“His teeth are in great shape for a dog his age,” our new vet said.
A DOG HIS AGE?! I thought. WHAT is she talking about? He’s a PUPPY!
I was indignant.
It was the same sort of angry annoyance I felt the first time I didn’t get carded…
But, of course, he’s not a puppy. My little, huggy-bear, smoochy-face Lucas is 7ish years old. According to the ASPCA, “Most dogs enter their golden years between seven and 10 years of age, with large/giant breeds becoming seniors earlier than small breeds.” At around 80 pounds, Lukey’s a pretty large breed… and lest we forget his genetic ancestry.
Add that to Emmett’s 10ish years, and we’ve got the beginnings of a retirement community going on over here!
In truth, when I stepped back and thought about it, I realized we’ve been making subtle accommodations for them without ever giving conscious thought to the aging process.
We put a bench at the foot of our bed because Lucas was having a difficult time jumping up. Now, Emmett won’t jump up on the furniture at all, so I placed a dog bed in my office (while the other two usually lounge on the furniture like so, Emmett was always on the floor as shown in that pic… not good for his aging bones). We feed them less, though we’ve increased our exercise regimen. They both get joint supplements. Lucas can’t jump into the back of my SUV anymore, so we taught him to put his front paws up, then we lift his back, though I think we may be investing in a ramp in the near future.
All these changes happened incrementally. We barely even noticed, really.
On the one hand, I guess that shows they’re aging well.
On the other, it shows that we need to be more cognizant of their elderly pup status.
A few things I’m thinking about:
- Purchasing more rugs. Our house is all wood, and Lucas is starting to show signs of his back legs slipping on the wood as he tries to get up. (Added bonus, it’ll help Newt gain traction when Cooper is in all-out chase mode.)
- Adding pumpkin to their diet to encourage digestive health.
- Replacing (or repairing, if possible) the worn out dog beds that don’t have any cushion left.
- Scheduling twice-a-year checkups with the vet instead of just an annual shot fest.
What am I missing? Are you currently accommodating a senior dog? Any tips or tricks? What’s working for your senior pup?
In a way, that’s kind of hard to wrap my head around, the seven year mark. That just seems to be so near, even though Ray isn’t even two yet and Julius isn’t even one. I remember many a morning last year, sitting on the floor with a shark-mouth puppy, crying because I’d have to “endure” that for sixteen more years. Now that Ray is a beautiful soul with no shark mouth, I say time is already moving too fast.
Isn’t it amazing how quickly it flashes by… Although, I was right there with you in wishing the shark-mouth stage would be over even faster! 🙂
A bit of coconut oil works wonders for aging dogs. I started adding a small amount to my dog’s food the first time he refused to go on a walk (the horror!). It helps with achy bones and all sorts of issues like dry paw pads, dull coats, etc. The high quality virgin oil also does wonders for humans.
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/
Great suggestion, Sarah! Thank you so much! I’m going to order some for these guys ASAP!
I totally recommend the Up & Out lift harness by Outward Hound (Kurgo makes a similar product too)….when Kuma (a 90 lb choc lab) was unable to make it up the stairs or into the car on his own, it was a true back saver!!!! At only $10 everyone with a larger, older dog should own one!!! It even helped with walking outside to take care of his business when the ground was slippery…..which was often in January in Colorado!
SMH! Jenifer, THANK YOU for this suggestion! We actually have one of those from waaay back in the day when Emmett was thisclose to losing a leg to cancer. I stuffed it deep in a closet when that, thankfully, didn’t happen. I’m going to pull it out, dust it off, and size it for Lucas!! Seriously, thank you! 🙂
Awww…. Titan has used a ramp ever since his first leg pull. I’m so scared of hip dysplasia and stuff and don’t let him jump around too much. But with the new durango, he uses a step to get into the side door. Much easier on him. Ramps are awesome to have around the house too, if you have steps to go down outside, as we do. It’s hard to think of our babies growing older and always depresses me. My boy is not even 5 yet so I’m unable to offer any other advice, but I’ll definitely be reading the comments as at times I feel Titan is 4.5 going on 9. 😉
Ramps around the house is a great idea. We have steps EVERYWHERE and he does struggle sometimes, like after an extra long walk or a rough play session with Cooper. Great suggestion! Thank you!
