# Oscar - Need some insight



## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Oh goodness. Can he have a ramp or some stairs to your chair so he doesn’t have to be picked up?


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Goodness, he’s a cutie!

With a sudden change like that, I wouldn’t be too quick to assume he’s not in pain. Gracie hid hers for years and ate with gusto right up until her last moments on earth. Dogs can be kind of amazing like that. 

Has Oscar had blood work, x-rays, and a dental check recently?


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

It’s good to see you after so long, hope you are doing well. Miss seeing you post.

I was thinking along the same though line, I think Oscar is in pain. It may be just when being lifted but not affecting his other activity. Will he allow you to palpate his body? Try palpating in the area where you would put your hands when lifting him. Does he flinch or feel stiff or make a noise?

Try a ramp or stairs so he can get up independently


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Dogs are so stoic. My last dog had an aggressive cancer and he moved and acted normally until he couldn’t. I would get Oscar checked out. Hope it’s nothing. Hugs to you both, figuring it out.


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## Fenris-wolf (Apr 17, 2018)

It's nice to hear from you, hope you have been well. Oscar is adorable. I would have him checked out. Dogs can be incredible about hiding pain.


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## jojogal001 (Feb 19, 2019)

Hi guys… it’s good to see familiar people! Hope all of you are doing well also. 

So about a ramp. I’m not sure that would work as my chair is a rocking recliner, so it moves a lot. Not sure what kind of ramp I would try. I’m also not sure I have the space to put one in for him. Good suggestion, but I’ll have to think about it. I cam probably get someone to build one that would work. 

As for pain: I wonder about that too, but if I catch him off guard and pick him up he is fine. Also, when he backs away I cam sometimes still get him and he is okay. It’s like something started spooking him about both my hands coming near his face. I am able to, when he’s in his bed next to me, pet him and keep him calm and pick him up like normal. Then he is okay too. I’m sure in the puppy mill he was only taken out of his crate to, you know. I don’t think he ever really got socialized. 

I’ve recently had him to the vet and he’s super healthy, especially for his age. The main thing Is his hearing is going. So I don’t know. Nothing seems to be out of wack for him.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Random thoughts...

Is there a chance that he was startled or scared accidentally by someone while you were incapacitated? 

Was his sight checked by the vet? Holly had something odd happen with her vision but when checked, the specialist could find nothing. She would be trotting in from the yard to the door and when a shdow from a chair crossed her eyes, she startled and backed up, as if to avoid a solid object.This isn't exactly what Oscar is experiencing but there might be something to spark other thoughts.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Could he climb up if you put a low stool next to your chair? If he has recently checked out as fit and well I would suspect that something either startled him or briefly hurt - a thumb pressing in the wrong place, for example. Giving him control over being picked up may help - have you tried standing up and asking him if he wants to be picked up, then carrying him to the chair?


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

He might be having the start of doggy dementia. If that’s the case, you will see other unusual or strange behaviors as months go by. There isn’t much you can do (since he’s seen the vet already) besides being there for him and helping him when needed. This new behavior might be here to stay. Or not. I would het him a set of stairs to see if he will take to it. Borrow it if you can, in case he doesn’t use it.

Let’s hope it’s just a quirk but aging often affects dogs the way it does humans.


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## Footprints&pawmarks (Mar 8, 2021)

One suggestion -- be sure that you put one hand under his little bottom and the other under his chest. You want to keep his back in a straight line. I'm not watching you pick him up (duh!), so I can't see how you do it, so you may already be watching out for his back. Just be sure that his hind legs aren't dangling and that his pelvis is supported by your hand. Practically everybody, human and canine, can get little "twinges in the hinges" in their backs as they grow older. And, yes, new reluctance to do something they've done comfortably before is almost always a sign of pain.


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## jojogal001 (Feb 19, 2019)

Rose n poos, fjm amd Delhi… so good to see you all’n

the things everyone is talking about - sorry, I forgot how to quote posts - I will try and touch on everything.

