Gemma Colson (founder of Forever Frosted Senior Dog Sanctuary) and Woofability’s Linda Goodman share their experiences and thoughts on how dementia affects the human-dog bond. Because sometimes, the heartbreak goes both ways.
Boo’s Story: by Gemma Colson, founder of Forever Frosted Senior Dog Sanctuary
Although his health has me permanently worried, I don’t sleep well because he has to sleep right on me, he pees on absolutely everything, and he barks relentlessly if I’m eating and not sharing, I love this tiny boy so, so much.
Boo came to us as an owner surrender in November 2025. Boo didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t misbehave. He didn’t “fail” anyone. The person he loved simply began to forget him. Dementia is cruel like that. It steals memories, routines and familiarity.
He was surrendered not because he wasn’t loved, but because love alone couldn’t meet his needs anymore. And I can only imagine how confusing that must have been for both Boo and his loving owner… to go from being each other’s whole world to suddenly being parted.
I think that’s why Boo clings so tightly now. Somewhere along the way, Boo became invisible in the only world he had ever known. Not intentionally. Not cruelly. But because dementia is cruel enough on its own.
For many people living with dementia, pets are more than companions. Dogs provide comfort, routine, emotional support and unconditional love during an incredibly frightening time. They can reduce loneliness and anxiety and offer a sense of purpose when so much else feels uncertain.
We often talk about dementia in terms of memory loss, but we don’t always talk about the ripple effect it has on the animals who share people’s homes and hearts. That grief exists on both sides. For the owner losing a beloved companion. And for the dog suddenly losing the person who was their entire world.
Boo needs constant reassurance. He needs to know someone is there. He needs to sleep touching another person, as though he’s frightened of being left behind again. And honestly, I’m deeply honoured to be his person now. To know that he wakes up every day safe, loved and no longer wondering where he belongs.
But Boo’s story also made me think about the people living with dementia themselves, and what happens to the bonds they share with their dogs as memories begin to disappear.
Watching Dementia Change My Mum’s Relationship with Dogs: By Linda Goodman
My mum loved dogs. She adored them in the way true dog people do… talking to them like family, remembering every little quirk, asking about them constantly and lighting up whenever she saw them.
Because she’s in Australia and I’m in the UK, we video called every week and she would immediately ask to see my dogs. Her whole demeaner changed when they appeared on screen. She smiled. She spoke to them. She knew all of their names and called them her grandpups.
One of the very first signs that something was wrong was when I realised that she kept referring to them as her grandpups because she couldn’t remember their names. It was a moment that really hit me.
Because these were dogs she loved deeply, their names had always come naturally to her. Forgetting them felt impossible… until it wasn’t.
As the Alzheimer’s progressed further, things became even harder. In time she didn’t recognise me or know I was her daughter anymore. It has been devastating.
Even though she no longer knew who I was, showing her my dogs each week still seemed to reach her in a way other things couldn’t. Although she no longer knew them as individuals, just the sight of them made her smile. Not because the dogs mattered more than anything else, but because they represented something so deeply connected to who my mum was. Her love for animals had always been part of her identity. Watching that connection slowly disappear felt like watching tiny pieces of her disappear too.
And yet, even when recognition faded, emotion sometimes remained.
She would still smile watching them move around on screen. Sometimes she would laugh at something they did. There were still flashes where dogs seemed to reach a part of her untouched by this cruel disease, and whenever dogs visited the care home, she would always stroke them gently and smile.
That’s what makes the bond between humans and dogs so extraordinary. It exists somewhere very deep in our consciousness. Deeper than memory alone.
Dementia affects entire families, and often the animals within them too. For some families, heartbreaking decisions have to be made.
And for dogs like Boo, the confusion and loss can be enormous. Dogs notice change. They notice disrupted routines, forgotten walks, emotional withdrawal and uncertainty. Some become anxious or clingy. Others become withdrawn or distressed.
That’s why stories like Boo’s matter. And why conversations around dementia and pet ownership matter too. Because behind every surrender is often not a lack of love, but illness, grief and impossible choices. And behind every dog waiting for reassurance may be a story of someone who loved them deeply, right until dementia made holding on impossible.
Forever Frosted Senior Dog Sanctuary
For more than a decade, Gemma and Dan have dedicated their lives to caring for senior dogs who have nowhere else to go. They live in Lincolnshire, sharing their home and hearts with dogs abandoned because they are old, surrendered due to medical conditions, or overlooked simply because they move a little slower and cost a little more.
Their mission is simple: to ensure that no senior dog in their care spends their final chapter unwanted or alone. They are committed to providing lifelong sanctuary, medical support and compassionate end-of-life care… honouring every dog for who they are and the life they have already given.
They cannot change their past.
But they can change how their story ends.
And for Gemma and Dan, that means everything.
If you would like to follow Forever Frosted Senior Dog Sanctuary and help support their sanctuary, please visit the links below:
WOOFABILITY 