Keeping a (young; 7.5 years old) senior mentally sharp

[jarn]

Hi guys,

It's been awhile! Hope all are well. If there's anyone who wants backstory on Luc, just let me know. (Quickly; brought into shelter as older pup - ~6-9 months old, spend ~3 years there)

So, I’m pretty sure Luc is starting to get a little mentally wonky with age. It happens to the best of us, I suppose (and Luc of course is the best….oops, did I say that? I’m not supposed to have favourites). I know from my mom that for humans, it’s important to stay mentally active to keep the brain functioning well as you age.

So with that in mind….some new brain-bending activity for Luc. Keeping in mind that if he went to school he’d probably be riding the short bus.

Right now he:

-trail runs
-hikes
-backpacks

How often varies, but backpacking 1-2x/month, trail running 2-5x/month, and hiking 2-3/month. Basically that’s what we do on weekends. His longest hike is ~60k and his longest run about 40k.

He used to run at home too but lately has become more and more fearful of it. A few years back, a car jumped the curb on some ice and came up behind us while we were running – didn’t hit us, but ever since then he’s been scared to walk/run on the sidewalk that has cars coming behind us – we walk the sidewalk facing traffic – and lately he’s gotten worse, with no obvious trigger, so that going out to go running in the city is very upsetting for him. He’s never liked traffic. Anyways, I’m working on it, but we walk for exercise during the week rather than run. Our vet said it is a worsening of anxiety with age.

Obedience-wise: He knows the basic commands, directions (left/right/straight) and pull (he can badly pull a sled, I haven’t done enough work with him, but it’s no longer the season). I train him mish-mash, using marker training (sort of – I’m terrible at marking half the time) and a whole lotta repetition.

He has very little drive, though he does obviously like food, but if he doesn’t want to do something or it upsets him, pbbbbttt to food. We do a lot of our training with verbal rewards, because he works well for those. Toys upset him, so that’s not an option. He just doesn’t get them, perhaps ‘upset’ is too strong a word – they sort of freak him out/mentally overload him. His pea-brain short circuits.

He’s becoming a senior dog, so I’m not sure about teaching him jumps etc….maybe low ones?

Anyone else have any ideas of a fun activity to do with him that we can do year-round that will keep him mentally sharp? I was wondering about tracking but can’t think of a good place where I can lay the track and let it age without having people maybe eff it up, given that we live in the city. Him finding food on the track that I’ve deliberately put out makes me nervous too, since I don’t like him eating things off the ground, and worry it might be habit-forming. Silly?

Swimming: He’s scared of the water, but I’d like to keep on working with him on this. There is a dog pool in the city that I’ve taken him to before, to wasted time, but he’s swam a bit more lately (heh) so I thought it might be worth a try a bit, though I’m going to leave it for now and save up some $, it’s not cheap. Pretty soon I can take him swimming at campsites on backpacking trips anyways.

[Rerun]

Oh goodness, my girl is 7 1/2 and I don't consider her a senior at all....

[jarn]

Luc is all white/grey on his muzzle now, and our vet said he was at the young end of senior....

People still think he's a puppy though! When they ask how old he is and I say 7.5, they say 'months?'

[vicky2200]

I hope I dont consider my GSD a senior when she is 7.5 (she is 3 now.) My GSD mix is 7 and I have considered him to be a senior for about 2 years due to his size, medical conditions, and personality. I cant imagine Ditto being a senior in 4.5 years... But to answer your question.

You could try hiding an object (possibly his favorite toy or treat) and teaching him to find it. Ditto loves doing this. Im still trying to get her to not take her ball when she finds it, but sit. This can be done indoors or outdoors. Agility will be fine if he doesn't have arthritis or hip dysplasia, but start the jumps low and see if you can gradually raise them, but not too high. Possibly flyball; but you would probably have to find a team (unless you have enough dogs to make a team.) When all else fails, teach more tricks. They are crowd pleasers

[jarn]

Thanks....I could try the treat thing, toys are a no-go.

We're not sure if Luc is starting to develop arthritis - x-rays at the next vet visit, I think. He's starting to get a bit stiff-legged in the back sometimes, though usually if he's tired/sore, so not necessarily arthritis. He's still quite active regardless so I think low jumps would be okay, I'm a bit nervous.

[Rerun]

If your dog is in reasonable shape and healthy, I wouldn't care what a vet referred to her age....age is in the individual animal, not a chart. My 7 1/2 yr old can keep up with my 9 month old Malinois pup, I don't consider her a senior at all, on any end of the spectrum. Given the life span of many GSD's (14ish years) she's middle aged.

Mine still jumps, leaps, bounds....check out my photo thread titled hiking/swimming in the pictures section here of my 7 1/2 yr old....

[jarn]

He's still very physically active, it's the mental changes I can see. My partner does as well.

Plus when he's tired, a couple of times he gets a bit stiff legged. Nothing I would peg as arthritis, but it's a small change. Heck, I get stiff legged when I'm tired, but - what can I say, I'm a worrier.

It really is the mental changes/aging I want to address though, as I'm very happy with his physical condition.

Someone on another board suggested herding, so I've contacted some places. Given his lack of drive I'm dubious he will excel at it, or even be interested, but if he is, it could be fun!