Life with a Senior Dog

 *knock wood* I've not had to do much different with Maggie or the house set up since she hit the "senior" age marker.  She's 9.5yo now. 

I've noticed that she's happy with just short walks more than she used to be, but she'll go for longer ones happily as well.  She does sleep a bit more, and she ends up at the vet's more often (this year it's been bowel troubles related to kennel stress, conjuctivitis, and a broken tooth that required major work).  I've noticed some increased shedding, increased need for food to maintain weight (1/2 cup per day increase), and her eyes are a bit cloudy.

The only changes I've made are more frequent and in depth physical exams at home, increased dental care (rinsing and brushing per our dental vet), added fish oil on my holistic vet's instruction, and a senior blood workup at her annual exams.  We'll likely stop vaccines other than rabies in 3 years when she has her next round (she'll be 12 then), and I'm considering adding a joint supplement this fall as well.
 

REALLY good thread idea.

yeah, I change things periodically with all of them.  Back with Prissy -- my original 'heart' dog that I hauled off the street as a 6-month old throw-away (who had already had a litter) -- had acute pancreatitis along the way but lived to be nearly 21 -- I changed things many times.

When she was about 8-9 we moved to Florida -- her vision had started to get cloudy and ... well, I was never sure if her hearing was as bad as she wanted me to think, or if she just put me on 'ignore' half the time -- but she was aging. 

I began to 'call her' in from the outside by flicking the porch light, I noticed she really wasn't as active, but probably wanted to go 'with' me more.  Generally I let her set the tone -- encouraged her to play and walk, but I also let her find work-arounds for herself.

In particular, I was a new teacher and working incredibly long hours.  Pris had a TOUGH time just elminating on walks -- arthritis has always been a problem for me and long walks were never an option.  So I'd play inside with her (just take bits of cereal and toss them across the floor to chase rather than long walks in the hot outside Florida heat).  If she had to elminate while I was gone, she taught herself to jump in the bathtub and go -- it was simple to clean up and no harm done.  She didn't have to wait too long and I felt better knowing she didn't have to.

Later came the day when I would pick her up and put her on the bed to sleep rather than encouraging her to jump -- it was just too hard and she was reluctant.

With Foxy, that day came FAR earlier for him -- he stopped jumping on/off the bed when he was about 12-13 -- and I gave him pillows to use as steps off the bed.  He developed sciatica around 14-15 and I began massaging him with the White Flower Oil -- for pet therapy we didn't encourage him to walk long distances but rather gave him the wagon to ride in when he tired. 

A wagon can be an AWESOME tool -- get one while they are still pretty able-bodied and drag it with you on a walk.  As soon as you can determine there is ANY pain at all -- have the dog get in and just pull them.  You have to teach them to lie down in it (it can be fun) and we often took it when we went anywhere as a good alternative to lying on cold or wet ground.  It hauled our 'stuff' but made sure the dog didn't 'over-do'.  As they age it's a more and more welcome alternative.

I guess my point is -- if there is somet *thing* that used to be a lot of fun, but now is over-taxing, figure out some way to still *do* it but easier.  Maybe the back yard was THE best place, but there are 7-8 steps to get down there -- do you need a ramp?  Is it tough in the winter?  How about the bedroom -- do you need a ramp to the bed or up to the sofa (if that's allowed?). 

For me it's always been figuring out what THIS **particular** dog defines as THE BEST, and the figuring out how to make it still do-able.

Muffin the Intrepid LOVED his wagon so much.  He didn't 'ride' much  -- but for pet therapy it saved manhandling him to get him 'up' high enough for kids in wheelchairs.  So we just plain left him IN it  -- even when he got sick it made GKTW still *doable* but easier.

Now Kee has always been WAY too short -- she'd have to be picked up to greet every single kid -- so for her the wagon is a necessity all the time.  BUT, as she's aged it completely avoids man-handling her and she just rests longer rather than getting up and down .  But she's accessible.

 But we also use it any time we're going somewhere that's quite a walk -- Kee's old and SLOW, and the wagon just plain makes it EASY.  She can go, but doesn't lag behind.  She walks as much as is comfy for her.

She's light so rather than do ramps we pick her up -- but she never was one to EVER get on the bed (just not part of her 'thing' -- she doesn't like being on the furniture -- probably something she was over-disciplined for in her past life *sigh*).

Food -- that's always according to my vets suggestions.  But with Foxy I began to use an elevated bowl when the sciatica got bad -- not a bloat candidate, but his neck would stiffen and it would actually pain him to eat from the floor.  Now Kee's had some neck issues the last year and HER bowl is slightly elevated -- I don't buy anything - I simply invent something to put the bowl at the perfect height for this particular dog. 

But watching things like bowl height (for water and food) and how EZ it is for them to get up and down from furniture are big deals. 

Also -- since you're in a more northern climate you might want to evaluate where she lies  -- if there is a draft, how cool/hot it is, sunny or not?  I changed Kee's bed for that very reason -- and Foxy started sleeping on the floor of his own choice because it was too hard to get down if he needed to.

