Older Dog Care - What Changes To Expect

Things change. It's a fact of life. And older dog care is different from caring for your young pup. If you don't feel as young as you did 10 years ago, imagine the difference in your pet over those same 10 years. It's no surprise therefore that an aging dog more adversely affected by, and less adaptable to stress and change. These things need to be taken into consideration when making plans with your older dog.

For example, your dog always enjoyed those races around the park with you. You may still enjoy it, but your older pet now may find it tough to keep up. What was once lots of fun may now make him a bit grouchy and force him to breathe hard.

Another example, you have just redecorated the house. That corner where your pet used to relax is now occupied by a piece of furniture. Your aging dog becomes restless, tempermental, and may even urinate or defecate right on that piece of furniture.

This all goes back to what we said at the start, your older dog does not adapt as well to change and stress.

Don't misunderstand. It's not necessary to baby or spoil your pet as part of older dog care. In fact, this should be avoided. It's a trap many pet owners fall into. Your older pet should take part in family life as he always had. Just be sure to avoid undue stresses or unnecessary changes.

Does that piece of furniture we talked about earlier really have to sit in the exact spot where your pet has snoozed for more than a decade. In his mind, that's his personal territory. A young dog may get upset, but soon find another acceptable location. The older dog finds it more difficult to adjust, and the result may be undesirable behavior.

Remember that a dog is dependent and independent in his relationship with you. As a young pup he will follow your every move to the point of getting underfoot. His joy comes from being with you everywhere, and rarely does he want to be by himself.

As he gets older, this changes. Yes he still loves you but often he just wants to be by himself. Allowing this is part of older dog care. He'll still play with you and be your companion, but do not expect the same response you got from him when he was a puppy.

Perhaps the biggest mistake people make with older dog care is in feeding. Many feel the need to express love by offering tasty morsels of human food like cake, ice cream or bacon. Serious changes in the diet can produce serious stomach upset causing vomiting or diarrhea. Worst case scenario, he may even refuse his normal food and hold out for the goodies. This obviously can result in severe nutritional imbalance.

Yes some changes will need to happen in his diet, but we'll cover those in another article.

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