14/06/2026
I meet a lot of senior dogs in my line of work, rarely that I’m actually hired to help with which is a shame.
Our senior dogs usually need more behavioural understanding than our younger dogs, and even the most easy stable dogs can struggle as the years go on. My two rescue malamute x GSD x golden retrievers turn 15 in less than five months. I have changed so many of their routines, most of their enrichment, and all of their training over the past year to accommodate their changing brains. Cognitive decline is often missed but a very real thing to be aware of with our senior dogs.
Sometimes you get lucky like I have with Sam and Sally here, who have mostly just gotten a bit silly. But they have had changes that have affected my ability to do things like cut their nails, things that they have been trained to easily do their whole lives. And sometimes you don’t like with my German Shepherd Jake who struggled badly with dementia, causing him to become very distressed towards the end which was his demise.
Don’t forget that quality of life doesn’t just come down to if a dog is still keen to eat or not, are their lives still enriching? Are there things that I can do to their enrichment, training, set up to make life better for them? And don’t hesitate to reach out to someone like myself for help. I have lost a senior dog every year now for eight years, this year no one has yet decided it is their time yet. But I have suspicions which dog it might be, due to my understanding the long process of death very well.
Do the best by your senior dog, understand their brain and their body better!
www.politepaws.com.au
