Growing old as well as possible

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SadKen

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For the first time today, my 8yo GSD Sirius didn't lean on his lead on our way home. He is as fast as ever off lead, keeping up and even outstripping our 9mo pup Hector. However, there is no denying that having the pup is taking it out of him; he is running a little less and deliberately wearing the pup out when he can. He doesn't get much peace in the house, but seems to enjoy playing even though he drops off to sleep as soon as he is alone with me!

He looks old to me, although his coat is shiny and his eyes bright, he is moving nicely albeit not as freely as the pup which is obvious when they are next to each other.

I want to keep him fit, healthy and comfortable for as long as I can (whilst considering getting a 3rd younger dog to keep the pup busy and give him a break, but that's another thread!).

He's fed Wainwrights fish trays and a sprinkling of James wellbeloved fish kibble, we couldn't give him kibble historically as it wired him into madness but he does need it now we have pup; I don't want to change this as it's the only thing that doesn't upset his digestion (we can add anything fishy but no other meats). He walks an hour a day off lead, running or trotting most of it and we sometimes take him swimming which really helped with a recent back injury. He is very much on the slim side; whilst no longer ribby, I wouldn't want him to lose even a pound.

Any good tips to help slow the advance of time?

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My 11 year old lab has yumove advance 360, it is truly wondrous stuff. £25 a month, off it after a week she gets stiff and slows down. Improves once back on it. I'm thinking of taking it!!
A visitor to the house last week thought she was a puppy. The vet can't believe how sound she is having xrayed her. She has no other treatment.

I've been recommended the above website too.
 
We’ve got a 10 and a half year old Great Dane x Husky, who is one of the fittest dogs I know. People who don’t know her nearly fall over when they find out her age as she outruns everything on walks and is always legging it around and leaping up and down the sand dunes.
Ours mostly does 2 off lead walks a day at the local shore, or if the weather it awful, it will be 1 off lead at the shore and the other on lead around the roads.
A couple of times a week we go somewhere different for the afternoon/evening walk, like the local woods or a different beach.
To be honest, when she’s not walking, she’s mostly asleep! But she’s been like that for a good few years now. The only time we occasionally notice her age is sometimes she just hesitates before jumping into the car.
We do have 2 younger dogs aswell, and I think they’ve definitely helped keep her young. She outruns them both.
Weight wise- she’s pretty much spot on, very occasionally goes a little bit heavier than ideal, but she’s never been overweight and we’ve always been careful about this.
I genuinely don’t really know how we’ve kept her so fit into her old age other than the fact that we’ve never considered her old and never slowed her down or stopped her doing anything. We have recently just moved her onto Wainwrights as she decided to stop eating her usual food.
We’ve never had to supplement her with anything for her joints.
 

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Possibly depending on the nature of the dog, and what you feel would suit him, I might suggest a couple of tweaks.

The Yumove has been mentioned, and is something I would reccomend as well. I know he has perfectly good fur, but there's nothing wrong with a coat if its really raining/cold at the start of a walk to help muscles warm up before lots of running.

He may benefit from a deeper/thicker bed for any days where joints are a bit achey, especially if he's maybe slightly over-doing exercise with the pup. You might have to step in when you think he's tired and shouldnt gallop about for a bit.

I give the 9 year old whippet a sort of massage when I remember and some stretches. I've always done regular long steady walks on lead, where he walks straight, much like with the horses roadwork, for muscle. I stopped chucking balls for him when he was around 3, as the speed he went and how quickly he turned and his family history, and don't regret it at all. My vets advice was to not to change his exercise drastically, but avoid sudden increases or types of exercise.

So I sound like the ultimate fun sponge. But he does 8-9 miles round the Surrey hills easily, and bounces out of bed the next day, a bl***y sight easier than I do!
 
Lovely boys. His daddy just passed a week or so ago at 13, so there will probably be plenty of life in him yet!
I do put a lot of it down to genetics, my older one is a loony tune still at almost 9, no supplements required, he's just happy out bombing around, his relatives all lived to the age of 14 and 15. He'd still be competing if I had any control of him whatsoever :p
For GSDs, I would say that the bigger they are structurally, the quicker they seem to age.
The younger one is the much harder of the two to keep sound, if he was a horse I'd call him 'footy', he is on a joint powder called Atlas from the USA. He does have a deep filled bed and I also do stretches with him, massages, etc. I've checked out his siblings and they all seem to have finished their careers relatively early, although his mother was 8 or nine when he was born (which was legal in the kennel club of the country, before anyone starts, lol). I know you don't want him skinny, equally, I wouldn't want a big dog to be carrying any excess weight either.
 
