How do I look after an older dog?

The single most useful thing an owner of an older dog can do is stop attributing changes to age. Vets consistently report that arthritis, dental pain and cognitive decline are all under-diagnosed because owners describe them as slowing down. All three are treatable, and treating them typically returns a chunk of the dog's quality of life. Everything else is comfort at home, which is straightforward.

Safety

What you'll need

• Non-slip rugs or runners
• A supportive bed
• A ramp for the car (optional)
• Raised bowls if advised (optional)
• Harness with a handle (optional)

Step by step

1. Move to check-ups every six months.A year is a long time in an old dog. Twice-yearly examinations, with weight and often blood pressure and blood tests, catch kidney, thyroid, heart and dental problems while they are still manageable. Most practices have a senior clinic for exactly this.
2. Keep the weight down, more strictly than before.Every extra kilogram loads arthritic joints and worsens heart and breathing problems. Older dogs need fewer calories as they slow, so the amount that was right at five is often too much at eleven. Recheck the body condition monthly.
3. Learn what arthritis actually looks like.Slow to get up after resting, stiff for the first few minutes of a walk, hesitating at stairs or the car, sitting down in an odd position, licking a joint, reluctance to be touched over the hips, and a change from bounding to trotting. Dogs rarely limp obviously with chronic arthritis, which is why it is missed.
4. Fix the flooring.Laminate and tile are the biggest single problem for an arthritic dog, because the legs slide and it becomes frightened of moving. Rubber-backed runners along the routes the dog uses, and a rug beside the bed to get up from, transforms confidence and often mobility.
5. Adjust the exercise rather than stopping it.Shorter and more frequent, on grass rather than pavement, at the dog's pace, with warm-up at the start. Muscle supports arthritic joints, so continued gentle exercise matters — but a weekend of a long walk after a week of short ones is what causes flare-ups.
6. Get the mouth checked properly.Dental disease is extremely common in older dogs and it is painful. Dogs keep eating through severe dental pain, so appetite is not evidence that the mouth is fine. A dental under anaesthetic is a bigger decision in an old dog but often the single largest improvement to quality of life.
7. Take incontinence and night waking to the vet.Neither is inevitable. Urinary incontinence in older bitches is common and usually treatable with medication. Night pacing, staring at walls, getting stuck behind furniture and losing house training can be canine cognitive dysfunction, for which there are dietary and medical options that work better the earlier they start.
8. Adapt the house.A bed away from draughts and off a cold floor, a supportive orthopaedic mattress, raised or lowered bowls to suit, a ramp for the car, and a night light for a dog whose sight is going. Keep furniture where it is — dogs losing their sight navigate from memory.
9. Check the body over weekly.Lumps, especially new fast-growing ones, sore ears, nails that are now too long because the dog walks less, and the pads. Nails need trimming more often in an old dog because road wear has stopped, and overlong nails make an arthritic dog's footing worse.
10. Think about quality of life honestly and in advance.Talk to your vet about what to expect from any diagnosed condition and what the plan is. Vets use structured quality-of-life scoring to help owners judge this, and asking about it before there is a crisis makes a very difficult decision less awful.

Tips

• Keep a short weekly note of what the dog can and cannot do. Decline is gradual enough to be invisible day to day, and a note from three months ago is the only honest comparison you will have.
• Deafness usually starts with not responding to a call from another room. Hand signals learned before hearing goes completely are enormously useful.
• A harness with a handle over the shoulders makes helping a dog up stairs or into a car much easier for both of you, and is far better than pulling on a collar.

Common mistakes

• Calling stiffness and slowing down 'just old age' — Arthritis is a specific, common and treatable condition. Dogs treated for it typically become more active and more comfortable, and the owner usually realises how much pain there had been.
• Stopping walks because the dog is stiff — Muscle loss accelerates joint problems. Shorter, more frequent gentle walks maintain the muscle that supports the joint.
• Giving human painkillers — Ibuprofen and paracetamol are dangerous to dogs. There are effective veterinary pain medications and they need a prescription and monitoring.
• Leaving slippery floors as they are — Sliding is frightening and mechanically bad for arthritic joints. Runners and rugs are the cheapest and most effective adjustment available.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask