Check on your senior dogs!!
Watch your dog closely for signs of aging!!
As our dogs age, it is natural for us to ignore the small signs that they are not the young pups they used to be. We see them from day to day and these subtle changes can sometimes go unnoticed. However, there are several signs that you can be on the lookout for as your dog gets older. By paying attention to these things, you may be able to be prevent pain and suffering that your dog could experience.
Lumps and bumps on your dog could be a harmless cyst or bruise. However, it could indicate something more sinister. When our mixed shepard Ziggy, who was about 12 at the time began to gnaw at his back leg near the thigh, we noticed a large lump in the area. It was obvious it was causing the dog some discomfort, so we took the dog to the vet right away. This turned out to be a cancerous tumor, which had already metastasized. Of course we were devastated. I often wonder now, if I had noticed Ziggy’s attention to that leg earlier, would we have been able to treat the cancer? I will never know the answer to that question and for that reason, I pay very close attention to my animals, especially as they age.
When it was Ziggy’s time, I remember the vet telling us that dogs have an unusually high tolerance for pain and will hide it for as long as they can, Pain makes them vulnerable and if they are vulnerable, in the wild, they are easy prey. Dogs fall back on that instinct behavior when it comes to their health. Because of that, we have to be even more diligent in our observations of our dogs’ behavior and their health. So enjoy your dog and watch…as they won’t tell you when it hurts!!
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