We have an 11 yr old male lab. Over the past year we have noticed him slow down some but he still would run and play, over the past few months though he has slowed down even more. He will barely even run, it's more of a slow trot. He also can not hear well. Most of it was due to an ear infection he had about 6 mo ago and the medication he was given can cause hearing loss and ever since then his hearing is very little. He can hear higher pitches. He seems to roam more when we go some where and he is off leash further away from us which I don't know if it's because he can't hear well and just doesn't realize how far he is going which makes it hard to call him. He is pretty aware and checks where we are and will come back if he gets too far. He can't jump up onto the bed as well. Our hearts are hurting so much to know he can't hear our voices as much. We took him into the vet to make sure everything was ok with him, all labs were good, he's just aging. He has some arthritis in his right elbow and a little on his spine. They gave us a Nsaid medication we can give him when needed. I know that others know the feeling of helplessness. We love him so much and I can't even imagine our lives without him. We got a puppy who is now 20 weeks and I love the puppy but I now feel bad that since our older dog has drastically changed he may feel we are replacing him. Although sometimes I wonder when we are playing with the dogs that the older dog Harley just doesn't even try because he knows the puppy will out run him. Is it possible for a dog to just give up? We always make sure we do things only with Harley our older dog so he knows we love him, we will take him to his favorite places without the puppy too. Harely seems to finally like playing with the puppy, it's mostly the puppy giving him half the toy and they walk around in circles and just gently tug. He seems happy with that. I"m just feeling so sad right now seeing him slow down so much.thanks for listening
Your beloved Lab is getting old and like us all, loses some of our hearing and sight, but he has one advantage to us humans, they still have a fantastic nose! I am sure your dog doesn't have the ability to think you are replacing him, though I do believe that dogs suffer from 'jealousy' but it looks as if you are doing all the right things to show that he is still loved. Continue to make him feel special and all will settle down. You probably notice he is ageing more as you will notice the liveliness of the puppy.
Thank you Stacia, I think that you are right, since we've had the puppy it's more evident, although he was still running pretty good up until a couple weeks ago but again I don't know if it's just that he knows the puppy will out run him anyways. I guess I'm just feeling guilty both ways for each dog.
Wow, Your story sounds a little bit like mine. My, Aimless, will be 12 in two months. The change in the past year is so weird. He is so much older. We used to walk 1/12 miles every morning, now we only do 1/4 mile 3 times a day. He has aged so much in the past year. I can't understand.
We got Cooper when Tilly was 9. Cooper was so competitive that Tilly gave up on retrieving if Cooper was trying. We would throw something for Cooper, and while she was out, throw something else for Tilly so she had a chance too. They did still play together and often slept on the same dog bed. Now that Tilly is gone, Cooper misses her.
