Griffin’s favorite thing in 2019 was going to a Senior Dog Class at OSU. One of the behavior department veterinarians is doing a project involving senior dogs. Part of it was hosting a class specifically for senior dogs and their owners. Some of our time was getting information about the behavioral wellness of senior dogs as well as how physical wellness may impact behavior. And some of the time was activities. Griffin thought it was the best thing ever. The more excited he was, the more treats he received. Griffin was persuasive enough to even get the other dog owners to feed him too.
photo credit, dr obrian
At other points in his life, I would have intervened to keep things from escalating. Now that he’s 11, my biggest priorities are keeping him happy and safe. Settling peacefully in a group class is no longer on our needed skill list, so I was fine to let that deteriorate!
Senior dog behavior is a tricky area. On one hand many owners will do a lot to keep their older dogs as healthy as possible. On the other hand, physical wellness and behavior wellness don’t always get equal priority even though they are so interconnected. Some changes are easily discounted as just how older dogs can be – rather than addressing those changes. I’m really happy they were able to get funding for this project and for what happens with the information collected in the follow-up owner surveys.
Griffin is physically doing fairly well – the last six months he’s not as strong as he was up until that point – but he’s doing really well compared to many of his age-group friends. Part of it is luck with genetics and part of it is probably that we stay busy. In most ways he’s the same dog he’s always been.
In October we finished his AKC Rally Advanced title. We won’t mention how many tries it took because of some silly things he did. We got some bonus passes in an attempt to give us the opportunity to enter the AKC Rally Championship event next summer if we decide we want to (it’s nearby). In October we finished his AKC Open (second level) obedience title which was really exciting for me.
But the most exciting thing for Griffin was being in that class and persuading so many people to throw him treats, fill kongs, and give him puzzle toys. It’s easy to make him happy!