My nearly 15 y.o. Staffie Cross had an attack of Vestibular syndrome about 18 months ago, since when her dementia has progressed quite rapidly.

She is on Vivitonin.

I can cope with all her behaviours but she is sometimes quite frightened and this is starting to make her aggressive towards the other dogs (3 other crossbreeds, all aged 14, one also on Vivitonin and making me sad because he's lost his sparkle).

Has anyone any advice/experience of dogs at this stage of their lives?

She eats well. She pees and poos well, and only has the very occasional wet accident indoors.
She stopped being able to follow the sound of my voice when I called her but I discovered that clapping at the same time made it easier for her, and she comes trotting with her tail wagging.
She can usually jump up on the settee. I know, I know but it's the only place where she relaxes; if I leave her down on the floor, she wanders and stands, she doesn't get any rest.
but
She now has this aggression with the other dogs. She's had 2 unrelated fights tonight. No blood that I can find. but she is total rage when she's like this, she doesn't actually slaver but she makes that kind of slavering, Baskerville noise, and her eyes are somewhere between blank and vicious. She hasn't offered me any violence - but yes, I wonder if she could go that far. She Never has done before, she's always been an obedient dog.
The world is very strange to her, and she's easily startled. She can't extrapolate that if I pat her head, then pat her side, it's still me, so she jumps like that Catherine Tate character who jumped when the toaster popped.
She takes several attempts to find the water bowl, it almost looks like someone with OCD as she approaches and retreats several times before finally drinking. She does always drink though.

The other dogs are getting a lot less attention, as I concentrate on her - and they're all old and one demented too, just not as much so.

They're going into (excellent) kennels next week while I go on holiday.
Do I bite the bullet and have her put to sleep before I go?
I don't want to kill her for being old but I am totally unable to tell whether her quality of life is good enough for her sake.
Not only would I feel as guilty as I'm sure all pet owners do at having her put down at all, I'd feel extra guilty because the truth is, it would be a lot easier to just care for the others; she is very time and emotionally intensive. I absolutely would never kill her because she was hard work, what kind of a reward for 15 years' faithfulness would that be? ......
You see, round and round it goes.

Has anyone had a dog at this stage of their life - and what did you do?
Has anyone had a dog on Vivitonin and found there was additional medication they could have to help with the aggression?

Of course, I'll ring the vet in the morning - there's no urgency, they're finally all lying in a contented, snoring heap - but you know how it is, sometimes you want an instant answer.

Ta. and sorry it's long.

I am very sorry to hear about your difficult situation. The decision you face must obviously feel right for you in terms of timing - not too soon, not too late. I would only say that if she is potentially dangerous towards yourself, the other dogs, or the kennel staff then sadly she is no longer really the dog that you knew and loved and this is due to her confusion. My personal experience after saying goodbye to several much-loved pets is that I have usually tended to leave the decision a bit too long rather than acting too quickly.

When our old Benny became senile we did eventually have to pts as he started biting me and until that point I was the only person who could handle him safely. So sad because the senility was his only problem.

When Rosie became senile we managed her much better as it calmed her down and she was much friendlier ! So when she had to be pts it was for the cancer that gripped her.

Best advice I can offer is keep on a lead around other dogs and people, keep a light on in her room as darkness seems to scare them in my experience. And take it one day at a time you can't actually plan ahead as behaviors change all the time.

Oh wow. Everything you describe (even some thigns there I hadn;t picked up as related) is true of our ten and a half year old mini bull. Not aggression with other dogs, though.

She had a dramatic episode - waking us up at 3am (she never does that), then spent two days shaking, staring at the sofa (nothing on there), crying (she never vocalises at all), and refused to sleep or even sit down. Vet found a little ear infection which was soon treated but also diagnosed doggy dementia. She put her on a supplement called 'Aktivait' and said in 3 or 4 weeks - if lucky - we might see an improvement.

She was almost her old self again within the week, though. Although she does the water bowl thign you describe and also doesn;t track my voice when I call her (she was always 'my' dog and follows me everywhere but the week before xmas, when this happened, she wouldn;t come to me, or wag her tail and seemed distressed when we tried to cuddle her or pat her). Now she's wagging her tail again and stuff.

The vet said it's rare but the supplement can work that dramatically and quick for some dogs.

We know she will never quite be her old self and other things are going to deteriorate, but it's brought us (and her) some respite.

As molliepops says, all we can do is take it day by day.

My gut instinct is - and it's only an opinion - if you had her PTS now you might risk regretting it later and wondering if you did the right thing. When the time comes, you WILL know. As long as she is continent and eating and drinking somewhat and seems to not eb distressed - she still has a quality of life, I'd say.

Don;t do anything you may regret later, I suppsoe is all I'm saying. But also - when the time comes, i think you'll have NO doubts you're doing the right thing. I sort of know now in the back of my mind, I'm going to have to bite the same bullet, at some point probably in the next year or so. (Ten and a half sounds young but the smaller dogs don't live so long as staffies).

What I am doing now - as she's our only dog - is to start registering with breed rescues and maybe go to the Dogs trust soon, to set all the paperwork and home visits in train, so that when she does go we can get our next dog sooner.

Our last dog was a staffie - he died aged only 6 (brain tumour). Know how much the staffies get under your skin. Adored him from the second we had him to the moment he died - PTS, and still standing, bless him.

It is never the wrong decision to put a dog out of their suffering - but I've had to do it several times now, and always think you do sort of know, deep within yourself, when the time is right.

I think you always wonder if it was too soon or too late but IMO better one day too soon than one day too late.

Agreed ^

If you are going away and she is to be kennelled she may have much more of a problem coping in a strange environment with unfamiliar people than she does at home with you.

It might be worth considering if it is fair to put her, the staff, and the other dogs through that?

I don't know your dog and haven't seen her, but from what you have said, that may be a sensible point to call it a day, to avoid putting her through that potential distress.

Thankyou for all your comments and experiences.

Today all is serene - but I know that when she 'over-reacts' it's out of fear, and fear of something I can't detect.

However, I've spoken to the kennel owner - they've been going there for 9 years now - and she's fully aware and happy to take her. They always do go in 2 separate but adjoining runs, 2+2 but this time, to be safe 1+3. I'm taking the settee blanket for Hetty, so that she has familiar round her.
This owner is excellent with all dogs but she has a particular fondness for looking after elderly dogs, so I know she'll be in good hands.

I also spoke to the vet, and he's prescribing her some Selegiline for anxiety.

MY anxiety about pts is that there will be some undeniably postive consequences:
My stress levels will drop
I won't have to worry about her dying/her quality of life
My insurance bills will drop
My insurance premiums will drop
My kennelling costs will drop

I stress that absolutely None of these things are inducements to me to pts but Because there will be positive consequences, not of my desigining, I feel guilty at contemplating it.

I want to be a responsible and loving owner. I said goodbye to her last night (before I cried all my make up off) but today she is relaxed and happy......

Thankyou again for the support.