Walking a dog with dementia

I wondered if I could ask for any advice on walking an elderly dog with dementia? I try to stick to fields mostly, but sometimes the following is unavoidable, and I'd really appreciate some advice/solidarity if anyone could help.

When walking on pavements with him, it turns into a bit of a (gentle) battle. He wants to walk in the road, go in people's gardens, walk along glued to my leg so I keep falling over him, walk very slowly and investigate absolutely everything on stretches where someone is waiting at the other end for us to pass, walk into things such as bushes I know he'll get stuck in and turn around when he sees something he doesn't like, such as kissing gates. I know none of this is his fault, but I feel like when we aren't able to walk in fields and these things are an issue, I spend the whole walk stopping him from doing what he wants to do, and sometimes I have to be quite forcible with him because he's a fairly big, strong dog. I also feel very conscious of the fact that it probably looks like I'm being mean to him to other people because I'm always having to direct him, whereas it's just because I know certain things he wants to do aren't safe for him / will annoy other people.

He still really enjoys his walks and I love him to death and will do anything for him – I'm just hoping to gain some tips from anyone else who has experienced this so I don't come back from each walk feeling so guilty.

He was always such a good boy on his lead before the dementia, so I think it's definitely that rather than stubbornness that's causing the issues.

Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Hi Joanne, thanks so much for your advice. That's such a good point about being more aware of him and what he wants to do rather than thinking of it in terms of this is where I am and he should fit around that. I think I've been thinking too much about 'the walk' and getting from A to B, rather than about it being his chance to get out and interact with the world. I'll definitely try and focus on him more and let him guide the walk where safe. Thank you so much for the fresh perspective. I'm looking forward to our next walk now I'm going to keep his walks at the same time every day where possible too and try to stick to the same route every day from now on. I think you're definitely right about predictability being important for him. I always used to go for variety when he was younger to keep him excited, but lately I've definitely noticed he seems more confused on varied walks. Thanks so much for your wonderful advice!

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, Judy. I'm so glad he had such a loving owner to look after him while he was going through that.

Thanks so much for the link to the thread and for your wonderful post there! That's all such interesting info. I'm really interested in Aktivait, and I think I'm going to give that a go.

 

Ooooh - that's really interesting. I'll definitely look into that. Thanks, Joanne

 

Oh, bless Jake. I'm so glad he had you to take care of him.

That's definitely true about being more in the moment. The last couple of days have been almost meditative A real lesson to just enjoy the moment with him. He definitely seems happier closer to home and doing lots of sniffing