*Mom* to a Senior Dog

How long is his coat? With my goldens they wouldn't go out therefore had accidents. I got her a puppy cut and she happily went outside like before. I thought it was age, turns out it was heat.

I hope it is too. The second summer I was busy and there came the accidents again, took her in to be clippered and she stopped. She lived to be 19 and the only thing she asked of me was the puppy cut every spring.

aw.
when we got our dog, we hoped he'd perk up our 'old' old one. he didn't. he sure perked us up, though, and has been a good dog for a lot of years. he's 15 now, and i'm hoping we can give him one last good summer.
when the grandbeagle comes to visit, she doesn't perk him up. he tolerates her, but doesn't enjoy the manic energy.
we've got him on glucosamine, and an anti-inflammatory. he's not incontinent yet, but i know it's not far away. and that will be one of the signs for us. yeah, yeah, i know, i know, no one would euthanize a human for incontinence, and we wouldn't either. but it's very distressing to a good dog to lose control and do 'bad' things like evacuate in the house when they know it's not what's expected of them.
and when he starts to get distressed over what his old body can't do any more, we'll make the call.
i hope you have some more summer with your old guy, and that it's clear and unambiguous when it's time. i know that's a long shot.
i'm feeling ya, sister.
khairete
S.

ooh Feline...he's a child of yours...just a 4-legged one - not a 2-legged one!

I wish my Grady had been able to make it to a senior! I still cry. URGH!! I miss my baby!!

With our dog before Grady, he was a Shepard mix, and he was 14.5 years old. At around 12, we kept a closer eye on his as he started to slow down. We looked for that "spark" in his eyes - you know what I mean...The day after Thanksgiving 2008, he didn't smell right - he had NEVER had incontinence - so we took him to the vet - he had had a cyst on his tail, we had been watching it for several years, vet didn't want to remove it - it wasn't cancer and he was really too old for surgery. It burst - eeww - and that day? Well, he was moving slower and we asked him if it was time? He just laid down. Right there. Laid down. So we knew what we had to do. The vet gave us some "feel good" meds to take him through the weekend, which made him almost like a teenager again! LOL!! (for about 1 hour at a time!) we took him to the park - God blessed us with beautiful weather - and took lots of pictures. Monday we took him to the vet and stayed with him until the end.

I KNOW you love him. I would STRONGLY suggest that you talk with the vet to see if there is something else going on. You CAN get doggie diapers - I've never used them - but they are out there.

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Solution-Washable-Male-Mediu...

Look at him. Ask him - I know you talk to him daily - find out what he thinks...he will tell you...even if you don't want to hear it. I know this is hard. REALLY hard. If he's not getting around too well? It might be time. As much as it hurts. It might be time.

Recently asked about our 11+ year old pound dog. (85lbs female that looks a little lab, a little shep, and a little terrier). Seems she had some sort of bladder infection, and lyme that was contributing to her achy bones. treated for both, and while I can't say she is spritely, she is much better. Had the hard conversation with the family and the vet, and decided, since it upset her so much to soil the house, if she had daily incidents for more than 1 month, we would put her down.

Apart from seeing the vet, I would recommend offering those things which seem to make your dog feel best. In our case, she likes sitting in the bare dirt under the shade of the magnolia tree. She likes going to the park (so we drive her there). She likes swimming in the ocean, so we fitted her out with a life preserver.

Best,
F. B.

I have a 10 year old female that has "accident's" as well. Just went to get a pill from the vet called Proin 50 mg. 2 a day, works like a charm.
I think we just need to make them as comfortable as possible. 12 is pretty old. Has he been checked by a vet to see if something (besides old age) is wrong?

Our GSD is just past 11 years now. I get it. They are family.

Ours is slowing down. It's been coming on the past couple of years, but this summer seems more pronounced and advancing at an increasing pace. No incontinence issues like you describe, yet. Just achey bones. Arthritis is setting in and she is slowing down. Slow to get up. Less excitement about going outside. Debates about whether it is worth it to get up for things she used to be across the room for already.

I supplement her food with glucosamine with chondroitin and MSM. It seems to help a little. Although the benefits may be diminishing as she ages and progresses beyond what it can offer her. It's summer here (and humid and hot) and she doesn't tolerate the heat as well as she once did, though I would never consider shaving her. She's in the A/C most of the time, unless we venture outdoors to do yard work or something. Or someone is in the pool... then she *has* to be out there, too.

