Owning the Mature Dog
Owning the Mature Dog
Owning a mature dog can be a sad experience as you watch your beloved pooch develop the slowness, problems and illnesses of old age. This can be particularly poignant for the owner of a giant breed like the Great Dane. It is a bittersweet experience as their life span tends to be short and they only live to an average age of eight to ten years. Other smaller dogs can live to fifteen plus.
The longer the life span, the more they might hang on to life and spend years suffering from the diseases of the elderly. The good news is that most of these afflictions of the older canine, like arthritis and incontinence, are treatable and controllable nowadays. Your mature dog doesn’t have to suffer in old age. You should keep a close eye on his health. Don’t just accept “oh, he’s old so he’s bound to have a limp”. Get him to the vet at the sign of any infirmity. Old age is not a diagnosis in itself.
When you have an aging dog you tend to love them more and more. You know they are not going to go on forever and every time you look into their lovely soppy eyes you can’t help but think about that. Even though they may have arthritis, modern medications can prolong their quality of life. Sometimes they give you a scare by straining a muscle or tendon. You can tell if they freeze with that thousand-yard stare of pain on their face. It makes you think, “Oh no, this is it, time for the vet and the needle if this goes on any longer”. Then almost miraculously they can snap out of it to live relatively pain-free for another indeterminate time. Urinary incontinence can be an alarming development (common in the spayed bitch) but thankfully this is easily cured with estrogen-based medication.
Might I stress that when the time comes to put a dog out of it’s misery I think an owner has to be brave, Don’t dwell on such thoughts. Can you say that If for a large percentage of time they are happy, lively, jolly old souls? Can you say they are not seriously suffering in any way? Then you should treasure each happy moment with them. But their age is frequently in the back of your mind and you have to make allowances for it. Even if the old dog is having a good day and acting puppyish - be careful for him, as he may not know his own limitations! Don’t let your mature dog overdo it.
It’s not all bad news though. When a dog has lived with you for some years it knows all your funny ways. People say their dog knows what they are saying to it, an idea which is scorned by many behaviorists. But if any dog truly does understand human language then it’s the mature dog who has lived in the same household for some years. You can talk to a mature dog as if it is human, and really impress your friends! They can even appear to understand phrases like “would you please adopt an attitude of horizontality?” (code for “lie down!”) because they know what is expected of them in the situation they find themselves and understand so clearly your body language and tone of voice.
And (again at the risk of sounding anthropomorphic) the mature dog seems genuinely grateful and extra loving when you have helped them in some way by giving them pills for the pain, (especially if followed by a nice treat!) or just cleaning their ears or brushing their coat. Every day is a bonus and a joy with a cozy and comfortable mature dog.