It’s tough to admit when your pups are aging, but the signs are there. We’ve had seniors for the last 7-8 years and will probably always adopt seniors now. We wrote an article about this for Dogster last month with some additional tips.
Thanks for the tip! Clicking over there to check it out now…
I think the ramp for getting in and out of the vehicle is a great idea. when we were looking for our new house I so wanted a bungalow so my boy could sleep up in our room again, we couldn’t find one that suited our needs so he continued to sleep in the family room. we used a harness to get him up and down the stairs in the house however, he fell (slid) down the stairs a few times when we werent expexting him to go up. we ended up blocking the stairs so he didnt have any more accidents. we did use a ramp to go up and down the deck stairs, worked very well.
the rugs/carpets are a must on the hardwood floors as they get older. I miss my senior, he was a senior for more than half his life, there is a reason they call them golden years. going to go have a cry now
In the house we’re renting in Houma, the master br is on the first floor. Since that’s where he sleeps, it’s made it a lot easier because in Bloomington, he had just made the decision to stop coming upstairs almost nightly, which broke my heart! Someone recently suggested checking a warehouse sale for cheapo rugs, so that’s on my to do list. And I’m so, so sorry for the tears 🙁 Truly.
Kiva, our shepherd mix, is 15 years old and has degenerative myelopathy. Over the past few years as the disease has progressed, we’ve covered all hardwood and tile floors with area rugs and runners. To keep her weight down as her activity has decreased, she eats a good low-fat novel protein (kangaroo) kibble, and she now eats smaller meals 3x/day rather than larger ones 2x daily. We mix in pumpkin at lunch.
We walk her around the house to reach the backyard, rather than have her climb stairs. As the years have gone by, we’ve done things like instead of one long walk per day, we’d do two shorter ones. Instead of weekend hikes, we took her for weekend swims. And since her disease affects her esophageal muscles, we clip her leash to a harness now rather than a collar.
Her mind is still sharp and eager, so as her hearing has decreased, I’ve taught her hand signals — she picked them up very quickly and she really enjoys our training time.
Twice-a-year (or more) vet visits are a really smart idea because you’ll want to monitor blood levels, especially if they begin to take medication. Most important, make sure to brush teeth and practice good oral care while they are younger! It will help so much as they age.
Hope these ideas have been useful! I volunteer with The Grey Muzzle Organization, and they are a really good source for tips on maintaining senior dog health. http://www.greymuzzle.org and @GreyMuzzleOrg on Twitter.
Those are super helpful tips, Christine. Thank you so much for taking the tip to share your experience. I’ll be taking those suggestions to heart! And I just followed Grey Muzzle on Twitter… can’t wait to check out their tips!
I think that no matter how old us dogs get..our sapiens will always view us as puppies. I’m turning 2 and I am sure at age 7…I will act the same. So I don’t blame you for being thrown off with that comment
YES!!! My Lukey runs around like a young pup more days than not, so it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around his aging. Thanks for the insight, Ruckus!
That’s all sounding very familiar! We put carpeted stair treads on our wooden stairs, to help with the traction on those. We also have a small set of stairs going up to our bed. We’re also looking at adding coconut oil to their diet. We need to get out the ramp that we have somewhere for the vehicle too.
I hate the thought of putting throw rugs around….they’re so hard to keep clean, so right now we are using the slipper socks for Kobi to give him traction in the house.
I need to look at the up and out harness that Jenifer mentioned above. Sheba is on restriction now until we figure out why she’s limping, and we have so many stairs in our house!
When Daisy was older, she had arthritis and hip dysplasia, so the wooden floors were a little harder for her. The major things that helped her at age 11-12 were blocking the stairs at night, a bed in each room (or her favorite: air mattress topped with an old down comforter), and inexpensive welcome mat sized rugs from Tuesday Morning in doorways and in front of furniture plus a couple longer ones in the hallway.