Legend is fairly arthritic, so sometimes we have to help him up the three steps to the back porch. Otherwise we haven't really had to change much. We do have to get up at 4 or so in the morning, as he wakes up then and whines until we do. Sometimes he's not able to hold his stool and has an accident, not too often though. He also gets a lot more tidbits in his food, since he doesn't eat great.

He also can no longer go for walks, due to the arthritis, but we take him for car ride at times so he can still get out and about.

Granted, he also has Cognitive Dysfunction syndrome, so that also adds to some of the issues (is the reason for the periodic incontinence, for example) 

Chyna is 10, and has started to slow down a bit. 

We have changed some things, 

•  We've changed her bed from a soft, bean bag style bed to a thick orthopedic foam bed.  She can get up & down much easier in the new bed. 
• She still loves to hike with us, so we bring her along & shorten our hike to accomodate her. 
• We've add fish oil, as well as a joint supplement to her daily meals.

She is treated the same as when she was younger.  I still expect her to behave appropriately, & such.

I can't believe I actually have the gall to say this, since it'll no doubt jinx everything (man..you'd think I'm superstitious..and I'm really not LOL)..but Cherokee really hasn't changed much. She's just about 10 now (her fake birthday is in two weeks), and really the only thing different is she can't always jump into the car anymore. But I'm still not convinced that's an "old dog" thing...there are too many variables. Like her nails are long ATM, she chews up her foot pads every once in a while, it's a bigger car than she's used to, etc. But yeah, besides the mostly gray face? She's still pretty normal... She runs around like a crazy dog, leaps 6 feet into the air to grab possums off the fence, chases the cats any time she's given the chance, tries to eat people..you know, normal stuff.

Though I'm really counting on her making it to AT LEAST 15, so I don't know why I'm surprised.

She does get fish oil, and I'm still attempting to get the Springtime Longevity stuff into her food regularly (she's not a fan of the spirulina taste, apparently)..and I'm considering buying a doggy staircase for her to get onto my bed more easily...but that's about it.

Oh yeah, and I pay WAY MORE attention to her tiredness on walks and stuff... I used to not worry about wearing her out, but now I'm too afraid she'll actually be sore the next day...so less intense exercise is one thing I've changed. And she eats higher protein food, which tends to slim her down and give her better muscle tone, but I'm pretty sure she should've been on higher-protein food her whole life, so that's not really a senior dog thing. She eats Core.

Rupert is 8 this year, he's had arthritis issues most of his life he's a rescue dog from a mom who was 13-15 when she gave birth and was starved for a week while pregnant so he didn't have the best start in life and his body shows it. It's amazing he's here at all really. Two years ago I got a new bedframe with him in mind, one of those ones with the wire mesh to support the matress so it acts like a boxed spring and keeps the whole bed under 24 inches tall, he really likes that tho now he can't get underneath the bed like he used to. I make sure if he sleeps in my room there's always a fresh bowl of water, which I should have done when he was younger too but it's super important now, and that there's pillows on the floor in case he wants them. When it's warm I always make sure there's a fan blowing on his favorite spot to lay, and we got him his own sofa at a sale that's a faux leather and it's a bit shorter than a normal sofa with open arms so he can really sprawl out and stay cool.

No more long walks, there was a time when we could go 2-4 miles, rest half an hour, then get up and play a long game of fetch and soccer but now I've switched to more mental games like "find the cookie" and clickergames like targeting which he really really enjoys and do keep him somewhat active. Rupert is actually just as happy going round the block and peeing on everything as he is going 20blocks. Sometimes I let him be really naughty and I give him a roll of TP or a safe newspaper to shred and just walk away, it's one of his favorite things to do that was discouraged as a pup but now he seems to understand to only to do it when I give the ok.

And of course we groom a lot more, when he was younger grooming was just done because it was needed to keep him healthy, now I sit and watch TV and groom him gently nearly every night and he just goes to sleep and snores and is so relaxed and wonderful about it. That's the most important thing we do I think, it's a very relaxing comforting almost meditative expierence and he really looks/feels great.

I'd love to take him swimming but he's deathly afriad of water and bath is the worst for letter word on the planet, it would help his joints a lot tho. I've been considering using the clicker to introduce him to splashing around in our neighbors pond. It's been a hard decision because I don't want to stress him out too much, when he was younger I wouldn't have thought twice about plunging into doing something new with him but now I'm not so sure that's what's best with such a physical activity.

Of course I treat him differently than when he was a pup or a yearling - he's grown and learned a tremendous amount in just the last three years as have I. Just this winter, all on his own, he figured out to go get my boots when he wanted outside. Some rare days he's frisky and I can still see the pup he was, but mostly he's my familiar companion who knows what I'm going to do before I even think and I make extra sure I tell him what a great dog he is for it.

