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5 Things You Must Change to Care For Senior Dogs
Standard age ranges for senior dogs vary by breed and size. When you notice your dog showing signs of aging, you need to make the necessary adjustments to provide them with the best senior dog care.
So if you have an older dog, here are some things that you should be ready to deal with and be prepared for.
Older dogs vision get bad.
Now there are some diseases, like cataracts and conjunctivitis, that can be treated by your veterinarian. But just regardless even if they don’t have a serious condition like that, your dog’s eyes are gonna get bad just naturally as they get older. So be prepared for your dog’s vision to get worse.
House training accidents may start again.
Urinary incontinence. Another very common issue for senior dogs. Now sometimes the root of that cause can be kidney infection or urinary tract infection. There are actually some medications that can help with this. So don’t treat it as a behavioral issue alone if your dog starts peeing in the house.
Dog’s memory starts to go.
As your dog gets older, his behavior and memory can change as well. Dog dementia very real. You might notice that your dog doesn’t listen to the commands you say as well. That’s not because he didn’t physically hear you, just because his brain starts going confusion.
Senior dogs tend to have less patience.
Memory loss, irritability are all very common behavior Changes as a dog gets older. One of the most aggressive groupings of dogs are older dogs. There’s a real reason that they’re aggressive is that they’re old and they’re irritable. So if you have kids especially and you have an older dog, be very careful. Because every dog has a snapping point, every dog will only tolerate so much and older dogs in particular will start to tolerate a whole lot less.
Older dogs need exercise, but don’t over do it.
As dogs get older, their energy level is going to go down. They’re not gonna be able to do the same amount of physical exercise as they used to. If you have a big large heavy dog, be careful about excessive jumping. You need to limit him from jumping off of the things in the backyard when you are playing fetch or playing with the toy. As dog get older, their hips and joints get bad. So moderate exercise will make your dog healthier.
You have an older dog, things do change. It does get a little bit harder again and you kind of go through the phases where it’s a lot of work as a puppy and then during the adult period. And then we go to the senior stage. It’s kind of back to the level of work that was required as a puppy. Keep these tips in mind though and hopefully it’ll help with your senior dog.