She does have orthopedic beds for sleeping. She doesn't always choose to lie on them, which is fine, the tile is cooler. But she is opting for them more often now than she used to.
I don't like to contemplate a year or two from now, but it is coming. :/

I don't have any suggestions for the bathroom issues, except check with your vet (get an exam) and see if there is a problem that you can address. A UTI or something. Beyond that, I would stick with comfort measures as best as you can. Perhaps the vet could suggest some dietary tricks that might help with it if it is purely age.

Blessings.

ETA:
Like Suz, our girl has been impossibly meticulous about doing her business outside. It's just unheard of for there to be an accident in the house. I posted several years ago about her having some seizures (she recovered and is on daily meds for thyroid and anti-seizure) and soiling inside was devastating for her. It only happened once (and while she was extremely ill, seizing) and she urinated a few times during recovery when the steroids made her drink excessively and need potty breaks every 100 minutes (not exaggerating). She was upset when that happened and we made every effort to prevent her from being in a situation where it might occur (I took her with me for anything requiring me to be gone from home more than an hour).

When the time comes that she has incontinence issues, it will dictate how we proceed to a great extent. Embarrassed is not quite the word for a good dog who goes in the house. It's defeating for them. I won't want to put her through that. Not looking forward to that decision when it eventually becomes an issue.
Perhaps your dog is not humiliated by it to the same degree. And that would make me deal with the inconvenience for a good bit longer. I suspect ours will become terribly depressed.

I have an almost 15 year old beagle mix. I would suggest as a start, take him to the vet for a blood workup. Incontinence and tiredness could be a sign of other issues, so it's important to know what you are dealing with here.
While my kids would love a more young, vivacious dog, we have not gotten another dog due to our dog's age. I think younger dogs are just too much for old timers. I just want our dog to live out the rest of his life in peace and quiet. If the younger dog is stressing him out, this could cause issues as well. A stressed pet can exhibit behaviors that they didn't before the new dog was introduced.
Also be careful of the scraps you feed. Salty or scraps that might have preservatives can cause the dog to have incontinence and bowel issues. I make our dog's food to mix in with his dry- brown rice cooked in unsalted chicken broth. I make our own chicken broth from chicken bones (back and neck) and freeze it portions. Canned broth is just way too salty and sometimes has MSGs or other preservatives that aren't really good for their stomachs.
Hope this helps!

Senior dogs just need to be kept comfortable, as pain free and as happy as possible, just like senior humans. Not sure I would have done the younger dog, though. Some may respond well, but others that are a little arthritic and tired just want the calm loving attention of their humans. They don't want some crazy youngster jumping all over them.

If you haven't already done so, make a vet appt. See if he needs meds for arthritis and check into incontinence meds. Ours worked really well! It was called D E S. Both of these added so much to our dog's quality of life!

Definitely get the summer shave and constant filling of the water bowl. The older ones really need to stay hydrated. Also, make sure the scraps won't upset his belly. You may want to switch to adding a glob of canned dog food, instead. This is also useful for any meds he needs.

Lastly make sure to keep him at a trim weight. This is much easier on his joints. And don't forget the walks on cool evenings or cool mornings. Oh, and LOVE him like crazy!!

Been there with our pug last year. He was our first dog we got from the pound when I had just turned 18(30 now). They said he was about 1.5-2 years. Anyways he first lost control of his bowels it started with him just not being able to make it outside in time and then it turned into him just walking and pooping and pooping in his sleep. He then lost hearing and sight but could still get around as long as nothing was moved. Then he became disoriented and we had him put to sleep. My advice be patient as a lot of things he can't help and just love him as much as you can. We currently have two pups and our 12 years old collie and chihuahua. The chihuahua is going strong and will probably out live us all but the collie pretty much lays around all day and is a little slow to get up but other wise still goes outside and eats well and looks good except he doesn't have many teeth. If he goes downhill though I will have him put to sleep. Our pug was in really poor health for the last year or more of his life we moved him from place to place and brought him food and water and looking back he probably suffered but we loved him and there was nothing "wrong" with him besides old age.

I feel for you. Our dog made it to 11 and his cancer took him the same week we found out he had it. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is old age and what is something wrong.

Quality of life is what I would focus on for your little guy. Making him comfortable and not letting pain and other undesirable issues take over his life. I think your vet will be honest with you when that starts to happen.

Sorry for your loss.

We just went through this with our 13 year old dog. I had the same questions at your stage. My answer to you is that you will know when it's the right time. Ours stopped eating and drinking completely and lost that spark in her eyes and looked uncomfortable breathing. We knew she needed help passing. You'll know and your vet can help you with that decision if it comes to that. We tried doggie diapers, foot booties for traction, new foods to help her interest in food again, etc. We did it all to try to help and that kept her going for over a year. I'm sorry your guy is slowing down. It's very hard.