Elderly dog club

[Random789]

Is there a long-running thread where people share tips, questions, etc. about living with an elderly dog?

Probably the biggest concern I have at the moment is this paradox: As my terrier (15.5 yo) becomes older and slower I find it harder, not easier, to give him enough exercise. When he was lithe and fast and vigorous we strode together across the countryside for hours and it worked well for both of us. These days, I think he would very happily be out for just as long as before but what he wants to do is stroll for a few yards then investigate a smell immensely throughly for minutes on end, then stroll another few yards ... .

Obviously I'm completely committed to spending time letting him do just that - it's part of his retirement package. But I get nothing out of it. Shuffling slowly about makes me feel really tense, whereas in the past our speedy hiking relaxed me and kept me fit. As a result I know I am short-changing him a bit. I think he should probably have three or more short-to-medium strolls a day to help keep his joints flexible and strong. But he gets one decent-ish walk and one tiny walk that is little more than a toileting opportunity.

I need to make myself do better, and I guess I'm looking for ways to make the walk more fun for both of us (especially me). And I need to find lots of little ways to keep him moving and stimulated at home, too.

Other items for consideration by Elderly Dog Club:

1. How do you minimise the steep cognitive decline associated with your dog becoming profoundly deaf? He seems to be falling into a slightly confused world of his own. And when should I stop letting him off the lead altogether for fear of him becoming confused and bolting off in the wrong direction? We've had a few 'senior moments' on walks when I've had to sprint after him cos he's darted off the wrong way.

1. Creeping incontinence. The poor soul does his best -- he's always been very fastidious. But he is having accidents now and so far I've not been able to teach him to use the puppy pads we put out for him at night.

I am so up for this thread thank you.

I have a labrador who is 15 and a half - the half is very important!

We have the same issue as you, he wants to be out and about but walks are sniffies and looking at the view and very very slow. I have other dogs so have already split into separate walks.

He is totally deaf but over the last few years we have introduced hand signals so he has a recall if he is looking at me and also a down command. He can not sit as he has a dodgy back. I do let him off lead in safe areas and it then amazes me how fast he can move when I am chasing after him when the rest of the time he goes at snails pace! I do use very smelly treats when out and about and he seems to always know where they are so that helps a bit.

I do quite a bit of things with his food and have split his meals into 3 a day just to add a bit more fun to the day. I hide his food in the garden and in the house so he has to hunt for it. He loves this and it does seem to tire him out a bit. I have to make sure the food is off the ground as it is hard for his neck to bend down for long periods though.

He is also having accidents as he has nerve damage in his back ut he is not aware. It has been ok this summer but we are having to rethink when he will be spending more time indoors. Although we do tend to take each day as it comes.

He is also having barking at nothing incidents but I think that is because he cant really hear and is barking at scents.

We use vet bed so if there are night accidents he is kept clean and dry , he also has a choice of beds so can move to a new one in the night if he wants to.

Re reading your thread you do not have to do more. It does sound like you need to add some fast hiking in for your well being - the idea of walking without a dog does seem alien but other people do it apparently I can lend you one of my other ones to take on your fast long hike.

15 (and a half!) is a wonderful age for a lab! Even for my working-type terrier it is elderly, but for a lab it is quite an achievement. You must have taken very good care of him

I like the idea of using food more, and I think I might take some tasties along on his walk and make a game of hurrying him along a bit!

It has been fun to move towards hand signals, and I could try to teach some more, with big food rewards. And hiding food in the garden sounds like a nice idea. I've only really played those games in the house.

I guess he hasn't been all that much of a foodie in the past, but as other sources of pleasure reduce it can become more important. I love treating him and I've started buying the stupidly expensive Lily's Kitchen brand to mix into his kibble.

I would be up for an oldies thread. My old guy will be 15 in one month’s time. He’s a Lurcher, not massive in size, but bigger than a Lab.

We lost our other Lurcher, at the age of 7, in June and I thought we were going to lose our old guy as well, as he rapidly declined in the next couple of weeks, but we changed up his supplements and added in some enrichment and he’s honestly a different dog now.

He has arthritis in his back legs, started showing some cognitive decline and has had a few vestibular episodes, the latest of which has damaged his hearing, but he’s happy, still enjoying life and far more lively and energetic than he was three months ago. He has his annual health check a few weeks back the vet was really pleased with him.

I miss good long, fast paced dog walks too. I’ve never had just one dog before, well not since I took on my first rescue over 30 years ago and we’ve decided it wouldn’t be fair to introduce a pup to the household with our old guy at this stage of his life. The vet said he wouldn’t be surprised if he makes 17 or possibly even 18 at a push and while I would be over the moon to have him with me that long and we are making sure we appreciate every precious day, I will admit I am also mourning the loss of the more active aspects of having a dog in our lives.

I have purchased an extending lead for the first time ever, purely because he can’t hear to recall properly. (I picked a fairly hefty tape one with a dayglo yellow tape, as I hate the ones you can’t see that get tangled and cause rope burns.) Not such a problem with me, as he tends not to go far from my side, but dh has had a few problems with him following the wrong man in the park! His hearing has actually improved week by week, since the vestibular episode, but he still can’t hear well enough for recall from any distance. He seems to respond really well to the new lead and seems to feel the click of the brake down the tape as a signal to recall now instead.

He has a snuffle mat of different texture, flavour and sized treats every day and I put that on a large storage box, so that he doesn’t have to reach down to get to it. He really loves it and starts telling me off if I am even five minutes late getting it ready!

Since his hearing has deteriorated we have noticed he is a lot more sniffy in general and follows his nose constantly, as well as standing sniffing while he’s in the garden or out on walks. He loved the windy weather yesterday and spent ages sniffing the air.

Since I’ve changed his supplements, he’s started having a mad half-hour in the evenings again, like he did when he was younger, which has been lovely - and he seems to have got his cheeky side back as well, so he’ll pretend to do something he knows he’s not allowed to then do a whirl and go all wiggly when I tell him not to, as it to say ‘ah ha, gotcha!’.

The cognitive side of things definitely improved after a couple of weeks on Aktivait. It’s not cheap, but he went from being up and restless in the night moving from bed to bed and standing staring, to sleeping through. Some of that could also be the improvement in his arthritis as well though, as I suppose if he’s more comfortable he will sleep better.

Your lurcher sounds lovely, and so many of the things you describe resonate with me -- e.g., the air sniffing, following the wrong people . I even have the same dayglo yellow extending lead!

I'm so sorry to hear about your younger dog dying.

I have tried various supplements over the last couple of years and never found anything that made a noticab;e diference, but I here so many stories like yours, in which supplements do help significantly. I must keep on trying with that., and willl look into Aktivait. At the moment I am not supplementing his food - although he does have good quality 'senior' kibble, which I guess has supplements built in.

I googled the snuffle mat and it looks fab. Might give that a try too.

I agree about not introducing a puppy at this stage. I must admit that my wayward, disloyal eyes are sizing up every gorgeous young dog that I meet, but it would be so hard on an older, mildly confused dog to have an upstart in the house. And my poor dear terrier is a bit fighty. The sight of one of his special enemy dogs knocks ten years off his age and turns him into the young Robert De Niro blistering with conflict.

There was a great discussion last night on CAMS facebbok page between Hannon Capon and Daniel Mills re pain and behaviour. They touched on cognitive decline and said it was often pain and increasing pain meds can help what appears to be cognitive decline as Moose says the walking about at night could be due to discomfort.

I know it depends on the dogs but I have found the oldies can love having a puppy around (as long as you do make sure the oldie has his chill time) As puppies are on short walks, the oldies can come on some of them and also the socialisation trips can include the oldie just to mooch around BUT every dog is different and every situation is different. Also how much time we all have to spend on them separately.

My old boy is up and mooching this morning standing into the wind and letting his ears blow freely .

I’ve never found a supplement that helps enough on it’s own and even when they do help it tends to take a month to start seeing any results. When I did more research I found that none of the standalone supplements had the right combinations and quantities of active ingredients to be effective on their own.

The Canine Arthritis site is really useful for accessing proper research re their effectiveness. I used that as a starting point and have changed things up as I’ve gone along. Aktivait is recommended by vets and is backed up by proper research studies on the active ingredients.

