My 15-year-old dog suddenly started chewing wood. Is it serious?

If you are noticing a sudden onset of blindness, Ryder needs to be examined by the veterinarian right away. This could be an indication of high blood pressure or other system disease that may respond well to treatment if caught early. A sudden change in behavior could be behavioral in nature OR it could be related to increased hunger from an endocrine disease. Discuss this with the veterinarian as well and make sure to keep things up and out of Ryder's reach. I hope this helps.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It looks like Hachi has been chewing on a wooden post, but it does not appear that a large chunk is missing. While it is unlikely to cause an intestinal obstruction, the splinters from the wood may get lodged in his gums. I recommend keeping a close eye on Hachi for signs such as lethargy, loss of appetite, or vomiting as these may be signs of an obstruction. You can prevent Hachi from chewing furniture by making sure he has plenty of teething toys available and by appropriately disciplining him when he does chew on the furniture. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

Hacking cough can be related to upper airways infection (kennel cough-type infections) or inflammation of the throat from a wound or foreign body. It is possible that Baylle has throat infection and because of that she is coughing a lot. However, she may have a wound from chewing wood, or a piece of grass at the back of her throat which irritates the throat and makes her cough. I would recommend you to take Baylle to your local vet for an appointment. Your vet may suggest to examine her throat under sedation to make sure thare is no foreign material or a wound from chewing wood there.

I would recommend to take Meara into the vet to make sure her teeth are growing in normally and that everything appears normal. If everything checks out normally, then I would suspect behavior. Sometimes dogs will just start playing with different toys for no apparent reason. Definitely keep her crated until this phase has passed. Many dogs ingest items that get stuck in the intestines and need surgery. Switch her toys about once a week as this will help to keep her interest. Most dogs will outgrow this behavior sound 2 years of age but some never do. I hope this helps!

That could be actually not a behavioural problem but due to a metabolic/endocrine disease especially if the weight is constant or decreased. I would recommend a check up at your local vets to determine and eventually rule out any possible disease.

There are some dogs that love to chew on wood. It isn't ideal, but it can be a very hard habit to break. I recommend providing alternative toys to chew on, but if that doesn't work you might consider collecting branches for them to chew, which is better than furniture. Make sure they are getting plenty of exercise, as bored dogs tend to be destructive. As far as eating their own feces, yes you need to pick it up right away. Here is a great article with more information about this subject. https://www.petcoach.co/article/stool-eating-coprophagy/

Pica - eating non food items - is often an indication of disease or poor digestion/absorption of her food and more rarely due to senile confusion. I would recommend a full vet check and blood panel to rule out any medical causes or indication of poor digestion (vitamin B deficiency in particular) as soon as possible