We like to joke that our two dogs are like an old married couple. They love each other most of the time, bicker during meal times, and snuggle up afterwards like nothing ever happened.
But as our dogs are fully in their senior years, it has definitely made us mindful about how we talk to our sons about our dogs and teach them how to treat them. It has also spurred a lot of tough talks about how having senior dogs has changed our days in our home. Here are some things we’ve done to make having aging pets as positive an experience as we can:
- We are realistic about our dogs’ current situation. It doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend they will live forever or be able to do all the things they used to do. They used to love going on long walks, but now exploring our backyard is about as much as they can do on a daily basis, and that’s OK.
- We are also honest with our veterinarian. Before our dog Suzy Q’s last vet visit, my husband and I sat down and made a list of changes we had noticed in her, as well as the things she still loves and enjoys. Discussing it ahead of time helped us convey all our concerns to the vet without forgetting anything in the moment.
- We make as many concessions for our dogs as we can at their stage of life. We have a small staircase set up so they can access their preferred couch and bed. We are more mindful when we leave the house for more than a few hours, so we have someone come let them out halfway through the day. We splurged on a nice steam mop to clean our floors more often after accidents. We set alarms so we don’t miss giving them any medicines the vet wants them on. We bought washable area rugs so we can throw them in the washing machine if needed. They hate having their dog bed in the living room moved, so we put it right back in the same spot after we vacuum. Suzy Q now has a lot of anxiety about traveling to the groomer’s – so we have opted to have a mobile groomer come to our house so she doesn’t have to travel.
- We openly and often discuss our dogs’ limitations with our sons. We often talk about how their grandparents’ dogs can run and play fetch since they are much younger, but our dogs are slower and not able to play in the same way. However, they still love being petted and cuddled, and we can do that with them. Our five-year-old sometimes asks questions about our dogs dying one day, and we answer openly and honestly.
- My husband and often discuss the future, how we will feel if we have to make decisions about our dogs one day, if they need to be put asleep, when we will know it’s time, and how we will cope explaining it to our kids. One of our dogs had a major health scare about a year-and-a-half ago and that time allowed us to talk about what-ifs then, as they seemed very likely to happen at the time. But once he started getting better, we continued the conversations so they are fresh in our minds.
- We talk often about how proud we are of all the things we’ve given to our two dogs. We’ve given them a family, a warm home and lots of experiences over the years. Simon, our chihuahua, was adopted from a wonderful shelter here in Indianapolis (Heaven After Hell Animal Rescue) and was in their care for almost a full year before we adopted him. We talk all the time about how we gave him a shot of a happy life in a stable home. Keeping a positive spin on our dogs’ lifetimes with us as a whole keeps us from being sad about our future without them.
We love our dogs. Dogs are family. We were the best pet parents when we first got our dogs 12 and 9 years ago. Being pet parents to senior dogs is a new type of ballgame but we are working every day to continue doing right by them even in their last years.