I had him on the strongest Yumove, high strength Omega oil capsules, Seraquin, turmeric and Aktivait, plus a basic dog multi-vit. Aktivait and the turmeric were the ones we saw the most improvement with.

We have been able to reduce his veterinary pain meds by half a pill a day since we got the balance right, which gives us somewhere to go if he overdoes things and hurts himself. Before I did all the supplements we were talking to the vet about adding in more veterinary meds for his pain and they were telling us to start adding in paracetamol on bad days.

Since then I have done a bit more research and am starting him on Riaflex, which has higher doses and guaranteed pure medical grade ingredients. Apparently that’s what vets tend to use on their own elderly dogs. I spent a whole day reading all the research and calculating doses and we’ve dropped the Seraquin and Yumove to make sure he’s not getting too much of anything.

Fortunately, he’s such a glutton that he will just eat any supplements I give him straight out of his bowl. In fact I was adding the Seraquin tablets to his snuffle mat, as he liked them so much!

We knew getting a pup was a no with our boy. He was eight when we brought the dog we lost recently home as a pup and he was really unimpressed, even back then. It’s not that he doesn’t like pups, he loves a little greet or play with them on walks, he just likes his own space at home. He came to us as a pup when we had two elderly female dogs, didn’t cope well with losing them and I think he adopted their old lady ways from a young age!

We had already discussed what we want to do longer term and had already decided we wanted to get a pure breed pup next time. We have had rescues for over 30 years and will again, I’m sure (our long-term plan when we’re too old for pups is to take on the oldies that rescues struggle to rehome) but our last rescue boy’s life was a constant battle with health issues having a knock on effect with behaviour and eventually losing him to a truly horrific condition which required 24/7 nursing - all caused by his bad start and we can’t face going through that again for a while. We have done a lot of research and are going for a completely different breed than we’re used to. I am in touch with a breeder and she knows we definitely won’t be wanting a pup anytime before 2022 at the earliest and is happy to keep us on her list until we’re ready.

I came down to find my boy all snuggled up under a blanket this morning. My daughter said he looked cold! It’s odd seeing him under a blanket (he’s has a thick coat, not the greyhoundy type fur) as he’s always been one to overheat and take himself off to lie on the kitchen floor tiles, but he definitely seems to enjoy being tucked up warm these days. He’s snoring away with a very contented look on his face at the moment.

This is all lovely. There are so many points I want to respond to in both posts, but I am meant to be working . So I just wanted to quickly say how nice it is to read all these little details of life with an older dog.

I definitely feel a deepening of my love for my dear old dog. Or perhaps just a changing of it. Something about their new vulnerability makes everything more tender and precious.

Lockdown has been lovely for our dog. We are with him almost 24/7. Homeworking means lovely, quiet togetherness without either of us putting any demands on the other. Just being.

My boy has loved having us all home for lockdown as well. It means there’s always someone around for a fuss. He’s become a bit of a diva though and will grumble and give hard ‘paddington stares’ if you walk through the room without giving him a fuss! Dh has just started going into the office a couple of times a week and ddog won’t speak to him for a couple of hours after he comes home.

He’s enjoying the windy weather again this morning. Been out for a snuffle and air sniff and is now snoozing away back under his blankie.

I know what you mean about the change/deepening of your feelings for them. Sometimes he looks so little and old (he’s not little at all, it’s more an energy thing) and the feeling of needing to protect him and surround him with love and comfort is overwhelming. I think that’s probably what dd is feeling too, when she insists he needs to be tucked in. I love to just sit watch him snoozing away comfortably. I’m under a blanket on the sofa myself today, so we’re a creaky old pair together.

He often reminds me of my grandparents when they started getting old and vulnerable. That mix of petulance and cheekiness alongside the vulnerability.

