomes much more insular. It may just be age creeping up on her. If you haven't done any blood tests recently I'd maybe ask the vet do do a general blood panel on her. If all is good then you have a baseline if things go wrong in the future, or if not then it may flag up an anomaly that may explain her behaviour.

In the meantime just keep loving on her as much as she'll let you and don't beat yourself up over anything. Sometimes things just change. One of out dogs when younger was definitely a daddy's girl. In her old age she became more mine. Another has been mine from birth, now she's his. It's hard not to be a little hurt, but it's just the way things are.

Wendy

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Wendy pretty much summed up exactly what I was going to say. I've come across this a few times and it seems it's just something that happens with age.