Dog with dementia behaves in heartbreaking way
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00:00 He has a doggy dimension.
00:01 He'll be walking and he'll freeze,
00:03 and he'll just sit there and not move,
00:05 sometimes five to 10 minutes.
00:07 I am Dennis Gerard, and this is Piper's story for GLP.
00:11 Piper and his brother were dumped in a box
00:13 at a shelter in Jacksonville, Florida.
00:16 When they opened the shelter in the morning,
00:18 the employees found them.
00:20 I met Piper.
00:21 He was really skinny and malnourished,
00:23 but he came over to me and we hit it off right there.
00:26 The first few days was awesome.
00:29 We showed him so much love.
00:30 My kids, my wife.
00:35 He was shy, but once he understood
00:40 that we weren't gonna hurt him, it was wonderful.
00:43 I always tell him he's a good boy,
00:45 and that I love him, and that he's my best buddy.
00:47 Piper likes to fake little injuries with his paw,
00:50 knowing that I'm going to give him a treat.
00:52 You okay?
00:53 Put your foot down.
00:56 I fed the habit because it was so cute.
00:58 You're a good boy, baby.
00:59 You gotta give the dog treats, so.
01:02 I rescued him when he was two years old,
01:06 and he will be celebrating his 17th birthday
01:09 in about two weeks.
01:10 Piper loves his mama.
01:12 He's lost all his teeth about a year ago.
01:14 No, what's wrong?
01:16 Within the last couple of months,
01:18 he's lost his vision and his hearing.
01:20 It was about a one-year process going blind.
01:22 Since he was going blind, I worked on training him
01:25 how to get from the bedroom to where his water dish is,
01:28 where his food dish is, where the back door is.
01:31 Less than two months ago, he went completely dark.
01:33 And on top of that, he has doggy dementia.
01:37 He's done downing right now.
01:38 He forgets where he's going or what he's doing.
01:41 At first, it was only for like a half hour a night,
01:44 but now it's like three hours.
01:45 He does not bark as a result of the dementia.
01:48 At night, he'll kind of whine and cry,
01:51 and I just hold him like I am right now,
01:53 get him close to me, and he calms down.
01:55 (dog whines)
01:57 It's very scary for him and me.
02:00 I think he's adapting better than I am.
02:02 I worry about him all the time.
02:04 You're the cutest puppy ever.
02:06 I communicate with him by constantly touching him.
02:08 He still has his internal clock,
02:10 and he knows when it's time to eat
02:11 and when it's time to go to sleep.
02:13 It's amazing, his ability to walk around the house
02:16 without hitting stuff.
02:17 When I come home from work, I come to the garage door,
02:19 and he's in the back of the house,
02:20 and he'll literally wake up from under a blanket
02:23 if he smells me, and then he'll slowly walk
02:25 to where I'm at and greet me.
02:27 I think about him all the time,
02:28 and I am the whole world right now,
02:30 and it's a big responsibility.
02:31 (gentle music)
02:34 He still does it.
02:37 (gentle music)
02:39 In fact, I got some video of him today doing it.
02:42 He'll lift his paw, and I'll just stand there.
02:44 He gets anything he wants.
02:45 (gentle music)
02:48 He's got the best of everything.
02:50 He gets the best healthcare.
02:51 I'm spoiling him beyond imagination.
02:53 (gentle music)
02:56 (gentle music)
02:59 (upbeat music)
03:01 you