Malamum

Are you being serious Sheridan or are you just being facetious? No one has even remotely implied that you are a failure as dog owner and that fact that others do things slightly different to you doesn't make it so either. You've been around DOL for as long as I can remember and you've had dogs for years so I'm pretty sure you know what you are doing and are providing a safe and happy environment for your dogs. I'm not sure where all this self flagellation is coming from.

That's good to know. I was worried that her mental enthusiasm would override what her body could actually cope with and that it was up to me to limit her. It sounds like I should just continue to do what I'm already doing and just let her do what she wants in regards to how far and how fast.

It's more her heart I worry about, I know about joint pain and what to look for there but how do I know if I am putting strain on her heart?

Kira is a bit if a veclro dog and 90% of the time likes to be as close to me as possible, she's actually even started lying outside the shower door while I'm in it. However winter messes things up a bit as that is when we get the heat going in the house and generally make sure the rooms we are in are the warmest and it actually gets too warm for her so her conundrum is whether to stay close or to go and find a cooler spot. At the moment she is about 4 meters away from me and I am still in her line of sight but she is lying on the tiles at the top of the stairs (where cool air comes up from the garage) and I'm sitting directly under an aircon vent. So I've clearly lost out and being cooler has won. :laugh: Indy never needed to be quite as close. We was either in total sook mode and wanted cuddles and tummy rubs or he wanted his space. He liked to know where we were and be in the vicinity but he liked his alone time too, however I think that was more related to his medical issues than his personality. If he was in pain he wanted space but if he was having a good day he wanted to be close.

As per the topic title, how much exercise does everyone give their older dogs and how do you know what the right amount is? Kira has just turned 12 and apart from being old she's in pretty good health. She absolutely loves going out for walks and I just dawdle along and let her set the pace, but she doesn't go that slow, she still prances along at a reasonable pace and looks perky and happy. If anything once she can see the house and she knows were close to being at the end of the walk she starts with the delaying tactics of sniffing everything and walking at a snails pace so I get the impression she's keen to stay out for as long as possible and I'm happy to indulge her as long as I'm not over doing it. We have a couple of standard loops we do with one being about 1.5km and the other is about 3. We do the short walk on weeknights when we have less time and I take her on the longer loop when time permits. When we had Indy it was easy to work out the appropriate distance as he had arthritis and if we went that little bit too far he would be very visibly stiff and sore the next day so that was our check and balance but it's not that easy with Kira. She shows no visible signs that we are going to far but I am also very cognisant that at her age and being a large breed it's like making my 90 year old grandmother do exercise so I do worry about her a bit.

We both work full time and are gone for approx. 12 hours per day, sometimes longer on Fridays. We have a dog door and Kira can stay in the back yard which has an undercover pergola or come inside as far as the kitchen. I don't feel guilty at all. I have to work and I'm not going to not have a dog so I do the best I can in my circumstances and I don't get hung up comparing what we do to what other people do. She gets walked and gets lots of attention when we get home and spends lots of time with us on the weekends. When we had a puppy many moons ago family members helped up out by coming to do the midday feed.

Yeah Indy was always a lot more high maintenance than Kira so he inevitably took the majority of our attention. Now that she is an only dog she is lapping up all the extra attention.

We had the same issue with the plastic flap so replaced it with a piece of rubber backed outdoor matting from Bunnings. It's not the most attractive but it's light enough not to impede the dogs getting through but it's heavy enough to stray down blocking the opening.

I don't have a lot of experience with different types and brands but I bought an eazycoat dryer about 12 years ago and it has been great for our home use. We don't show our dogs though so it probably doesn't get as much use as it would from a dog showing family.

Dragon cross dire wolf?? But seriously who on earth would buy that?

I'm sorry that an already hard decision is being made so much harder for your Darien. We went though this late last year and thankfully the OH and I were on exactly the same page. They way we looked at it is that we wanted Indy to go out on somewhat of a high (or as high as it could be considering his health issues). We didn't want to wait until he was miserable all of the time and my biggest fear was that he would get himself into trouble one day (his legs were getting weaker and weaker) while we were at work and then he would be scared and in pain for hours on his own and I knew I'd never forgive myself if that happened. We were at the point where we knew it was only a matter of weeks and we forced ourselves to talk about it often but then one Sunday night he had an incident where he wore himself out so much that he couldn't get up that we immediately decided that the next day needed to be it. It was hard as he was more alert and had regained his strength by that next morning but we still knew it was the right thing to do. He was calm and happy when he went and that's all we wanted for him.

She's adorable!

I'm so sorry Huski. Thinking of your Mum too.

I love that last photo.

I love seeing older dogs getting out and enjoying a walk. I've personally never experienced anyone commenting though as the cushings disease had Indy so weak that walks weren't an option for him and Kira just doesn't look her age (11) as her facial hair is white so it's impossible to tell if she is going grey so we still just get comments o now pretty she is.

So sorry for your loss Juice. A lovely tribute for such a gorgeous boy.

Our dogs are joint dogs and every decision made in regards to them is a joint one. We don't always immediately agree 100% on everything but our views are not that far apart that we can't easily come to a mutually agreeable solution by talking things through.

She is beautiful.

So sorry for your loss.

So sorry for your loss Huski.

So sorry for your loss, Nelsson looks like he had an amazing life with you.

Dear Indy, Your journey with us started and ended in the same place, in Michael's lap. As a 6 week old puppy you launched yourself into his lap and covered him in kisses and that's how you became the puppy who came home with us and now you've taken your final breath lying in his lap with him stroking your head and both of us telling you what a good boy you are and how much we love you. You were a quirky dog and you made life challenging at times but we loved you unconditionally and my god you were one of the smartest dogs I've ever met. I'm going to miss you tilting your head and letting out a low wooooo as if to tell me you knew exactly what I was saying (yes I spoke to you like you were a human), I'm going to miss your big boofy head just being there at hip height as I do things in the kitchen and I'm really going to miss the cuddles where you thought you were a small dog and could lie on my legs (with no thoughts of crushing me) for tummy rubs. I'm so sorry for what the cushings disease did to your body as your were always such a regal dog but I'm so glad you went calm and relaxed as your body was done and you weren't happy anymore. You were our first dog and you've left a Malamute sized mark on our hearts forever. love you buddy xxxx

I agree with this. I don't think it's something that should be legislated but I also think employers should just show a bit of common sense and compassion when appropriate. I know that my boss would have no issue with me taking a bit of time for something related to my dogs and I'd be the same for my staff but there are plenty of people who take the piss at any opportunity.

She is easily the cutest thing I have ever seen! :D

I'm so sorry for your loss and I'm also very sorry it happened in a way that would have been distressing for you. I could tell from your posts how much you loved him and he would have well and truly known that.