Help Please!

[jstretch]

I am new to this forum, but was hoping some kind soul may be able to help me. I have a 9 year chow mix who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. We decided to put her on insulin and try to give her the best life we could until the end.

Recently she has been rather aggressive (she bit a little boy, who she knew, in the crotch. Luckily he was wearing diapers and several layers of clothes and was not hurt). She also growled aggressively at my little girl who she has known her whole life.

On top of that, she is deliberately peeing all over the house. After being on her run or in her kennel, and peeing outside (I watch her), she will promptly come into the house, head right for the stairs, and pee.

I love the dog, and so does my daughter. I would rather not put her down if I can help it, but I am not sure what my other options are. She is being mean and destroying my house (the carpet will all need to be replaced which will cost thousands). Does anyone out there have any advice or know of any other options that I have?

Any and all input is appreciated, I just want to do the right thing. Thanks!

[GretaJack]

Please remember that your dog does not feel good and is having a hard time coping with it. I am not very familiar with diabetes in dogs. In my opinion, pottying in the house is a side effect of feeling ill. She is not doing it to be mean. She just doesn't know how to cope with what is going on. Same thing with the biting. The young ones are probably making her feel even worse and her only defense to them is to bite. But this is not acceptable. Call your vet and ask them how long she should be on insulin before she starts to feel better. It could take a couple days, couple weeks couple months, I don't know. But in the mean time, if you really don't think she needs to be put down see if you can find her a temporary or permanent home in an enviroment that is low keyed with no children and that can take care of a dog with special needs. There are loving people out there that would love to help. I know it is hard to find them but it never hurts to ask. But please, don't let her bite again or you may have no choice but to put her down. Good luck. Keep us posted.

[jstretch]

thanks for your feedback! I really appreciate it. Dizzy has been on insulin for just over a week now. I realize it may take her a little while to get used to the medication; hopefully that will get the urinating under control. I am also concerned about her aggression. There are children in and out of the house all the time and absolutely do not want any of them to get hurt. I have thought about muzzling her, but that sort of leads to a quality of life issue. A diaper on one end, and a muzzle on the other does not really seem like a happy dog life Gosh I just don't know what to do. Per your suggestion, though, I will see if I can locate a family willing to adopt her. Thanks for the idea, I never thought about seeking one out.

[jstretch]

thanks for your feedback! I really appreciate it. Dizzy has been on insulin for just over a week now. I realize it may take her a little while to get used to the medication; hopefully that will get the urinating under control. I am also concerned about her aggression. There are children in and out of the house all the time and absolutely do not want any of them to get hurt. I have thought about muzzling her, but that sort of leads to a quality of life issue. A diaper on one end, and a muzzle on the other does not really seem like a happy dog life Gosh I just don't know what to do. Per your suggestion, though, I will see if I can locate a family willing to adopt her. Thanks for the idea, I never thought about seeking one out.

[Dax]

Diabetes in dog is usually a disease assoicated with aging and weight. IT can have devasting effects before it's caught. Like loss of eye sight, excessive thirst, mood swings. Dog owners sometimes mistake these as normal aging.

Your dog might be showing more aggression because she no longer has a clear view of the world and feels like an old dishrag. However, after a week on insulin I would have expected some improvement. She might need extra attention now especially around any children. Actually I would keep her in a penned area or closed off room until you feel you can trust her in the house again.

I would contact your vet about the insulin dosages, maybe they aren't correctly balanced so the mood swings continue.

Best of luck and I hope she gets better.

[lou3]

the most important thing is to keep her away from children while she is feeling bad. I would definately talk to your vet about a time scale within which you should either expect significant improvement or consider making the final decision for her. If she is feeling bad enough to be biting out of character then it may be time to consider who's benefit keeping her alive is for, yours or hers, if the behaviour does not stop as indicated by the vet.
Lou

[jstretch]

Thank you all for your advice. I plan on having a long talk with my vet so that we can get this situation under much more control. My fear is that Dizzy will progressively get worse, but I guess only time will tell. I was a bit off on the length of time she has been on the insulin, it has been 2 weeks this Fri that she has been on it. It is my understanding that it can take a while for her glucose levels to even out, but I would think that we should have seen some improvement by now. So far, there has been no noticeable changes, and for the most part, she seems worse than ever.

She is developing a cataract in one eye for sure, and it looks like the other eye is starting to go as well. I know that this is probably a big source of her aggressiveness, as she is not seeing the world as clearly anymore. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end, but we will continue to do as much as possible to give her a good life. We are taking her camping this weekend, so we will have a good opportunity to spend some time with her. She loves camping [img]smile.gif[/img] so it will be good for her, and additionally , we will be able to observe her behavior a little more closely.

We leave tomorrow, but I will post back here when we return. Thank you all for your support. peace.

[MarioLuigi]

Sophie was just like that (died of cancer complications)! I would try crate training (it works no matter how old the dog). Make sure your dog gets supervised socialization with kids. Keep her on a leash and let the kids pet her. If she starts to growl or snap, pull back on the leash.