Where did everything go?
We are doing a renovation in our family room; every last piece of everything has been removed. We had a water leak which turned to mold so the repairs were needed. Unfortunately this is the room where the dog door is and the room where Jessie spends most of her days. Jessie is our little Jack Russell who will be 15 on May 26th and she suffers from Dementia or Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. Looking back now it started sometime last fall but hit seriously around Christmas 2010. She's been doing okay; and we have adjusted our routine to best suit her odd needs.
Sadly Jessie also has little vision and little hearing. So these things together make changes in the house difficult for her. This has been a biggy; we are working to get it back together as quickly as possible. The first few days I found her down in the family room, alone and standing in the middle of the room. Then she followed me down one day as I was working and she wandered around aimlessly. Not finding anything familiar she started circling. I picked her up and brought her upstairs where we have put her favorite bed.
She is adjusting now, it's been about a week and we came home today to find all three dogs sleeping in the living room. She'd found her favorite bed and was fast asleep there. Later in the day she moved to a bed upstairs in my room; she likes to sleep there as well. The big thing that first threw her as far as familiarity recognition being gone was the carpet; the moment she came into the dog door and the carpet was gone you could see her confusion.
When we get the flooring and major work underway we will have to stop the dogs from going into the room completely. This will be a very difficult few days; especially for Jessie. This mean that I will spend more time at home to make sure that all is well. And I will be taking them all out for longer walks in attempts of tiring them out. Releasing energy is a great stress reliever for both humans and dogs alike. It will hopefully create a tired bunch of dogs and a dog tired little Jack Russell. Tired enough to sleep through all the confusion.
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Poor baby. Dogs hate change and poor Jess with his limited senses. Maybe put a piece of the new flooring in the livingroom for them to start sniffing. Look at me... giving the dog pro advice! LOL
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all,
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful Jessie has lived to such a ripe old age. My Chessie big sister lived to be barely 15 before she passed over. I never knew her.
My Humans have had deaf and blind dogs and know how difficult any change is for them.
I'll keep my paws crossed for Jessie. Sure is nice she has such a wonderful family.
Y'all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog