[New_Me]

Hi all, I'm hoping someone can shed some light for us!! A few months ago our beloved Maltese x jack russell was put to sleep after accidentely eating snail pellets
Since then his "brother" (maltese) has been acting strangely. He ALWAYS wants in, we struggle to get him back out of the house, he jumps, wags his tail and bounces around like a puppy again and cries at the door if we don't let him in.

I don't know if he is still grieving, or if he has dementia and has suddenly "forgotten" how we do things around here.
I have been looking online and I read somewhere about dogs acting this way after they have been ill for some time and then once healed they can become like puppies again because they feel great. Our Maltese did have some major surgery in his mouth about 6 months ago (all his teeth have been removed) so maybe he just feels fantastic lol, but im not so sure!

Anyone?

[FiveAus]

Just start gently but firmly applying the rules again.

[Bwok~Bwok]

It sounds like he's lonley and wants to be with the 'pack'!

I was lucky in that my female adjusted quite well when I had to put my male to sleep - but she has always been an inside dog anyway - but some dogs find it hard to adjust to be an only dog.

[*molly*]

My friend just had her elderly Maltese put down due to advanced dementia, so it can happen. I'm not sure if this is the case for your dog though. I'd be taking him to the vet it you're concerned.

[Kalota]

How old is he, OP? It could be that he's out of sorts and missing his doggy friend Changes in routine can DEFINITELY throw dogs off.

As for the dementia thing, DF and I have a 17 year old Maltese cross who has had dementia for about 3 or 4 years. He does funny things, sometimes doesn't know where he's going or what he wants, wees inside the house, and just does strange things. He is just old, and has a bit of dementia, but he's happy Hence I was wondering how old your little boy is!

[New_Me]

We are not sure his exact age as he was left to us by my husbands grandmother
We've had him for 7 years, and before us nana had him for about 4 -5 years.

[Kalota]

We are not sure his exact age as he was left to us by my husbands grandmother
We've had him for 7 years, and before us nana had him for about 4 -5 years.

So he's definitely a senior dog, I'd say dementia could definitely be something to think about - refer to my previous post about my gorgeous little Maltese with dementia.