I am worried about my dog, she is acting weird

[Jessi18]

The past couple days, my 10 or 11 year old Jack Russle Terrier has been acting really strange.  She has never like to be on people and for the past few days she has to be on me constantly.  And they really scares me cause she is my life and im worried she is telling me something.  any one elses dog do this??

[ginger899]

Look, it's very possible your dog (Oreo is her name, isn't it?) -is just fine. Like I said, she may be making this 'clinging to you' a kind of habit, if she did it once or twice, and you responded with affection it would be likely to encourage her to do it again. Dogs are like that.

But -one day, it might not be this week, it might not be next week, but one of these days -you are going to have to take her to the vet. No dog can go through their whole life without ever having to go and see the vet occasionally, even if they are healthy. And as she grows older, those times might be more frequent.
All I'm saying that for is maybe you have good time right now to prepare for her future, and work out how you can save the money, or find a sympathetic vet you can talk to, about the possibility of setting up a payment plan in case she needed treatment, or find some charitable financial assistance, or take out pet insurance, or some solution for in case she DID suddenly need the vet. It would be better to have something set up in advance of when it is suddenly needed. There would be nothing worse than if she was suddenly taken sick, needed the vet urgently, and there was nothing prepared for her. That would worry you terribly, and make you panic.

I don't mean to be preaching to you. I don't have a lot of money either, so I know what it's like to have to manage on little money.

[Jessi18]

i wish i could take her to the vet but i just cant afford it

[ginger899]

It is always possible she is trying to tell you something, so the best plan would be to take her to the vet to get checked out. You could ask your vet to run a 'Senior Blood Panel' which would test her at a deeper level, for any imbalances, or health problems under the surface, which have not yet shown any symptoms. Then, if there IS something a little wrong, you will have a head-start treating it.

But, my dog did something similar a few months ago, and she is ok health-wise. I had her checked.
Just sometimes, if a dog learns that if it does certain things, it gets showered with attention or affection, or concern, it can re-inforce the behaviour. For instance, if she did it once, because she felt a little 'off' for example, and she was rewarded with affection or cuddles, she will do it again, even if she is not unwell.

[Ghilly]

How is she acting otherwise?  Is her appetite OK?  Is she drinking a lot more water than usual?  Is she going to the bathroom in the house instead of outside?  Is she behaving normally other than wanting to be right there with you?  

If you think there might be something wrong with her, I would make an appointment with the vet for an examimation to make sure everything is OK.  It could be something simple, like the extreme heat we are having in some parts of the country.  It could also be that now that she is older, she is just mellowing with age and is changing her habits.  Don't panic just yet, but it's good that you are so vigilant and aware of your pet's habits.

Ghilly