To Owners Of Elderly, Active Dogs

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It seems that there are lots of (differing) opinions on what we should do to help our dogs live long, active lives. Would people who actually have/had dogs that enjoy(ed) a high quality of life into their senior years, please share your thoughts?

[poodlefan]

It seems that there are lots of (differing) opinions on what we should do to help our dogs live long, active lives. Would people who actually have/had dogs that enjoy(ed) a high quality of life into their senior years, please share your thoughts?

How senior are you talking?

I think diet, keeping weight off, regular exercise and regular chiropractic treatment can contribue to an active senior life but genes also have their part to play.

[sas]

I have a 10 year old Great Dane which is considered old, we try and keep her on the lean side, give her food suitable to her age and activity level and walk her everyday a distance that she is happy with, she is still pretty active, she's seen a muscle manipulator twice but not because she needed to - she just tagged along and they said that she was fine.

Edited April 7, 2010 by sas

[kirst_goldens]

My old boy is 15 this yr He is on raw + VAN with alfalfa power, MSM and capsules of green lipped muscle extract, he jumps around like an idiot and plays with border collies like a puppy and loves to play tiggy with my 6 mth old kitten lol

He has been on horrible supermarket foods until 6-7 yrs ago when we inherited him from my grandparents when they passed away, then he was on royal canin dry and 4 legs and now has been on raw for about a month ish!

He gets walked 2-3 times a week and that seems to be enough - in the last yr or so he has slowed down and his walks are shorter now

But doing good - he is a broken coated JRTX

[Crisovar]

I really do not think there is a formula, I have a house full of elderly dogs, all purebred so we can't claim hybrid vigour .

They have all had varied diets, one old boy now does best on a premium commercial diet with very little extras, he has cartrophen coming into winter as he gets a bit stiff, and apart from that is a happy old boy. A large dog he has had a very active show career and working gundog life so hasn't been pampered.

Another eats anything and I think has a cast iron gut, is on no meds whatsoever, is as blind as a bat at 15 but bosses anyone and everyone and spends her day exploring the yard and digging holes, she navigates up and down 8 steps each time she comes and goes from the house.

Their diets all their younger lives consisted of a mix of dry foods and raw, bones, cooked meat and veg and the odd dog roll or premium tin.

The larger dogs always had lots of exercise and training, free running and road work, the littlies free running and no road work.

The odd visit to the chiro for a couple, no annual vaccs.

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How senior are you talking?

Whatever is considered "old" for your breed eg. SAS describes Great Danes as old at 10. An Irish setter breeder once told me that she considered 8 to be a good innings for her dogs - that was years ago though. The GSD club gives an award for their dogs who are happily alive at 13. I would expect that some smaller dogs wouldn't really be senior until they were 15+.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

[becks]

I have an 11.5 year old Giant Schnauzer who was doing a few rounds of agility over the last weekend, so still pretty fit and active, even though no longer in her prime. She has been shown up to very recently too.

I think genes do play there part, as they do with us people. She has always been on good quality dry food with extra veg and some chicken wings occasionally. Treats are natural things like tripe sticks, hooves etc.

Exercise has been kept to softer ground when free running and not a lot of road walking. She also likes to splash through the ponds on our walks, so i think that helps, sometimes she will swim if the water is deep enough.

The only extra to her diet are fish oil capsules, every day in winter but now it is warming up, only every other day or so.

[Sheridan]

I have Grumpy who is 14 and is very active. I don't do anything in particular for him food wise or exercise wise that I would do differently for a younger dog. Walks have become a few minutes shorter, that's all, but still that's probably a good half hour, which is pretty good for an old fella. It helps that he hasn't an ounce of arthritis in him. I feed him fish (Woollies sardines in springwater) as his main diet with Eagle Pack salmon and anchovy. I tried Pro Plan but our Mini girl didn't like it so we switched back. He gets a bambi ear each night for his treat.

The only thing is that his eyesight is fading and he's going a trifle loopy. People who have seen us do the 'going out in the morning, coming in of an evening' dance have expressed amazement at my patience but honestly, he's my boy, what else would I do other than humor him and play along, even if it does mean the occasional late to work morning.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Sheridan

[dianed]

I have a 12.5 yo gsd, she,s always been on the lean side and a very fussy eater. She,s feed a mainly raw diet these days and walks up to 4ks in the morning and a short walk at night. Today she had her last Cartrophen injection and I have to say she has a bounce in her walk that wasn't there before and even runs around her younger mate. I think its all in the genes myself, plus good diet.

[sas]

How senior are you talking?

Whatever is considered "old" for your breed eg. SAS describes Great Danes as old at 10. An Irish setter breeder once told me that she considered 8 to be a good innings for her dogs - that was years ago though. The GSD club gives an award for their dogs who are happily alive at 13. I would expect that some smaller dogs wouldn't really be senior until they were 15+.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Depends on breed, they all have different life expectancies.

[piper]

Good diet, keeping them in a healthy weight range, keeping them fit and active their entire lives.

My choice is also to limit unnecesssary chemicals - I don't give the combined spot ons, I just treat things as needed so heartworm monthly, intestinal worms 3 monthly and fleas as needed (maybe once a year?). We are not in a tick area so that has never been a problem. I also have not given annual vaccs for quite sometime - my 2 old boys got them about every 2 years until they were around 7 or 8 and then that was it.

And I am another who has had registered pedigrees so can't claim hybrid vigour ;)