Any dog owner will hopefully find themselves (at some point) living with an older dog. It is inevitable that dogs will grow older as we do, but what does that mean for your dog, you and your lifestyle/routine?
We adopted both Candy & Ozzy when they were 2 and 1, and we are now in the incredibly fortunate position to now have 2 senior dogs. Candy will be 12 this year and Ozzy will be 10.
Just like humans, getting older means that they will get slower, they may struggle to control their weight a little more (they could lose or gain weight quickly) and they may not be as alert as they once were in their younger years. Unfortunately it sometimes means that they will have ailments that are connected with old age too.
For this blog, I will mostly be talking about Candy as she is almost 12. According to the Blue Cross, dogs enter the middles aged/senior age around 7. For insurance perspectives, many will class a senior dogs as being 8 and above. I will add here that Candy was just into her senior years when she was officially diagnosed with hip dysplasia and spondylosis. She had symptoms for a while but lucky we have a fabulous vet who identified them, verified with scans and treatment commenced to make her more comfortable.
at the age of 11 🐾
We have noticed with Candy that she has lost a little weight, without really trying and this is mostly due to muscle waste as she is not as active due to her conditions. This has also slowed the old girl down. May older dogs however will put on weight because they are less mobile. We went through this stage with Candy and we have now adjusted her diet to allow for using less calories, and have introduced better, more entertaining treats/games. Both dogs are on a mature dog food.
I will dive straight in here and advise that looking after your slower dog is imperative. We have Ozzy who is a stream train and will keep on walking, and doesn’t seem to slow down so keeping up with him was causing Candy to become distressed and often we were over walking her which then caused her to be serious amounts of pain and discomfort for days after. To ensure that she still gets exercise and we have family walks, we invested in a pet stroller. This is not an accessory to make my dog look cute (although she pulls it off incredibly well!), this is a necessary tool to give my dog the best life that she deserves. Candy will walk as much as she wants (or until we decide for her!) and then she will hop in her stroller and enjoy the smells, the environment and being outdoors with us all.
I will get a negative out of the way because there is just 1 negative with having a dog in a stroller…ignorant people! We have unfortunately experienced some awful comments about our stroller but these are so in the minority, they don’t even matter. Having a happy and healthy dog, as well as being together as a family and Ozzy having all of the exercise he needs and wants is FAR MORE important than the opinion of someone who doesn’t matter. If you have a spare few minutes, this is a link to our Facebook post regarding this topic and we were so unbelievably overwhelmed with the responses! So many people loving the stroller life, many more now investing in one after our post and all the lovely comments and more positive, dog loving people out there than I ever expected to read, or care about our post.
In addition to the stroller, we also use supplements to support Candy’s condition and generally help her older joints. We use YuMove (the strongest ones for older dogs) and a mix of Joint drops and turmeric supplements. These are specific to dogs, and I would always advise that you seek advise from your vet before you add anything to your dog’s diet, especially if they are on medication. Ozzy for example, can’t have turmeric in his diet as he is epileptic and would affect his meds.
We made the decision a few years ago to ban ball play, or certainly over a considerable distance. We thought we were being great parents taking them over the fields and endlessly launching a ball across the field for them to retrieve (they are Labradors after all). We later found out that the sudden stop/start was causing Candy more harm than good so we decided that it was time to knock that on the head. Such a shame as playing ball was their fave game but we still manage to stimulate their minds with other activities.
Older dogs do start to feel the cold a little bit more too, now I’m not one for dog coats (more so because our two wouldn’t keep them on long enough!) but I do make sure that they are dried off as soon as they come in from the wet and Candy does have a lovely warm, memory foam, snuggly bed from SilentNight. There are also blankets in her stroller too.