Doggy dementia. Sometimes I think he is slipping into that. He does a couple of strange things that can’t be explained. While he acts normal most of the time, not only moments of what we’re talking about but sometimes when I go to the restroom, he will walk to the far wall amd just stare at it. I don’t know if he thinks he is seeing something there or what, but he’s doing it fairly frequently now. He is constantly wanting up with me but never comes. And on the occasions I do bring him up he jumps off the arm of the chair, like there is some kind of threat there. At times that doesn’t happen though. It’s like he panics. While he has always followed me all around the condo, he has begun getting so underfoot I almost fall at times. I’ve not had to watch for that before. He eats really well most of the rime, but even then he’s screech like he does when he’s really hungry: like he hasn’t been fed in the last two hours. I have tried giving him a little more food, and he turns his nose up to it. I’m sure there are other thing he’s doing that I miss he’s just not quite the normal little guy I know him to be.

The suggestion about putting one hand under his hind end might work and I’ll let you know if it does when picking him up. I did notice a few days ago I pi him up with oh hand under host and the other a little fatter back, once I got under one arm he completely settled and seemed to be basking in mama’s arms and up against her chest. I’ll keep working o
That aspect. Thanks! Great suggestion!

Mateo stool or doggy steps: he just won’t even try doggy stairs: he panics! Someone earlier in the discussion suggested a ramp. I am
Looking to find someone to build one which will fit in my space. That may just work for both up and down as I really don’t want him jumping any longer either.

Eyesight: while he has negimmomfa


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

jojogal001 said:


> So I’m sure some of you will remember Oscar. He is my (now) 14 year old yorkie bichon frise cross. He has been doing so well up until now. So because of his backgrounds, (puppy mill breeder), he has never liked being picked up. It was fine if I was sitting in my chair and he put his paws up, then I could pick him up. He never got beyond that though.
> 
> So here’s the situation. About 4-5 weeks ago, just like normal, he put his paws up and when I want to pick him up, he backed up quickly and wouldn’t let me get him. Nothing had happened before that. I was assuming it was just because he’s getting older. So here, a month later, he almost never gets on my lap. Before this started, if I was in my chair, so was he: all the time.
> I know he is not in pain,
> ...


I have an old girl too (16 yrs) and some things that were not quite expected but could contribute to not wanting to be picked up are:
-Canine Dementia
-Eye Sight Problems
-Equilibrium Trouble
-Spinal Pain
-Generalized Anxiety (from dulling senses)

My dog is quite senile and will often ask for something and then immediately not want it anymore like asking to be picked up or asking to come into a room, and then turning around and crying when I let her in. It's hard to say exactly what's going on but when it seemed to be affecting her quality of life, the vet and I made the decision to put her on Trazadone to ease her anxiety and hopefully help her through some of the possibly scary changes that come with getting older. It all happens so suddenly too, my girl was the peak of health for many years and then suddenly she started moving slower, becoming confused more easily, and not responding to her name or commands (she's not deaf)- the vet and I suspect that it's just dementia and that all we can do is ease her anxiety and keep an ey on her to make sure she has good QOL and isn't suffering.


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## jojogal001 (Feb 19, 2019)

Phaz23 said:


> I have an old girl too (16 yrs) and some things that were not quite expected but could contribute to not wanting to be picked up are:
> -Canine Dementia
> -Eye Sight Problems
> -Equilibrium Trouble
> ...


Wow. You just describe my Oscar! He does all those things. I do believe he’s beginning to get senile, and maybe he does have anxiety. I’ll have to check into that. I do know that all of a sudden his hearing is getting worse. Thank you so much for responding!


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

jojogal001 said:


> Wow. You just describe my Oscar! He does all those things. I do believe he’s beginning to get senile, and maybe he does have anxiety. I’ll have to check into that. I do know that all of a sudden his hearing is getting worse. Thank you so much for responding!


You're welcome


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