Golden oldie here too. Mixed breed of unknown age, maybe around 14/15.
Also having vestibular issues, touch of arthritis, deafness and diminished eyesight.
I'm working from home which she is quietly enjoying and snoozes away most of the day.
I do most walks on leads as some days she's reluctant to come and I think she can't see me, but the lead lets her know I am there. Then she plods along.
Some days she is full of beans and will skip and run about, other days it seems an effort to do anything.
She's on supplements which have made an appreciable difference and occasional doses of paracetamol if she starts limping.
Walks need to be fairly short and not fast otherwise she is stiff the next day, but she does maybe 2 or 3 short walks and one slightly longer, maybe 40 minutes a day. With much sniffing! Oh my god the sniffing!

We have had a lot of success with Riaflex and green lipped mussel - it is the highest strength on the market. Really noticeable if we stop using it for a few days.

Hi Beamur

My boy is the same. Exercise has to be steady and not too much or he’s really stiff the next day. He seems to do better with two or three short walks, rather than one long one. Standard routine is once round the local/small park with me in the morning and a short walk in the evening with dh.

That’s good to know @PollyRoulson. I’ve read really good things about it and it compared well with the levels in the studies I read.

We have just been finishing up the last of the Yumove and Seraquin, as I had them on subscription so had a couple of boxes of each and he’s due to start the Riaflex this weekend. I need to source some green lipped muscle for him though, as he was getting that from the Yumove.

All this research has definitely changed the way I will approach raising a pup next time as well. I have never considered supplementation to support healthy bone development before - although I was a raw feeder for years till we moved here anyway - but will make sure I’m doing the right things to support prevention of future problems this time. (In addition to the no jumping up, no stairs, limit exercise rules.) I’ve not had an arthritic dog before. I think my boy’s issues are connected to his obsession with tennis ball chasing. I put a stop to it as soon as I found out how bad it is for them, but I suspect the damage was already done by then in his case.

You can get Green lipped mussel from Riaflex

I agree re activities I do with my current dogs - we do play ball but it is always running to a dead ball but more often keeping the dogs in a wait and the searching for a hidden ball.

Beamur sounds like yours is doing well but agree about the sniffing - it reminds me of walking with toddlers when they wanted to pick up every leaf they saw or jump in every puddle

Thank you PollyRoulson I have no idea how I missed that on their website. Will get some ordered asap.

That’s what we did. Changed from throwing balls to only releasing when ball was stopped and then on to hiding and searching. He’s still a pain if he sees someone else with flinger and tennis ball in the park though!

I think this thread has helped me to understand better that concerns about cognitive decline (not just joint health) are an important reason for my feeling I should be walking my dog lots more.

When he could hear, the time spent just lying around at home was active, as he would be procressing all the household sounds, and working out which of his many jobs they required him to perform - bee chaser, yoghurt-pot licker, doorman, hamster assassin, etc. Now it is just blankness for him a lot of the time.

And I can't enrich his day by giving him random cuddles whenever I pass because he has never ever liked being given a lot of physical affection. He tolerates it politely but it makes him anxious. Especially now that he can't hear me approach, I have to allow for the fact that any physical contact could seem at first like a threat.

I had a trawl around Pets At Home for enrichment toys, but they all looked a bit rubbish. I may well buy a snuffle mat, and I am racking my brain for home-made versions of foraging toys.

I have also been looking again at the supplements that are out there. Still pondering that tho, as I don't really trust the marketing claims that are made. A lot of the research has to be viewed carefully, too, since the information is often so filtered through the PR of the companies that sell this stuff. I think I might buy a simple turmeric supplement, since it is easier to get unbiased info about a natural substance than about a proprietary substance.

Oh thank you for this thread, my two are not quite as senior as most of yours; Springer Spaniel who is 12 and has recently just lost his Spring (Now ambles on the beach rather than tearing after the ball) and we have an 11 year old Boxer who still does ‘helpful’ things like lie on him.

Just this afternoon Spaniel having a nice nap on his favourite sofa, Boxer toddles up and just lies on top of him. I noticed Max trying to get away and had to call Del off the sofa so Max had some space. Most unusual, Del has been glued to Max since she was eight weeks old, sleeps on him, eats with him, share an enormous basket next to the fire, share sofa, sunspots etc etc.. but today she just seemed too heavy for him. Goodness knows how we explain to Del that Max is slowing down and he may not want 28kg of adoring Boxer constantly sat on him. Anyone with any advice? She sits on him like this but usually further up his body.

Random I tend not to go by research highlighted by supplement manufacturers. I’d rather do my own research and look at the results of human trials as well as veterinary. I wish I’d saved it all now, so I could signpost. I’m already a member of a few sites for peer reviewed journals and studies though, which makes access a bit easier.

toria658 your two are beautiful. Not really sure what to suggest re persuading your Boxer not to squish your Spaniel, especially as she’s been doing it for so long. I suppose it makes sense to try and make sleeping separately more rewarding, but not really sure that’s possible, as what could be better than a cuddle?

@moosemama, I might piggyback on your research by going for the Riaflex. Presumably the product called Canine Joint Plus is the one to go for?

I wonder how palatable it will be, since it is a powder and has no added flavouring. My dog is' sometimes a bit reluctant to eat meds/supplements that I try to smuggle in. I might try mixing it with an expensive chunk of Lily's Kitchen.

Yes, it’s the Canine Joint Plus.

He hasn’t had any yet (was supposed to start it today, but I’d miscalculated and we still had a few of his other supplements to finish off) so I can’t comment on how palatable it is, but he’s a greedy lad who’ll generally eat anything I put in front of him - except cucumber or spinach! He has a small spoonful of Chappie with his kibble these days, so hopefully it will mix into that ok, especially with it being particularly stinky. I now feel I should explain why we give him crappy Chappie. It’s because it was the only food our other boy could tolerate when he was seriously ill and we started giving him a spoonful as well, so he didn’t feel left out. I didn’t have the heart to stop giving it to him once he was used to it and it is only the one spoonful.

Dont worry too much about deafness restricting his life Random. Smell is sooooo important to dogs and they can cope well without their other senses.

I know you say he is not much of an eater but most dogs love scavenging so as mentioned before scatter feeding is fab.

Also just put a small amount of 6 different foods on a tray and see which he likes. Most dogs sniff them, refuse or love certain textures. Berries, veg, bit of meat small bit of cheese etc. As for us different foods are fun to try or they may just turn their noses up at some. And fun to see what the do and do not like eg Mooses' cucumber. Apparently my lab will eat cauliflower over cheese Tail wagging all the time.

Licky mats are another way to encourage them to sniff and stimulate them.

"Bimble walks" are also great just take a long line and go to a new area and just mooch _ hard for us but the dogs love it, they can sniff, and just mooch. Mine will sleep for hours after this. I dont think you need to walk him more.

My fussy collies will eat food with canine plus on it, so I guess it is not too bad but I have not eaten it myself

Has anyone mentioned Belly Bands? very handy for older lads.
Lick mats and snuggle mats are good for
busy minds and there’s quite a few puzzles you can DIY

*snuffle

If you ever get one of those Amazon deliveries where you have one tiny product in the bottom of a massive box, accompanied by 20 metres of brown paper, save it. Put some favourite treats at the bottom, replace the paper and let them find the treats. Mine other lad always loved shredding the paper when they’ve finished finding the treats as well. Kitchen towel or loo roll inners with treats inside and the ends folded in are good as well.

I noticed a local trainer had some really good lickmats that had deeper sections so you could freeze things into them. Keep meaning to look those up.

My boy used to love his kong wobbler, but I got rid of it when it was getting the two dogs overexcited and causing friction between them. Might order another one now I’ve remembered how much he loved it though.

I freeze oralade into ice pops for him in the summer as well. He makes a right mess chasing them around the kitchen floor as they melt, but he really loves doing it!

SBTLove We haven’t had any problems that a bellyband would help with - yet. Is that always a thing as they get old do you think or might we be lucky?

I don’t think dribbling always is an issue but possibly more with boys 🙄
It’s hard watching them age, one of my girls is 17mths post cancer, she’s just turned 9 and her illness has aged her, she’s slowing down and stiff elbows whereas my 10yr old runs like the wind!
We’ve been predicted a life expectancy of approx 64 months after her cancer all clear and I’m determined to make as much as possible of every day and to make life as fulfilling and comfortable as possible, she truly is my once in a lifetime dog; perfect girl 🥰