[Dailydrool] slowing down and getting older

[Carol Shreiner]

It's been a long time since I've posted.....I've been a lurker since the
hounds and I had a drastic change in our lives a long time ago....but I
digress...
My hounds are getting up there in years (8, 7.5, 6), and this is my first
family of dogs that I've lived with on my own as adult, so I've never
experienced senior "doghood." I noticed this summer that Freckles started to
slow down. He didn't have that chipper walk anymore on our outings and
walked so slow. I thought it was simply the heat, but when it cooled off, it
didn't change much. He walks so slow and sleeps so much. Pw Lilly too. In
fact, she will simply STOP walking and look at me on our walks as if to say
"You're walking too fast and I don't like it. I'm a Pwincess! " She's still
very playful though. But Dozer is the one who worries me the most. He has
never had any problems with heat or cold changing his energy, and he always
has an endless supply of it. He will be 8 in November, and recently--like
three days ago--he stopped jumping, and he hasn't had the same enthusiasm on
walks (well, unless we see a kitty on our walk!). He can't jump. He can eat,
sleep, curl up, dig, walk, woof, run, go potty, navigate steps--everything,
but he can't jump. He will put his paws on the bed, and I have to hoist his
back end up. He can climb onto the couch and his favorite perch, but he
won't jump. He can off them without issue, but no jumping up. So strange. He
holds his head kind of low too lately, like he's depressed.
We have a vet appointment today, and hopefully that will give me an answer
as to what's going on and to what I can do for him. Are the hounds just
slowing down and simply just getting older? What else should I expect as
they age? 8 is pretty young, though, right?

-- 
www.ohiobassetrescue.org

Dozer http://www.dogster.com/?272678
Freckles http://www.dogster.com/?273357
Pw. Lilly http://www.dogster.com/?273360
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