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Our senior dogs are living longer and healthier lives due to better nutrition, owner care and advances in veterinary medicine. Many toy breeds have a life expectancy well into their late teens or early twenties. Many larger breeds have doubled their life spans in the past few decades. What is “old” for a dog? Probably the best definition is the last 25% of your dog’s life. If your small dog is expected to live 16 years then she would become a senior at 12 years of age but if your large dog had a life expectancy of 10 years then he could be classed as “old” at 7.5 years.
Our aging dogs have been our loving companions for many years and we have learned to appreciate their good, or at least predictable, behavior and calm demeanor. However you may have started to notice changes in your dog’s appearance, activity level and disposition. Dogs are sensory creatures and as they age you may notice their senses start to fade. You may have to compensate for and provide adaptive solutions to resolve their sensory problems.
Canine vision can become impaired with age. Certain eye problems like cataracts, glaucoma and dry eye (decreased tear production) will become more prevalent. You may notice hearing loss symptoms when your dog no longer comes when called or startles easily. You will have to adapt and train your pet to recognize hand signals. Declining taste sensitivity or dental disease may result in your dog refusing his meals. You may have to adapt by warming the meal to improve its smell and taste. Your dog’s ability to discriminate between scents and odors may decrease with age and they will have to adapt with one of their other senses to compensate.
Apart from the dulling of your dog’s senses you may notice your dog isn’t as eager to go for walks and you adapt by making the walks shorter. You may also notice that your dog requires more frequent urination and you cut down on his water intake late at night to avoid being woken to let your dog out in the middle of the night. If you have a toy or small dog you may train your pet to use an indoor cat litter box. Similarly you can adapt to a dog with arthritis by providing steps for him to get up onto his favorite couch and minimize problems by slimming your pooch down through diet and exercise.
Our aging dogs have been our loving companions for many years and we have learned to appreciate their good, or at least predictable, behavior and calm demeanor. However you may have started to notice changes in your dog’s appearance, activity level and disposition. Dogs are sensory creatures and as they age you may notice their senses start to fade. You may have to compensate for and provide adaptive solutions to resolve their sensory problems.
Canine vision can become impaired with age. Certain eye problems like cataracts, glaucoma and dry eye (decreased tear production) will become more prevalent. You may notice hearing loss symptoms when your dog no longer comes when called or startles easily. You will have to adapt and train your pet to recognize hand signals. Declining taste sensitivity or dental disease may result in your dog refusing his meals. You may have to adapt by warming the meal to improve its smell and taste. Your dog’s ability to discriminate between scents and odors may decrease with age and they will have to adapt with one of their other senses to compensate.
Apart from the dulling of your dog’s senses you may notice your dog isn’t as eager to go for walks and you adapt by making the walks shorter. You may also notice that your dog requires more frequent urination and you cut down on his water intake late at night to avoid being woken to let your dog out in the middle of the night. If you have a toy or small dog you may train your pet to use an indoor cat litter box. Similarly you can adapt to a dog with arthritis by providing steps for him to get up onto his favorite couch and minimize problems by slimming your pooch down through diet and exercise.
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