Max is still  young, but it hasn't been that long since I had a senior dog. Bud developed arthritis when he was 12 and started limping pretty noticeably.  I put him on the glucosamine w/chondroitin that I was taking and the improvement was amazing.  He was actually walking better at 15 than he was at 12. The one thing I felt really bad about was getting a new bed.  He always slept on the waterbed and had no trouble hopping up there since waterbeds sit pretty low.  I traded it in for a  much higher conventional bed because it was just too low for my arthritic knees and Bud couldn't make it up there.  I bought him a ramp and he refused to use it, so I made a nice little bed w/some soft blankets on the floor at the foot of the bed.  His water was right there and he didn't have to get up or down to use the doggy door. Little guy made it to 15-1/2.

Joyce

Emma isn't a senior.... but I treat her like one. She's my "old dog". At 4 1/2, she has a fair amount of arthritis, and is on a limited exersize schedule. She's on joint supplements (Lori, she *loves* Ark Naturals venison jerky strips... if Willow will tolerate them, they're a great way to get the supplements in), and fish oil. She's lifted in and out of the car, where she used to jump. She gets a senior blood panel once a year, and a smaller one in between. She's more prone to injury than your average dog. I keep plenty of beds on the floor, and I don't allow her to fly around the house. She can hop up on the couch to nap, if she wants, but no flying leaps. I keep her feet extremely tightly groomed (no hair between the toes, no hair on the sides... I literally shave up the sides of her feet, a smidge.... and show short nails) to prevent slipping and sliding. I have more rugs, now (since we don't have carpet, and never will... rugs are washable!).

I'm considering a wagon, for her. Every once in a while, she gets sore on an outing, and has to be carried. It humiliates her. She's a "can do" type of dog. She hates being carried. I had to carry her, last week, when we were searching for the Puff puppy, in the heat. It was miserable, for her. A wagon would be much more fun. I could stick an orthopedic bed in there, and teach her to step up for a fun ride.  

Cheyanne just turned 7 in April. I think that is hitting the senior dog age right?

The only thing different I have done has been done for all my dogs. Since coming to this forum I have learned a lot. I have stopped using what I know now is crappy dog food regular purina and pedigree to using way better dog foods. I exercise my dogs more and use different training techniques now.

Cheyanne is a great dog thought and has given me an easy time with her. She has no medical/health problems at all. She lives to make me happy and if she does something I dont think is appropriate all I have to do is correct her once and she wont ever do it again(that I know of)!!

So until she shows me she needs special treatment then I will continue to treat her that same way I have been. 

Me and this dog have done so much together; hiked mountians,'herded' goats, swam in rivers. I havnt done much as far as change besides not pushing him if he looks alittle tired. He gets more car trips then my other two because he is so well behaved. I dont have to worry about him always peeing in the car (Frankies deal) or trying to start something with other dogs (Hams deal).

Buffy is a lab/shar pei mix and she'll be 13 in Nov. In the last 2 yrs I've really noticed the arthritis. She's fine once she's up and moving, but when she's getting up, I can tell she hurts. I have her on a glucosamine supp and it seemed to help some. I just let her take things easy and go at her own pace. She also sleeps more than ever before too. I've also noticed that she has some hearing loss and can be startled easily. All in all, she's doing really well but almost daily I look at her and know that I need to enjoy each and every day with her. It's sad to think of what we'll have to face one day, but hopefully we've got a few more years with her.

Thank you all!  I LOVE reading these posts and I see a little of myself and Willow in each of them.  Keep them coming!

Hmm, let's see. Babe didn't start showing  and acting her age until she was 10 ish, she had been sick for a while due to complications from a car accident when she was younger, but over all she did great. After 10 her age became very apparent to us.

She had a hard time getting on the bed, it was old, and I really needed to change it for my own health, but could not do it. The husband made her some stairs to climb up but she did not trust them, so, we started off the night by helping her up, if she got down during the night she usually then went and slept on a low (8 inches off the floor seat) chair of ours that I put a huge soft cushion pad on. We took her on fewer walks, shorter play times, and at one point had to help her negotiate stairs. I worried the winter she was 11, she loved to fly down the stairs. I would actually go out on winter mornings to make sure there was no ice anywhere on the stairs or the sidewalk for her to get into the yard.

The car was another hurdle cause that girl lived for her car ride. I could wait on the bed but I had to trade in my car and we bought a SUV, not thinking to the future, so I basically would pick her up and put her in the back, pull down one of the seats, let her walk into the backseat area and then put the seat up for her.

Her arthritis got so bad she started bunny hopping, we put her on the glucosamin and other vitamins and they helped for awhile.

Due to her other problems Babe was on a series of pills for about 18 months. She finally started refusing to take them, boy was I scared, but in the end my DH and I said enough, they were helping but they made her misrable, so we stopped them with the knowledge that our time would be shorter. She actually seemed happier. We let her set the pace on all things after she hit 11. If she wanted to play with the fanclub (kids), chase a ball, sit on the porch, whatever it was we let her do it. I do not regret that decision, her last 10 months with us were very happy ones.

Here she is on the porch, in her chair, yes, her chair!

 I bought several orthopedic dog beds (affordable ones, not the $100 kind) and put them in different rooms in the house so that Dakota has her own comfortable spot to lay down. that's the only thing that I can think of. Well, along with joint supplements.