Monday, April 9, 2012

Bring Joy to Your Family--Adopt an Older Dog!

Recently a television station in the Twin Cities metro ran a story on pet rescue. The no-kill shelter featured in the news clip had a mission to help older dogs find new homes. 

Our own family adopted our dog from a shelter as a young dog. He was a huge part of our family for over decade as a senior dog. His rambunctious puppy years were more challenging than as he got older. Older dogs are calmer with a desire to please their masters. As Tikki aged, there were trials and concerns as his eyesight, joints and muscles failed him. We built a dog ramp and had orthopedic dog beds around our home to keep him comfortable. Tikki was the inspiration behind the Old Dog Paws website on older dog care. Tikki brought much joy to our family life for over a decade after he became a “senior dog” at the ripe old age of seven.

So when heard about the news story on a senior dog rescue organization, I just had to watch. The Top Dog Foundation in New Germany, MN focuses on finding loving homes for what some consider an “un-adoptable” animal, the older dog. In the story, I was struck by the comment that older dogs are more appreciative of their new homes as they know what is to be unloved for a time and then adopted and properly spoiled again. If you are looking for an older dog who will appreciate all of the love your family has to offer, check out The Top Dog Foundation or any one of a large number of no-kill shelters who seek loving homes for older dogs.

Copyright 2012 OldDogPaws.com


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Massaging Your Old Dog's Back Legs

Did you ever wonder how best to massage your older dog's back legs correctly to ease arthritis? As our dog Tikki got older, we could see his hind legs start to twist making it difficult to get up and down from his dog bed. We build a dog ramp to ease his struggle up and down the stairs which helped immensely. But as time went on we started to see the pain in his eyes every time he went to lay down. We loved our dog and wanted to ease his pain so we tried dog massage. We weren't experts but through trial and error, the attention seemed to relieve some of our dog's pain.

Today on Youtube, I found a video that gives a very good step-by-step explanation of  how to massage an older dog's back legs to ease his arthritis pain:



Copyright 2012 OldDogPaws.com