I have a lovely dog - a Heinz 57 (mongrel) who I have had for 16 years. He is my best friend and I love him so much. He was 16 in February. The last few weeks he has become ever so clingy. He has always been loving and wanting attention but all of a sudden I can't move without him coming with me or jumping on my knee.

The problem I have is he has started shaking. If there is a noise on t.v. he will start to shake, if someone shouts he will shake. He is never been a nervous dog but now he is shaking all the time at anything. He has never ever been shouted at or badly treated and I treat him like my "baby". He has nothing at all to be frightened of. I am sure it is just "old age" but he shakes so much and trembles that I am bothered he is going to have a heart attack.

We go to the park every day and he runs around like a lunatic and plays with other dogs and does not shake at all. He only shakes when he is in the house and this has only started the last couple of weeks. I am very worried as he is so fit and healthy.

I took him to a new Vet the other month for his boosters and did not tell him how old Benji was. After examining him and looking at his coat and teeth he said he was 6 years old. He nearly fainted when I told him how old he was. So he is in very good condition and very fit and healthy and always been well looked after.

If anybody knows of anything I can give him to help him to stop shaking and trembling I would be very grateful as I don't want anything to happen to him and I am so worried. I would prefer a natural remedy to anything that contains any sort of medicine (if possible) as I don't believe in medicines but if there is anything anybody knows about that will work would you please tell me.

Thanks very much for reading this and for replying to me if you know anything that will help. Thanks for taking the time to help it is very much appreciated by me and by Benji.

Cheers

Jennifer & Benji

Welcome to the forum Jennifer :-)

What a great age!

May I ask how you react when he starts the shaking indoors? Do you comfort him? Personally, I think some of it is to do with his age but if you are comforting him when he starts quivering then you are giving him signals that this behaviour is pleasing to you. You are rewarding him for exhibiting this trembling. Have you tried ignoring him when he is behaving in this manner or sidetracking him with a game? I do think some of it is age related but maybe you are compounding it? :-) He will be picking up on your concern too and reacting to it by exhibiting 'fear'. There are things that you could give him (Rescue Remedy) but if he is not this way when he is outside, I dont think he needs it. Maybe others can offer some tips too.

Hi Jennifer

Just the advice I would have given! Min my eldest hates the sound of fireworks and loud noises, e.g rain on the conservatory( as most dogs do ) and really used to get in a right pickle. She seemed to get worse the more sympathy we gave her. We now ignore her and she soon settles down. Helps as well as she is starting to go deaf and so is not so much affected now !

As Admin has said do not be overly concerned towards him when he starts to react in this way and hopefully you may see an improvement. It is hard as your immediate reaction is to give him comfort but try and see what happens.

Lucy

Hi Jennifer,
If the vet had checked him over and he doesn't seem to be in pain anywhere (upset stomach maybe?) and nothing in the environment has changed (you haven't just moved house, or something) this could well be an age-related problem. I've found elderly dogs can suddenly become more fearful - maybe his balance is going a bit and he's feeling unsteady sometimes.

In a magazine I read recently of a new product called Activait (available only from vets, and pricey - around £30 for 2 months supply) which is supposed to strengthen brain function in aging animals. I haven't tried it so can't vouch for it, and I'm sure there are other things available. I shall do some research and see what I come up with.

In the meantime treat him as normal unless he starts to deteriorate - if you are at all worried the vet is the first port of call.

Good luck :)

HI Jennifer

Congratulations on having such a well looked after oldie! :) it's a credit to you as a caring owner.

Just a few thoughts, I too tend to feel this is age related, but did you see the vet before or after his shaking started? If it was before, maybe another trip may be in order, to just discuss it with the vet and to allay any worries.

I had a BSD who lived til nearly 16, and she was never clingy as such, but just before she had a stroke (twice) she came to me as if she felt ill. I normally totally agree with advice which advises not to reinforce the dog's fears, (so easy to do this!) but in this instance I would give reasurance but just not overdo it. Difficult to get the balance - you want him to feel safe but not that there is anything to worru about.

My dog was prescribed Vivitonin, which is in its action very like the product Jeangenie has mentioned, and I was so grateful for it - no side effects and it helped my girl for nearly 2 years, just made her a tiny bit "brighter". Well worth it, it also helped to stave off any more strokes except of course the last one.

If you are offered anything like this, maybe ask for vivitonin as i used it safely for the 2 years; also my friend in a similar position used Fitergol, again a very similar product in the way it worked.

I hope you manage to solve the problem of the shaking, he sounds in very fine state of health otherwise :)

Best wishes
Lindsay