Remember Me? is an award-winning guidebook for owners of dogs who are losing their mental faculties as they age, and the story of a dog and owner who retained their bond through this most difficult situation.
If you have an aging dog, Remember Me? will give you the information you need to weather the difficult condition and give their dogs the most fulfilling life possible.
In Remember Me?, you will learn about
- The symptoms of canine cognitive dysfunction
- Medications and other interventions that are showing promise in treating the condition
- How to adapt your home and habits to keep your dog safe
- The many products available to solve the problems of senior dogs
- How to make things easier on yourself, physically and emotionally
- The complex question of euthanasia and how to make your own decision about it
The story of Anderson's small terrier Cricket, who developed dementia, is threaded through the book. As Cricket's dementia worsened she paced, she circled, she stood in corners, she forgot what she was doing, and at times she lost and found her owner repeatedly. For the last weeks of her life she even forgot how to drink water. As Cricket's condition deteriorated and needs changed, Anderson learned about the disease and developed methods to care for her dog.
She shares these methods in Remember Me? and her calm, conversational tone is soothing to dog owners who are suffering--sometimes more than their dogs.
Remember Me? won the 2016 Maxwell Award from the Dog Writers Association of America for a book on health, behavior, or general care.
When my rat terrier Cricket started acting oddly as she grew older, I thought it was just normal aging. It wasn't. It was canine cognitive dysfunction, or dog dementia, which is medical condition that goes far beyond the normal slowing down as dogs age.
I don't want anyone else to delay going to the vet about this for more than a year as I did, or to feel alone with the strange symptoms that can sometimes occur. My hope is that my book raises awareness of age-related canine dementia and helps dogs and owners everywhere. --Eileen Anderson
