Do you have an aging dog? Here are some senior dog tips.
Senior dog tips can come in handy when you have aging dogs in your family. We currently have several. Our pack includes a 15-year-old (?) chihuahua, an 11-year-old mini Aussie, and three 9-year-old mini Aussies, so we know a little about senior dogs.
We’ve had an elderly boxer who had been neglected, a bonded pair that lost their family (German Shepherd and Australian Shepherd), both of whom were suffering from food allergies and other age-related issues. Over the years, we’ve had several of our own senior dogs that needed help.
While each dog is different, some of the issues are similar. Arthritis and other pain have struck most of our seniors at some point or another. They’ve also had sight or hearing problems. Various health issues pop up from time to time. And some of them have had mental/cognitive issues too.
Senior dog tips
#1 Pay attention to your dog
One of the best senior dog tips I can give personally is to watch your dog. Pay attention to how they’re moving, their mood, appetite, etc. These are all areas where change can indicate pain. Since arthritis tends to catch up with dogs, like humans, it’s to be expected that arthritic pain might be present as we age.
- Notice changes in your dog’s ability to get up
- Watch for limping or stiffness
- Be aware of any changes in their appearance
#2 Treat any pain
If your senior dog is having pain, the best thing to do is to try and relieve it if you can. Good pain relief can go a long way towards helping your dog live a happy life. Talk to your vet and other health professionals about methods to use. Various approaches like these can be helpful depending on the situation. You might consider
- medication
- CBD products
- herbal remedies
- rest
- heat or cold
- mild exercise to loosen up muscles and joints
- alternative methods like reiki, acupuncture, or chiropractic
- cold laser
Since each situation is different, you may need to experiment with several methods, either individually or in combination. Senior dog tips like controlling pain will help your dog feel better overall. Some human medicines can help too. Read this post for more.
#3 Address mobility issues
Since old joints don’t work as smoothly as young ones, your dog might not be getting around as well as they used to. Jumping into cars or up on the bed might be much more difficult than it used to be. Some helpful senior dog tips for mobility are
- Use a ramp so they can get up by themselves or lift them up yourself.
- Take shorter walks since long walks might not be as enjoyable as they once were.
- Use a stroller or wagon to help them get outside if walking is hard.
#4 Support senses that are failing
As they age, many dogs develop cataracts that interfere with their eyesight or lose their eyesight completely. It’s also common for senior dogs to lose hearing acuity. With any of these conditions, the way your senior dog understands their world could change.
You can make changes in the way you do things to help. After all, your dog is still your dog, but you may need to communicate with them differently. Not to mention, a dog that has lost the ability to be aware of the surroundings might panic if things seem unfamiliar. Here are some other senior dog tips to help you help your dog.
- Use hand signals or visual cues since a dog that can’t hear as well won’t hear your voice cues.
- Take extra care to watch out for potential problems since they may not hear the approach of a car or other danger.
Likewise, a dog that has cataracts or other visual impairments might not recognize problems as usual. They could get lost easily or put themselves in danger. See my post Sight loss in dogs for more.
- Provide more light to help them use what vision they have.
- Keep the path they travel clear to prevent them from running into things or tripping.
- Be ready to support them if they get lost or confused.
#5 Be ready for changes in behavior
Since dogs can’t tell us what they’re thinking, we may not be able to determine the cause of many of the changes we notice in their behavior. Their sleeping or eating patterns could change, as well as their mood. They could get lost easily or not understand things that you think they should. And they might have accidents when they didn’t before. FYI, dog incontinence might be caused by a treatable medical condition. Read this post for more info.
While many of these changes can be because of the general slowing down process of aging, dementia could also be a cause. Your dog may not be as on top of things mentally as they once were.
Research shows that a fair number of dogs will develop senility or dementia as they age. Some of the senior dog tips that AKC mentions in this post are
- to stimulate their brains with puzzles and activities that make them think
- add antioxidants to food to slow the deterioration
- check-in with your vet to be sure all issues are being addressed
Other senior dog tips
Dogs are such loyal beings. They’ve spent their whole lives being there for you. Even in the case of a senior that you adopted later in life, they were there for someone else. In any case, they deserve all the respect and love we can give them. Read this post for some ideas to help your senior dog during the summer.
It can be more difficult to take care of a senior dog than it was when they were young and strong. However, it’s doable. And they’d do it for us if the shoe was on the other foot.
Do you have senior dogs in your life? Read The definition of a senior dog if you’re not sure. What kinds of things have you found to help them be happy and comfortable? Tell me about it in the comments below. Read this post for more about my experiences with our senior dogs. Canine diabetes is a health condition that happens as our dogs get older. Read more about it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment