The Nose Knows

Welcome to the senior dogs digest from Grey Whiskers. A newsletter is written with one purpose in mind. To talk about, laugh about, and sometimes cry about how we can all improve our senior dogs' lives. It’s a place where I can answer your burning questions about senior dog care, and the products I use, and share news and personal stories that you can all relate to.

In this week’s issue here’s what we are sniffing out

• Understanding your dog’s nose

• Home care

• Product recommendations

Understanding your dog’s nose

Dog noses are very much more effective than humans. And among different breeds, some noses are better than others. The bloodhound has the best nose in all of the dogdom and has approximately 40 times the amount of scent receptors we have as humans. According to the PBS show Nature’s Underdogs, evidence sniffed out by Bloodhounds is admissible in court!

People ask me all the time if dogs lose their sense of smell. My answer is it depends. In some dogs, smell becomes the primary sense if the dog has lost vision or hearing. Imagine if you lost your sight and hearing… it would feel so dark and quiet that I think smell might provide even more important information to you than ever. In that case, it’s a really good idea to engage your dog’s sense of smell every chance you get; on walks, around the house, etc. I have clients whose old dogs find their way around the house and through their days with their noses pressed to the ground to take in all the information they can.

In other cases, sometimes the smell does seem to decrease. I’ve noticed in our dogs that if one of our dogs has a chronically dry nose they seem to be less aware of smells around them. Sometimes just helping manage your dog’s nose to keep it cool and wet can remedy that (see below). And in some cases, According to senior dog expert Dr. Mary Gardner’s wonderful book It’s Never Long Enough, she mentions that there may be a correlation between a decrease in sense of smell and doggie dementia and that to date, research doesn’t show conclusively what happens with a dog’s sense of smell as they age.

And does a dry nose indicate poor health? The answer is not entirely, that’s a bit of a myth. Sometimes when a dog doesn’t feel well the nose does dry up, but there are many times a dog is unwell and the nose is fine. Especially in older dogs, the nose can be dry but the dog is still in good health. He just needs some help from the next section of this newsletter…

^{HOME CARE TIPS:}

If your elderly dog has a dry nose, you can apply nose butter or balm a few times a day. Diligence is key, so set an alarm or do whatever helps you remember to apply it regularly! Below in the product section are some recommendations for good nose butters. But you can also dribble a little water on the nose if they’ll let you. A veterinarian told me a long time ago to spritz water on the nose, but I feel like most dogs won’t love that, especially because some trainers recommend spraying water on dogs as a punishment for some methods of training.

If you live in a dry environment like we do in Colorado, consider a humidifier placed where your dog spends most of her time.

If you feel that your dog’s sense of smell isn’t what it used to be, try warming her food slightly to strengthen the smell. If she eats kibble, you can pour warm water on it, or pre-soak then warm the meal.

To encourage and support a healthy sense of smell (and brain function too!), it’s a really good idea to play scent games with your aging dog. Depending on his ability level, that can be as simple as dropping some strong-smelling treats around his normal walking or sleeping territory. If that’s too easy, you can make it gradually harder by hiding treats in a larger area, or near the edges of objects such as chair legs, on baseboards, beside cabinets etc. For your dog’s best success, start easy and with a few treats only.

Lastly, I know we’re all in a hurry these days. We have a thousand things to do, and walking an old dog who sniffs so much they make a trip around the block take 30 minutes instead of 5 does not fit that model. But… Those of us with senior pups have no idea how long we have left with our buddies, who have been by our side for more than a decade, sometimes close to two! They’ve seen us through college, relationships, babies, divorces, moves, job changes, loss. They move slowly but they’re still by our sides, loving us unconditionally. If we can slow down long enough to let our dogs sniff their 30-minute way around that block, it does us both good. They take so much information in through their noses. That information intake helps decrease the chance of developing dementia, it gives them joy and increases their quality of life. In our family where we adopt senior dogs, we notice that at some point, every dog switches from exercising most of the walk to sniffing on most of the walk. In my opinion, that’s an important change to respect in an older dog. At some point, walks aren’t about exercise anymore, they’re about getting out and enjoying the world through sniffing, and that’s ok too.

Product Recommendations for Seniors

There are several options to keep that old snout moist, here are two of my favorites. The Natural Dog Company makes a great nose balm.

The Blissful Dog has one as well! Despite many different labels on the nose butter, they are all the same formula. The different breeds are so we can all have what we want on our labeling.

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

☞ A Conversation with Sherri Franklin of Muttville

☞ The Nose Knows

Senior Dog Humor

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House