Welcome to 2025, another year to talk about our favorite thing, making old dogs’ lives better — In this week’s issue here’s what we are sniffing out

• Managing your senior after the groom

• Prepping for the dietary emergency before it happens

What to do after the groom

You’ve learned how to research, choose, communicate with, and prep your elderly dog for the groomer if you aren’t fortunate enough to have a geriatric groomer in your area. Now let’s have a quick talk about how to care for your old dog AFTER he’s been to the groomer.

Don’t schedule other appointments on the same day as a grooming appointment. It may not seem like much to you, but having a doctor’s appointment and a grooming appointment on the same day for an elderly dog is a LOT. Even just riding in the car to two places in one day can be exhausting or stressful for an old dog. I would recommend that you give at least a day’s rest between appointments. The older your dog is, the more you should spread the time between appointments out.

Make sure your old pup has a quiet, comfortable space to spend the rest of the day, maybe one that is near family members so that he can wake up and see people around him without having to get up as often to find the rest of his pack.

If your dog is really frail or worn out, consider feeding at that comfy place after he comes home from his groom, and keep water nearby for him as well. If the groomer tells you the groom was especially stressful for your dog, consider feeding a few small meals vs his regular-sized portion. Stress causes tummy upset and he might appreciate a little bit at a time!

Just as with before the groom, minimize exercise for a few days after the groom as well. Again, it’s a bad time to increase exercise, and you might even need to reduce walks and active play. If your dog still wants to take walks that’s wonderful, let him do that, just do your best to focus on quality vs quantity in walking. Now is definitely the time to let him sniff everything… the more sniffing he does, the more tired he’ll be afterwards even if snails are literally passing you on the sidewalk in the meantime.

Watch him very carefully to be sure he’s not sore or painful. If he is, offer comfort in the way of pain medicines and other things if your vet okays them. Very, very gentle massage can help as well. If he is sore, try substituting walks for snuffle mats, food puzzles, or a game of simple hide and seek with treats.

If he needs support to get up from a nap, to walk, or while going potty or, you can use a wide thick towel wrapped around his waist to help support his back end. Just use the ends as your handles. This works great for female dogs, but obviously won’t work for boys to pee, though! Often, just helping your dog get up and walk is enough and he can pee on his own. Pooping is not always easy for dogs to manage on their own if they are sore or painful, so this may require more effort on your part with that towel as a back-end aid.

Use the “it takes a village” approach we talked about last time:

Don‘t forget to have a conversation with your groomer about how your old dog did after the groom, just in case the two of you can come up with a change that makes a difference for your dog next time. If he was sore this time and your dog doesn’t already take pain medicine, talk to your vet now about getting some for his next groom. Don’t wait till the last minute before your groom is booked to deal with this. Ideally, you should trial this medicine before the next groom so that you can dial it in for his best comfort.

Above all, have patience with your creaky old dog. It’s a privilege to spend enough years with your senior dog that he requires this type of care and prep. You’ve done a remarkable job keeping him healthy so far, don’t quit now. Not only does he need you more and more every day, but he’s also getting cuter and cuter every day… consider it his way of thanking you. ♥️

Have any topics you’d like covered for a newsletter? Just reply to this email and let us know.

💁‍♀️ Tip of the Week: Be ready for a Dietary Emergency

If you keep up with my newsletters, you know Uma has been going through a rough time. We had to put her on a bland diet to combat tummy issues. She wouldn’t eat the canned food the vet sent home for us to try. This is a vegetarian household, so cooking chicken is a hazmat situation best to be avoided at all costs. Plus, running to the store to buy ingredients is a hassle, especially over the holidays, as I can tell you from personal experience. It doesn’t need to be as complicated as that, though.

When you have a little extra plain cooked white meat chicken and plain white rice, combine them into a bowl and mix well. Ideally, the mixture should be roughly 2 parts WHITE rice to 1 part chicken. Spread the mixture into a thin layer on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once the mixture is frozen you can put it into a container to keep on hand. Learn from my mistake: If you don’t take the extra step of freezing on a cookie sheet, you’ll end up with a giant frozen mass that is difficult to portion out. Alternatively, you can portion the mixture into 1 cup (or appropriately sized for your dog) patties or mounds and freeze individually. Once frozen you can combine the little patties or mounds in one large container or bag. When you thaw the food, you can add a scoop of pumpkin. According to PetMD, here are guidelines you can follow regarding the appropriate amount for your dog.

• Extra-small dog (2-20 lbs.) = 2-3 teaspoons of pumpkin(Examples: Yorkies, Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Pugs, Shih Tzus)

• Small dog (21-30 lbs.) = 1-2 tablespoons of pumpkin (Examples: Basenjis, Beagles, Miniature Australian Shepherds)

• Medium dog (31-50 lbs.) = 2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin(Examples: Basset Hounds, Border Collies, Australian Cattle Dogs, Siberian Huskies)

• Large dog (51-90 lbs.) = 4-5 tablespoons of pumpkin(Examples: Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Australian Shepherds)

• Extra-large dog (91+ lbs.) = ¼ cup of pumpkin (Examples: Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, St. Bernards, Great Pyrenees)

✅ If cooking isn’t your thing, some other options to give you the easy button are below:

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

🐔 DVMs weigh in on everything you need to know about chicken and rice for dogs

🚚 The Best Dog Food Delivery Services, According To Veterinarians, Experts And Editors

🚨 The Best Senior Dog Insurance of January 2025

Senior Dog Humor 🤣 

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House