Dogs

I have a circular stairway. When I am downstairs and I call my dog, Candy. She bounces down about half-way and then stops, puts her head through the railing, and looks at me.

Now this is cute, right? Well, yes and no, the first couple of times it was cute but having to wait --- every single time I call her down ---- year after year ---- and having to repeat, "Come on, Candy!' and she stares at me ---- and I repeat, "Come ON, Candy!" and she stares at me, then I yell, "CANDY, COME ON!" and then she says, "Oh, you want me to come down all the way?" and bounces down the rest of the stairs --- can get a weeee bit tiresome! LOL

(And yet I know that her years are growing short, and someday, I'll be willing to give anything to have to yell at her to come all the way down the stairs.)

How old is she CB? Maybe she's having some arthritic pain and finding it a little painful to navigate the staircase?

How old is she CB? Maybe she's having some arthritic pain and finding it a little painful to navigate the staircase?

You are abolutely correct, Whiterose, she is 13 going on 14, and that explains why she stands at the TOP of the stairs until I poke her in the butt, when standing behind her, or scream from downstairs in a VERY "special" voice, "CANDY!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!" to get her started. (Sometimes my Mom joins in ..) The looking through the railing however, has gone on forever. She just waits to be sure that I want her to come ALL THE WAY down the stairs!

I'm glad you brought up arthritis in older dogs. I'm using something natural that REALLY seems to help (I'm ashamed to admit that the stalling at the top of the stairs only happens now because I'm a bad Mom and sometimes I forget to give her the natural product twice each day.) (Why do I always have to confess my worst behavior? Must be some kind of mental illness - I'll call it the Mea Culpa Syndrome! LOL)

I'm afraid to try Rimadyl because it was killing Golden Retrievers (which Candy isn't one of) and I'm just afraid of the side effects. Of course, we have no idea of what's really in "natural" products so I should be worried about that too. *sigh*

Hi there, have you thought that maybe the circular stairs make her feel dizzy? Maybe she stops to regain her equilibrium. :)

My late dog, ****er spaniel, developed heart disease when she was around 13. It was SO frustrating...every few steps, no matter what she did, she would pause, sit down...just waste time somehow! Because she had such fatigue. We had a high flight of stairs to climb to go to bed, and if you went up without her, she'd cry til you came and carried her up! (She was chubby by then, too lol)

She lived 3 more years...i tried meds but they really didnt help. I finally had to have her put to sleep.

I hope your doggie's arthritis gets better.

Hi there, have you thought that maybe the circular stairs make her feel dizzy? Maybe she stops to regain her equilibrium. :)

LOL Could be, Babybee!

My late dog, ****er spaniel, developed heart disease when she was around 13. It was SO frustrating...every few steps, no matter what she did, she would pause, sit down...just waste time somehow! Because she had such fatigue. We had a high flight of stairs to climb to go to bed, and if you went up without her, she'd cry til you came and carried her up! (She was chubby by then, too lol)

She lived 3 more years...i tried meds but they really didnt help. I finally had to have her put to sleep.

I hope your doggie's arthritis gets better.

Yeah, I know what you mean, Jellybean. (I didn't intend for that to rhyme, it just did!!!) She hasn't gotten to that point yet, but I dread it. Actually, this year, I've started having those tugs at my heart because I know that she's not going to be here forever. :o :( I push the sadness out of my mind and remind myself that, from here on in, every day is a gift, but the heartwrenching fear comes back again.

I consider myself lucky because the bestest dog I ever had was diagnosed with cancer and given 5 1/2 months to live and I learned to put the pain aside and enjoy the time we had together.

PS "Bestest" doesn't mean that he was more special to me: it means he was in my life when I really needed a companian and friend and he was the best-trained dog I've ever had and he would have died for me. Since having the bestest dog, I've had the worstest-but-funniest dog, and now I'm with the sweetest dog. She just brings me to my knees she so damned sweet.

I know what you mean. My ****er spaniel was my most special, because she went thru such bad times with me, and was always there for a hug. I love my dog i have now very much...dont get me wrong. And i swore i'd never do this again... get another dog to fall in love with, and suffer the heartbreak when they're gone.

I guess its just like human love...i cant stop myself :)

I know what you mean. My ****er spaniel was my most special, because she went thru such bad times with me, and was always there for a hug. I love my dog i have now very much...dont get me wrong. And i swore i'd never do this again... get another dog to fall in love with, and suffer the heartbreak when they're gone.

I guess its just like human love...i cant stop myself :)

Oh YEAH!!!! In my opinion, ONE of many lessons that our pets teach us is that loving feels good and is worth any pain that comes from it ending.

LOL Could be, Babybee!
seriously! My old staffy that we had to have put to sleep 18 months ago, had a motor neurone disease all her life, we didnt know about it, and sometimes it seemed as though she was just ignoring you, or playing staues, but apparently she used to have to remember which way to walk. She often fell off her own feet! She was so dippy, but the reason for saying this was, that she would get dizzy as well and just stop, dead in her tracks acting like we didnt call her.
Since we found out the reason why right at the end of her life (13) I was really happy with myself that I just never got cross with her, she was way too cute and by far the best dog that ever lived.
And now we also know why, she never went upstairs indoors, she never shook the water from herself when wet, never wagged her tail, and loads of other things. Sunnie was the best. (but dont we all say that about our beloved pets?)

seriously! My old staffy that we had to have put to sleep 18 months ago, had a motor neurone disease all her life, we didnt know about it, and sometimes it seemed as though she was just ignoring you, or playing staues, but apparently she used to have to remember which way to walk. She often fell off her own feet! She was so dippy, but the reason for saying this was, that she would get dizzy as well and just stop, dead in her tracks acting like we didnt call her.
Since we found out the reason why right at the end of her life (13) I was really happy with myself that I just never got cross with her, she was way too cute and by far the best dog that ever lived.
And now we also know why, she never went upstairs indoors, she never shook the water from herself when wet, never wagged her tail, and loads of other things. Sunnie was the best. (but dont we all say that about our beloved pets?)


Thank you, Babybee for posting that. I'm going to watch her more carefully with what you said in mind. I think she MIGHT be displaying some of those behaviors and I was attributing them to joint stiffness.