Welcome back to the Senior Dog Digest from Grey Whiskers. Just like preparing for the holidays, it’s good to prepare your senior dog for a grooming experience. So let’s get into it.

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

• How to plan for a senior spa day

• Safe Thanksgiving ideas

Grooming and Gratitude: Preparing Your Senior Dog for the Salon

Ok. You’ve read my newsletters on how often your dog should be groomed and how to choose a groomer. You’ve done all the homework and chosen a groomer to care for your geriatric dog. Now, how do you help your dog get ready for the grooming session, and how to take care of her afterward?

When your dog goes to the groomer, this is essentially the order of things, to some degree or another: the groomer may do a little bit of work before the bath, but in general it’s into the tub, bath with shampoo and ideally conditioner, then towel dry, blow dry and brush, then a haircut. Most groomers prefer if not require that the dog stand for as much of this as possible so that the hair is dry (damp hair dulls clipper blades and scissors), the hair is as straight as possible, which allows the haircut to be more even, and just so the groomer can see all the areas of your dog from different angles to get the haircut right. This is a long time to stand, right? At best it’s 45 minutes to an hour for a light-coated small, cooperative dog in good shape, and at worst it’s over 2, closer to 3 for large dogs, matted or heavy coats, and fancier haircuts. No wonder your geriatric dog is exhausted for days! I’ve had new clients who’ve told me that their dog’s last groom resulted in them being sore or in pain for a week or more. This is not a great situation for your dog. But if you don’t have a specialized in-home geriatric groomer, what can you do to prepare your dog for his day at the spa?

• If your dog already takes pain medicine, be sure your dog doesn’t miss a dose just before the groom AND for a day to three days after the groom. Supervise to be sure your dog doesn’t spit out the pill or refuse to eat it from a meal (I’ve had this happen on groom days with some clients). If your dog has an as-needed pain medicine, talk to your veterinarian about the safety of giving that for 24 hours before the groom and up to a week after. And if there’s not a regular or as-needed medicine in your dog’s pharmacy, I highly urge you to talk to your vet about starting that protocol. In approximately 75% of conversations I have with new clients, they tell me that their dog was in too much pain after the last groom for them to do that to the dog again. Sometimes managing it is as simple as some pain medicine. I tell my clients to make sure they have pain medicine the morning of a groom (or however it is normally given) and then for up to 24-36 hours after. The dogs I see have no pain afterward because of the changes I make to the grooming process, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and I’m sure the medicine helps with that.

• Reduce or skip exercise for your dog before a groom. By no means should you increase normal activity right now. Make sure your dog has had plenty of rest in the few days before his trip to the salon.

• I also recommend if at all possible that you don’t have him groomed right after you come back from a trip, whether he went with you or not. Many of my clients tell me their geriatric dogs struggle to recover after one or more of their humans have been traveling with or without them. Travel is exhausting for old dogs, even if they love it, and any change in the home is too!

• Don’t schedule other appointments the same day, or even the day before or after a groom if your dog is extremely elderly or debilitated. A day at the groomers is very tiring, and the older a dog is the longer it takes him to recover from any time away from home.

• Do your best to be sure your dog does all his business before going to the grooming salon, to help prevent accidents while there. If the groomers have to clean him up, that just extends the time he spends there overall. I do not recommend that you withhold food before a groom, but you could consider feeding a smaller meal.

• If your dog has some signs of anxiety, dementia or vision impairment it might be a good idea to send a small soft item that smells like home along with him (put your name on it). If the salon allows this it can help reduce his stress and overstimulation a bit. Some groomers will not allow sedatives or tranquilizing medicines for anxious dogs, and some do, so discuss this with your groomer ahead of time.

Make this Thanksgiving a great one for your senior pup, too!

I don’t know about you, but the older my dogs get, the more inclined I am to give them special foods and treatment just for being cute. Thanksgiving could quickly get out of hand, but I’ve found a way to make it safe and still very special for our old dogs. Many foods we eat on Thanksgiving are safe for them as long as we keep it simple. You can set aside some of the single ingredient components of the main dishes you’re preparing to make them much safer for your old dogs to enjoy, such cooked sweet or white potato, pumpkin purée (not pie filling!) a few green beans, peas, or cranberries. And of course cooked turkey is safe for most dogs, in small quantities as with everything else. Offer his components as a special treat at family dinner time, or as a meal topper. Did you know it’s safe to boil the giblets/heart and gizzard and feed them to your pup? I remember my mom doing this for our dogs when I was little. It was super gross but the dogs loved them!

Always follow your veterinarian’s recommendations for your pet’s safety given his specific medical conditions. And always consider your dog’s size (and the amount of teeth he has left) when you set his portions aside! He likes leftovers as much as you do, so you can always feed him a small amount of his special treats for a couple of days. If your dog is toothless, you can mince everything up or even purée it for him!

🤮 What is not safe:

• Cooked turkey bones

• Turkey skin

• Raw onion or garlic

• Raisins

• Anything very processed or that contains a lot of fat, salt or sugar (looking at you, sweet potato/marshmallow casserole)

Organization Shout Out

The Old Mutt Hutt is a senior dog dedicated organization located in the Colorado Springs area. TOMH prides itself on providing a homelike sanctuary for its forever residents. They live in a regular home with sunbeams to nap in, and all the comforts of a forever home vs kennels and runs. They have a dedicated caregiver with them 24/7, too. Right now, they have many adorable dogs in need of new homes, so if you’re looking to add a new (old) family member in honor of Adopt a Senior Month, this is a great organization to support!

Check them out on IG or Facebook

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

🗺️ List of U.S. States Where People Love Senior Pets the Most Comes with a Few Surprises 

❣️ Retiree Is On A Mission To Give Loving Home Exclusively To Senior Dogs In Need

Senior Dog Humor 🤣 

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House