Activities Change with An Older Dog

We discussed in a previous blog post, Minor Modifications at Home to Help an Old Dog, which mostly consisted of adding more area rugs, elevated dog beds, and helping her down the stairs. We've made some changes to our activities with Shadowfax as well.

Due to her reactivity we generally only go places where there aren't many other people or dogs. We try to visit local parks in early morning before they get crowded. Shadwofax reacts badly to other dogs getting near her, so when we're out we keep our head on a swivel and won't hesitate to turn around, or get back in the car. And as she's gotten older, there are fewer long walks and more slow sniffing strolls around a parking lot or through a small park.

We also spend more time taking her on errands with us, to the post office or grocery store. One of us will go inside and the other sit in the car with Shadowfax and just let her be out of the house for a little bit. It gives her a chance to get out and watch the outside world and smell some new things without the physical demands of a long walk or hike.

Shadowfax demonstrates her zoomies. She's not a puppy anymore, but she can still bring it. We try to limit these sessions to a few minutes at a time. If she runs around too much or for too long she'll get sore or stiff the next day and we may need to augment her medication regimen with some additional pain relief (she is already on Gabapentin and Carprofen for pain management). There is a fair degree of needing to protect her from herself.

Along with managing her aches and pains, we try our best to give her all the help that we can to keep her healthy. Her Cushings Disease is well managed by the prescription medication Vetoryl, she's been on Cosequin for joint health for years now, and her diet is partially vet prescribed kibble augmented with fresh fruits and veggies. For some reason she goes seriously bonkers for zucchini.

 

In our eyes she's still an energetic puppy but she needs a little more attention now that she's older. A few changes to our routine and activities enable her to share more of each day with us.