Why is my 10-year-old dog tired, withdrawn, and not himself?

I am sorry to hear about your concerns for Archie. Any behavior changes can be a sign of a health problem in a pet. We can have problems such as arthritis making them feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get up and move around like they used to. We can have systemic illness causing them to just feel lousy and therefore not being as interactive as normal (imagine if you have the flu or a bad cold and just feel tired/like you don't want to do anything). For these reasons, I would recommend a visit to your vet if Archie is having changes as you describe in his energy/enthusiasm. The vet can do a good physical exam to check for any abnormalities, and may recommend doing bloodwork to screen for underlying diseases.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Moxie. I think that her sudden change in behavior is worrisome. Dogs can slow down as they age. However, she is only middle aged. Plus age changes are gradual. Not as dramatic as you have described. I recommend that she sees a veterinarian. I worry that she is painful somewhere. For example, neck and/or back pain is common in small and medium breed dogs. Arthritis or a soft tissue injury could also explain the signs you are seeing. The veterinarian will carefully examine her. X-rays may be recommended. Based on these results, treatment can be started to help her feel better. In the meantime, keep her quiet and do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hope this information helps!

Poor guy. He certainly sounds like he may either be in pain or has some underyling neurological disorder going on here. Your vet should know where to start looking once a complete physical examination is done, because much more information can be gathered here. They will certainly want to start with some baseline bloodwork and possibly some x-rays if he seems to have any musculoskeletal issues as well. Some possible causes for these symptoms would be an underlying neurological disorder (i.e. IVDD), Addison's disease (disease of the adrenal gland), a toxin ingestion, or just pain from something internal. I do hope that your pet starts to feel better soon! Best of luck tonight at the vet. Take care.

At 3years of age he would generally expected to be more active but every dogs character is different and some are very placid. If his behavior has changed over the last 3 months I strongly recommend a full health check by your vet to rule out medical or painful conditions which may be reducing his mobility

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Neldon. I am happy to hear that you have scheduled an appointment with his veterinarian. Pain is the number one reason for an abrupt change in behavior. The doctor will carefully examine his back, joints, mouth and ears to look for any source of pain. In the meantime, keep him quiet and be careful around him. Do not leave him unsupervised with children. Do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hope this information helps and he is feeling better soon!

I would definitely recommend some blood work, if this hasn't been done recently. Older dogs are prone to a number of health issues that can cause decreased appetite along with being less active - chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism are two possibilities that are both very common. In many cases, these issues are treatable (at least to some extent) once a diagnosis is made, so it's well worth checking for them if you can - hopefully, there are some things you can do to make him feel better for as long as possible, even though he's getting older.

Poor Caesar. There definitely sounds like something has changed. There are so many things that can cause him to be acting this way. He could be hurting somewhere, ill with an infection, or stress from an environmental change. You could try an adaptil calming collar but if it isn’t improving then I would have your vet look at him. Your vet can do some bloodwork to rule out any infections or liver/kidney issues and also try to locate any possible painful areas. Your vet can also start him on a medicine for anxiety if needed. I hope this helps!