You may notice that your dog may start being a little more ignorant…or are they? A older dogs senses will start to change as they get older. Noticeably their sense of smell and hearing will change. We sometimes think that Candy might be ignoring us, but just like your Nan or Grandad would lose some of their hearing, dogs do too. I notice that Candy’s ear wax builds up a little bit quicker than Ozzy’s so I do notice that when I give her ears a wipe or use an ear cleaner, her hearing does improve. This will also reduce the risk of any infections too, regardless of their age.
So, what else do we notice with Candy? We have noticed that as she has got older, she can have days where she doesn’t want to know us much at all, or she can have days where she cannot leave our side. I think we all have days like that though don’t we? Candy is an incredibly independent dog, so the days where she likes to be on her bed or go any lie outside in the sunshine, we do not take offence. Equally, the days where you cant walk without falling over her because she is right at your feet is just as lovely and I will always welcome cuddles on the sofa after a long day. I have noticed that on this point, she has become a little more anxious. I am unsure if this is lockdown life, or the fact that she is getting older. Candy has never been bothered by being left, or by fireworks for example, but these last 12 months I have noticed that she barks more or is curling up more tightly on those nights when fireworks are being let off. When we are allowed out, we leave the telly on for them to try and combat any external noise or I have the radio on when working from home so that there is noise in addition to my constant Teams or Zoom chats. That way, when we are out at work, she will have the noise that she is used to. I have a separate blog on helping anxious dogs so please take a look.
We allow our dogs wherever they want to go so beds and sofas are not out of bounds. We noticed that Candy could no longer get up on them, so we have introduced stairs/ramps to assist her and we support her getting in and out of the car either by lifting her in, or using the ramp too. We do not want her to jump up and catch her back legs but want her to maintain the comfort she has always had.
Candy’s fur has changed over the years and I notice that she needs a little more grooming than before, especially on her legs where a couple of ‘knots’ appeared so we try and give her a brush and a massage regularly. In addition to her fur changing, Candy has a couple of ‘hot spots’, this is where little bald patches appear and normally is due to how dogs tend to throw themselves down on the floor. I use some coconut oil or YuMove skin cream on these to stop them drying out and cracking, and we have seen that some hair has strated to grow back too. Bonus! We have noticed as Candy has got older, that a few lumps and bumps have appeared. We made the decision to have them all checked out and removed as they were getting quite big and we wanted to rule out any issues. We were very fortunate that they all came back clear. Please seek advice if you notice any lumps or bumps.
Finally, we haven’t yet experienced any ‘accidents’ due to Candy’s age or condition but I am sure they will come. What I would advise on any accident is that they are exactly that…an accident. Whilst they should be reminded that indoors is not for weeing or pooing, please be mindful of their bodies changing, and if you notice an increased need to go outside for the toilet, please make allowances for this. We all know what it is like to be desperate for the loo, and a dog is no different. For when the accidents do happen, I mop them up, clean and disinfect the area and I do not comment positively or negatively. Even the slightest ‘oh, its ok Candy’ could confuse her that it is ok to start going to the loo indoors and no one wants that. If there is any staining on the carpet (yes we are a dog household and have carpet because I didn’t want them slipping on the floor and hurting themselves!), I use the Dr Beckmann cleaner (with the brush attachment) – it works wonders and doesn’t cause you to over scrub the carpet. For over 20 years I’ve been obsessed with Zoflora so there are sprays and bottles everywhere so for sure this gets used to! That’s normal day to day life though for me…zoflora in my mop every morning and used in the wash for their bedding etc too!
I’m dreading the pair of them getting really old so for now I’m embracing their changes and learning as each day comes. I’d like to think that someone will be kind to me when I’m old so I will be exactly that to my dogs…always!
If you have any questions or suggestions as always, get in touch! We love hearing from you all. For now, take care, enjoy the sunshine with your doggies ☀️
Best wishes, Sam xx
*Please always speak to your vet if you are concerned about any changes to your dog. I am not a vet or in any shape or form, a professional. I am just a Dog Mom with 2 aging dogs so hope you find this light hearted info helpful.
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