[Connor & Katie]

My 14 year old lab Connor is showing signs of his age- he sleeps a lot more, he's mostly deaf, his sight is starting to decline (but he's nowhere near blind), he's got weakness in his hips, he's lost some muscle tone, but he still loves attention, loves to hang out in the yard with us, loves to eat, etc. So I feel like he's mostly in decent shape for a 14 year old lab.

My one concern is his bowel movements. Over the last year he has progressively seemed to lose more and more of his house training skills. Sometimes he's obviously trying to make it to the door and just doesn't get there in time, other times it seems like he poops in his sleep, and sometimes, we let him outside, he does a lap around the yard just sniffing and walking around, comes inside and 5 minutes later, poops on the floor. He's also had issues with loose stools a few times over the last year, which seems to make control harder for him.

He's been to 3 different vets at least 5 times (maybe 6) in the last year. None of them have found anything wrong with him at all. Fecal samples are negative, blood work is all normal (including "senior blood panel"). He's had a couple of anti-diarrheal meds & herbs to help with the loose stools, they all seem to help a bit when he gets loose stools, but not with the control issue.

After some reading & research, I'm concerned that he may be having some cognitive dysfunction. In his prime, he NEVER had accidents in the house. He wakes up every night and goes outside, but often doesn't "go" while out there. Sometimes at night after going outside, he will go into the wrong room and walk around, like he's confused (but only in the middle of the night).

I guess I'm mostly just wondering if anyone has had a dog with cognitive dysfunction and if there's anything you can do to help them? Or if anyone's had a dog with similar issues.

Thanks!

Heather