Have a dog that’s over 8 years of age and worried about its behaviour? Looking for FREE advice to help? Not sure what can be done?
Do you have a dog that is 8yrs + who is displaying unusual dog behaviours that you are concerned about? The problem with a senior dog is firstly establishing if they have the mental capacity to take information on board to modify their behaviour. More importantly, it might be a time for a full health check!
I have decided to offer my services for free for any dog over the age of 8yrs by way of over the phone advice. But before you pick up the phone please try these tips in helping to establish that your dog is not being affected by obvious health conditions that will affect its behaviour.
- Hearing, establish how good at distance your dog’s hearing is. This can deeply affect recall, distracting away from other dogs
- Checking stalls. These could indicate a medical issue.
- Lack of energy. Yes as we all get older we don’t have the same energy levels, but this could be an indicator of a thyroid issue.
- Pain. A dog in pain will disguise this but can cause growls when being stroked or picked up
- Coat condition. This can help with identifying lack of nutriments and sometimes cause behaviour issues.
- Wheat allergy. Licking paws, and chewing them as well as uncontrollably toilets possibly indicating you have a marking of territory issue. Check what your ingredients on everything.
- Not thought about joint care, there are lots out on the market so have a look around.
- Over doing the exercise for your dog’s age. It can be really easy to forget how old they are at times. Allow plenty of recovery time between walks.
These are some of the tips I would start with, yes they seem obvious but wanted to make sure you have looked into everything before you contacted me further for advice. But I look forward to hearing from you. Please use the contact form.
It’s never too late to try anything as long as the dog has the learning capacity.
