Oops- I accidentally pressed post. I am an older owner with a young dog and I sometimes find it physically challenging and other times wonder if she is being challenged enough. We go on daily walks, do training and she gets to play in a fenced in yard. I was wondering what other older owners did to make sure their dog has a happy life.
I think any age owner can have physical challenges. How many here can lift and carry their own dog? You might have to in an emergency and it's handy to be able to lift them in and out of high cars. Some small women have to really train good leash manners or be pulled right off their feet. For the car example some use ramps. Training, training, training is the key to a lot of handling and management. There are other lifting aids. A strong family member or good friend or neighbour might help in an emergency and I know lots of people who are perfectly able but time challenged and they employ doggy dog care and/or dog walkers to keep pup exercised. I meet two dogs in my village. In the morning one family walks them, in the evening the other family walks them. The dogs live next door to each other. We had a low key but interesting emergency lift and carry. When we were walking back to our house a paving crew had just laid hot asphalt down a road we had to cross. I couldn't be sure how hot the stuff was but cars were not being allowed to drive on it. I lifted Oban and carried him across both lanes. It really helps that he doesn't mind being lifted and carried.
I am an "older" owner and there is no way I could lift or carry my dog....Cooper weighs 96 pounds!!! He could probably carry me!! If there was an emergency I would have to call someone to help me. If it ever happens, I will figure it out. But for every day lifting or carrying,that would be a problem. I do not have to do it,luckily....Cooper jumps in and out of the car, goes up and down stairs on his own. I take him to day care a lot so he gets a lot of playtime, exercise and socialization. Unfortunately, they do not walk him but, for the time being, this is my only solution. Very soon I will be able to walk him so between day care and me, he should be more than energy-drained!!! Day care has been great for the two of us!
Oban thinks being carried is like having a big hug. When my previous Lab's back went my Vet showed me how to lift her (she only weighed 56 lb., 25.45 kg) to protect her back. I lift the same way with Oban. My right arm goes between his front legs, from the front. My left arm goes around his bum, tail down, below the base of his tail and about at the biggest part of his haunches. I hold him against my chest. Oban weighed 30.7 kg at our last Vet visit, 67.54 lbs. At one point Oban did get up to 82 lb., 37.26 kg and I could still lift him but it was more difficult. I guess as he slowly gained weight I slowly got stronger. I'm 64.
I'm 40 and have spinal problems which sometimes means I can't walk far. I have a dog walker twice a week who takes her for a good hours walk with 3 other dogs. She adores our walker. If I have a really bad week my dog walker takes her out most days and my OH helps out in the evening. She also goes to our dog walker for day care every now and then. We do lots of playing with Harley and training in the house and the garden. We also do agility each week and are teaching her to work away from me as running is a problem most days. I do work part time and can sometimes take her to work with me. I try to spend a lot of time with her doing things, even if it's going to costa for a coffee where she gets a treat and it's really interesting for her to watch what's going on around us.
Another older - and crocked by rheumatoid arthritis - owner here. I do get stumped when training advice says 'get on the floor with your pup' No way is that possible, having a replaced shoulder and hip both of which could dislocate. Do my best though and Molly is getting there, albeit with slightly different methods. Am 63 and was diagnosed with RA at 36. Will get our Molly trained though
FayRose- I empathize with you about getting down on the floor. I also snort at the directions that tell you to run in the opposite direction that your dog is going.
@Snowshoe thanks for the description. Snowie weighs 34 kg and I suppose I am afraid I would hurt his spine (with his slipped disc) if I were to pick him up. The two times we've had to carry him, my husband took his front end and I took his back end. Not sure I could carry him by myself, and I am 47 and able-bodied. But I suppose if it were an emergency, I would muster the confidence (in my case it's not the strength that is the issue). I thought that my mom would be able to walk Snowie when I was at work, a nice companion for her. She's 79 but now I would never dream of it -- he would yank her over. He needs a strong handler (physically) for those times he gets over-excited. I am finding this thread very interesting, often wondered how someone without the strength could handle a Labrador. I guess training is all the more essential!
Yes, I don't think I could carry Jubilee very far. We do obedience training with a neighbor that has search and rescue dogs. One of the things she practices with her dogs is having a stranger pick them up and hold them. The dogs sometimes need to be picked up over obstacles or be put in a helicopter. It would probably be good training for Jube if someone else needed to carry her. She C&Ts when the dog is not struggling and is being still.
MF, I am 79 and I do take Cooper out to the garden on leash sometimes...just to see if I am at the point where I CAN start to walk him and, if he sees a squirrel or a bird or a wild turkey, he takes off like a bat out of hell....so I just let go of the leash immediately.... but he is in my garden...not crossing a street. So that is a different story.....Cooper would yank my arm out of my socket if I hung on to the leash.....I am strong but just had knee replacements so, for now, walking him is not a possibility but soon....very soon! TRAINING is the answer to everything....and I am lacking in that regard. But not for long!!
@MF the lift my Vet showed me for Jet's back was because her back was hurt just about right in the middle between her neck and base of tail. Jet had invertebral disk disease and "significant" spinal spondylosis in the same place. I don't know if this lift would suit a different kind of injury or in a different place. I was also told if her back had to bend some way it was better for her to hunch up in the middle rather than down, sway backed, in the middle. Again, this might not apply to other hurts in other places or a mix of. Jet did NOT like to be picked up but she was a lightweight and she got used to it.
Really interesting thread and a lot of inspiration for me here as one of my chief concerns in making the switch from Rottweiler to Labrador is that I will not be able to provide a pup with enough exercise. Labs seem to be a much higher energy breed. It's good to know there are others out there who perhaps don't run/bike five miles a day but have happy dogs nonetheless!
Labs do well on loads of exercise, but stimulating their minds is arguably more important. Long walks aren't just about giving them the opportunity to get physically tired (any amount of walking you can do probably won't wear out a fit Lab, however fit you are yourself), but more about the opportunities for them to sniff and chase trails etc. So, if you can direct that mental energy into things that are even more engaging and thought-provoking, then you will tire out their minds far more quickly. And that's what gives you a stimulated and more peaceful dog. If you're physically unable to walk for a long time, then lots of training sessions, including some where you teach the dog to work away from you so they do still get some physical challenges, will be hugely beneficial. When it's been at its hottest here in Spain, it's not been possible to take my two on long walks, but on those really hot days, we've always done some good training to make them think. I taught them to bow over a couple of days and that small thing tired them out far more than a two-hour walk, because it was brand new and they had to concentrate hard
I'm also an "older owner". I would have a hard time picking Cooper up, since she weighs 85#. Probably could do it if she did not resists. I can walk all I want, and we still ski or snow shoe with the dogs in the Winter. Like Snowbunny says, I can't get a Lab tired walking on a leash, but if they are off lead, they get a lot more miles than I do and can get tired. I worry a little about getting pulled over when we first put Cooper on a leash. She is ok after she settles down, but can be a handful when we start out.
I have been using day care for the last six months.....so Cooper gets enough play exercise. Don't know what I would have done for him without day care!. So I totally agree with you. But you have to make sure it is a good quality day care. Wish I could get a dogwalker...none in my area unfortunately.
Gosh Pup Pup,this is a great thread but I've got to say Labradors are so flippin' ' strong they can be quite a physical challenge to owners of any age so we are all benefitting from your question.....I guess I'm 'middle-aged' now ( how does that happen?) I'm reasonably fit and my dog is only quite small, but he's had me over a couple of times ...the humiliation still hurts more than the bump at this point in my life though