I’ve never had an 8 year old I’ve considered old . Freya is 7.5 and I still think of her as a youngster , her mum is 11.5 . I do have them all on Yumove , the plus version for the 11 year old . It might not be as much fun as free running but my dogs have always had quite a lot of roadwork, which I think helps with general muscle tone. I also bought my older girl a thicker padded bed last year .
 
my 13 year old collie cross is on yumove advance and it has helped her to be more mobile. she has arthritis in both front legs which i think may not have been helped by chasing the ball and stopping suddenly. i used to throw a ball for her till she was about 10 and i think i maybe shouldnt have, but she does love playing with a ball. i now throw it indoors so she can catch it rather than running for it and she seems happy with that.....i also bought a couple of memory foam beds and she seems to love hers ...
 
My almost 12 year old gsd has been having monthly maintenance physio for around a year. It's made a huge difference to her and I wish I'd started it earlier.
 
Some brilliant tips on here guys thank you all very much!

I have two lovely Tuffies beds for both dogs (a nest and a rectangle) however he does insist on sleeping on the tiled floor a lot of the time because he is awkward.

I will definitely get him some yumove, can't do any harm! And we have a coat for him, so I'll try that on him before we go to warm him up. He isn't crocked or anything, just not as fluid as the pup!

Massage also a good idea, I did have a physio friend give him a going over when he hurt his back a few months back and as she recommended massage I did do that which he enjoyed, but I've let it tail off. I'll pick that back up again. The physio did say he was super fit and well except for his back so to be fair I am being a bit of a drama queen (I'll excuse myself by saying this dog is my absolute angel!).

We don't do much on the road, although our walks are on hard gravel paths. He is banned from chasing any balls as he will risk life and limb to get them. I'll try and stop him playing with pup as much because I think he has the same attitude to that!

Don't think I have much choice in his weight, it is all I can do to keep him from looking like a welfare case! Hopefully that will stand him in good stead. Our old boy was totally oversized and had a lot of trouble as a result, so I'm really hoping he will escape that.

Might get the physio back just to check him over, and stop me flapping!

CC I'm sorry to hear about his dad. It's nice to know he had such a long and presumably healthy life. Hopefully those genes are strong (should be; Siri is the only one out of his litter that is light and fast, and the only one with the drive so I think his dad's genes are stronger in him!).
 
Our 12.5 year old Lab takes Cobalaplex with Vit B9, Vit B12 and a prebiotic, Onychotin with Biotin for healthy skin, claws and coat, Flexadin Advanced for Joints, Flaxseed Oil with Omega 3 for heart health, Joints and coat. I'm a sucker for a supplement, but our dear Spot, also a Labrador was almost 17 when she passed so I'm a big believer in supplements. 🐾😍 Exercise wise he does at least 5 miles each day with a rest day mid week.image.jpeg
 
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Just wanted to add that I tried a tuffie bed, my friend lent me her tuffie next bed to try, her lab want keen on it. Mine didn't like it either I think it's because they are a little too firm. Mine had a 4" foam bed which she loves. We also do 5 miles a day consistently no throwing and I put her on the lead if she does a lot of running.
 
I sound rather evangelical but my labs are all on flaxseed oil as well and they look amazing and the old girl will be donig another season picking up and now has no joint supplements at all. Great stuff.
https://www.flaxfarm.co.uk/product-category/linseed-for-dogs/
And I wouldn't allow the pup to play with him, Brandy doesn't play with the pup at all now, she did when pup was smaller but now being knocked over by another dog the same weight is just too much for her.
 
sad ken.....the memory foam beds i have are like flat mattresses and my old collie now likes to sleep stretched out which she cant in a normal dog bed so maybe your dog doesnt like curling up in the tuffy bed and would be happier with a mattress type bed where he can lay as he does on the floor.. just a thought. the latest memory foam bed i bought was only £5 and i just put a towel over the top as the cover was a bit flimsy so not a huge layout...
 
I might try a layer on top of the tuffie and see if he is happier on that (although I don't really get his thought process as surely a tiled floor would be harder than any bed could be!). The rectangle tuffie is massive, he can lie flat on that so I don't think it's position but maybe the material or even that he has got too hot, he does run very hot.

We have put our foot down today re playing while walking. This was not well received and I caught him stalking the pup when he thought I wasn't looking. Some work to do there!​
 
Eight is not old for his breed. Middle aged imo. He’s not going to be a bright sprite compared to a pup. My old lurchers lived to 13, 14 & 15 years of age. I’ve got my MILs 14 year old and she is keeping up with the younger ones with no problems. They were/are fed tripe/butchers/ chicken, nothing special. Never supplemented with vitamins etc.
 
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