Golden Mountain Dog Solutions

An old dog, just like us humans, will be a different animal from the one you knew in earlier life. Along with the greying muzzle, cloudy eyes, reduced hearing, slower movement, and tendency to sleep more, comes the potential for your dog to manifest symptoms that, misunderstood, can reduce both the quality and length of its life.

Much has been written about this subject that we won’t repeat here, preferring instead to focus on some age related issues that often go undiagnosed or are inappropriately treated. This article is the first in a series of illustrative stories involving first hand experience with dogs we have known.

Jasper was a beagle mutt who loved to hunt. He remained healthy as he aged but gradually became completely deaf in one ear. The effect of this became obvious when he was off-lead at a distance, and a recall command was given. He would prick up his ears and look in the direction he thought the call came from, but without functioning stereoscopic hearing the chance of his choice being accurate was roughly the same as winning the lottery. If he wasn’t looking at whoever was calling, their best choice at this point was to remain quiet as they circled around hm waving until they caught his attention, then call him again. Calling him while he was focusing in the wrong direction would ensure that Jasper would be in the next county before they caught up with him. Read the rest of this entry »