Your pooch is now in their senior years and probably enjoying a slower pace of life. There may be some tell-tail grey flecks around their muzzle and the zoomies might not be happening quite as often. It’s a pretty sweet gig though, being an O-A-Pooch. To-do list for the day: enjoying ALL the naps and ALL the fuss!

In your dog’s senior years, there will most likely be times when they need some extra TLC and support to keep them happy and as healthy as possible.

Read on to check out our top tips on how to support your dog in their senior years!

At what age does a dog enter their senior years?

If you have a small-medium pooch, you can expect their senior years to start from 10 years of age. For large-extra large dogs, they enter this stage a little earlier at 8 years of age.  

How can I keep my senior dog in great shape?

Keep up the flea & worm treatment

Fleas can hop onto your pet from any of their favourite places – the garden, the park, the pub… nowhere is safe! These pests are opportunists who will do anything they can to hitchhike a ride on your senior dog. 

Did you know 5 fleas on an untreated pooch can lead to more than 1 million eggs infesting your home in only 4 weeks. Yikes! 

Protect your pet against fleas, ticks and biting lice by receiving a monthly treatment of Itch Flea through your letterbox. Itch Flea will eradicate any pesky fleas on your pet within just 24 hours and kill ticks within 48 hours.

Let’s not forget about worms either. These wrigglers will ‘worm’ their way in when your pet accidentally eats worm eggs or larvae. The really gross part? It’s usually because another animal which had worms living in their gut, has already pooped them out! Got a furry friend who can’t walk past a poo without angling for a nibble? Or maybe scavenging is their guilty pleasure? If your senior dog  isn’t protected against worms already, get started now! 

The worrying thing about worms is at the early stages of infestation, your pet might not be showing any outward symptoms. By the time you start to pick up on the signs your pooch isn’t very well, the infestation in their guts can be quite advanced. Be sure to add Itch Wormer to your furry friend’s delivery to protect against roundworms and tapeworms, as well as their larvae.

Help your senior dog’s mobility

At this age, you’ll start noticing your pooch enjoying more of the slower pace of life. Joint issues are one of the things you need to be aware of as your dog gets older.  A vast majority of senior dogs will have osteoarthritis. There are a few telling signs your dog could be experiencing discomfort on movement. For example, they may have difficulty getting in and out of the car, become reluctant to go up stairs or jump onto the sofa, or get up slowly and/or appear stiff after periods of rest. 

Have you considered supporting your senior pooch with a joint-specific supplement? Itch Joint is a powerful joint supplement, providing bone and joint support.

It’s packed with bone-boosting calcium, green lipped mussels rich in Omega-3s to lubricate and support joints, naturally antioxidant Vitamin C, E,and manganese, and Glucosamine HCI for healthier, stronger cartilage and tendons. 

Other things you can do to support a senior pooch include making things accessible for them. This could include using a ramp to go outside the back door if there’s a step, or to help them get in and out of the car. If there are slippery floors in the house (i.e. laminate, tiles or glossy wood) that your pooch may struggle to walk on, consider using rugs to help them increase their grip.

Support your senior dog with a high quality, all-round supplement

Providing your senior dog with a high-quality, all-round supplement is a great way to ensure you’re covering all bases and supporting them from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail in their golden years. Best in Show has been created by vets and pet-loving experts to deliver the finest blend of clinically proven ingredients, formulated to support your dog in 10 key wellness areas, including… 

• Skin & coat
• Stress & anxiety
• Joints
• Gut health
• Immune system
• Eye health
• Brain development
• Heart health
• Oral health 
• All-round wellness

Best in Show is easy to administer. No hard to swallow pills or gloopy oils. Simply mix the recommended dose of Best in Show powder into their food, sit back and watch them chow down. 

Geriatric blood tests for senior dogs

Your vet may want to carry out a geriatric blood test on your senior dog. This will help to increase the chance of detecting any potential diseases in your pooch as early as possible. Older dogs are at higher risk of medical conditions such as diabetes, kidney failure and hormone imbalances. Finding out at an earlier stage if your senior dog has one of these conditions means you’ll be able to provide support for them a lot sooner.

Consider a senior diet for your dog

You’ll want to make sure your senior dog is getting the best nutrition to support them in their golden years.

Clean Bowls provides tailored nutrition to help your pooch stay happy and healthy. Expertly crafted with fresh ingredients from trusted farms, our Clean Bowls recipes are made in state-of-the-art kitchens using Freshtrusion – a technique guaranteed to retain freshness and nutritional goodness. 

If your senior dog has any pre-existing medical conditions which require a change of diet, your vet will be able to provide recommendations around prescription diets and what will suit your pooch best.

Keep your senior dog’s skin and coat healthy

You may notice your senior dog’s skin and coat isn’t quite in the same condition as it was a few years back. Don’t worry, this is to be expected. Coat and skin quality tend to diminish with age. Help give them their gloss back with Itch Skin and Coat Treats. 

Specially formulated to care for fur and the skin beneath it too, these tasty treats are made with gloss-giving omega 3, rich with EPA and DHA to reduce flakiness, and packed with zinc and biotin to pep up sensitive skin and make even the dullest of fur coats catwalk-ready.

As well as helping with a glossy coat, omega 3 can also help improve mobility and DHA may also play a role in improving cognitive function. These nibbles also include Vitamin E which helps cellular repair. This is important in ageing pets!

Support your senior dog’s cognitive function

Just like with older humans, cognitive function declines in senior pets too. Signs of dementia in dogs can include:

• Confusion or disorientation
• Toileting inside the house
• Change in sleep patterns, appearing restless and pacing
• Being less attentive
• Increased anxiety
• Increased vocalisation

Ways to help a dog experiencing symptoms of cognitive decline include sticking to the same daily routine, making sure their environment is consistent (their bed, food and water bowl should always be in the same place) and being patient with them. 

If your dog is becoming anxious, it might be worth trying a calming treat or supplement to take the edge off.

Our Itch Calming Treats are expertly-blended for pets showing signs of stress and anxiety. They contain soothing lavender, relaxing camomile and belly-boosting probiotics. 

We also have our Itch Calm supplement. This soothing remedy is expertly blended to help ease anxiety. It’s made with amino acids (L-tryptophan and L-theanine) to lift moods, calcium and magnesium for all round health, and calming valerian root extract to give stress a swift kick in the parts. 

We’re here to help

If you follow all of these tips, you can feel confident you’re giving your pooch the best possible support throughout their senior years to help them stay as happy and healthy as possible.

And we’re here to help you along the way. Our personalised pet wellness plans are packed full of vet-approved products, tailored to your dog’s unique needs. Everything you need will be delivered to your door, exactly when you need it. That’s one less thing to remember!

If you have any questions at all, the pet wellness pro’s in our customer service team are here to help. Feel free to drop our team a message or call them on 020 3370 0905 Mon to Fri 8am-4pm. 

Let’s beat the blighters together!