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

• Making sure your senior pup can stay mobile and maintain traction

Old Dogs vs. Slick Floors

Working in clients’ homes gives me the unique opportunity to see IRL challenges that old dogs and their families are navigating. I learn so much in this way that I wouldn’t learn if I was advocating for elderly dogs while working in a salon. The same goes for veterinarians - I’m guessing that those of you who do housecalls can really see firsthand what their furry patients need, and what their human clients are struggling to manage. Many times when I arrive, people will apologize for having 15 rug runners overlapping their way through the home, and baby gates and play pens everywhere to route the dog safely around obstacles, or to keep them from slipping on hard floors. I never see it as unsightly… I see those solutions as a really creative way to care for an elderly dog, and as a sign of how much love they have for that sweet old four legged soul.

There are many ways to address traction and mobility for geriatric dogs. It really depends on your dog: how he is struggling, what he’ll tolerate, AND the challenges your home presents. The first and most important line of defense is keeping those toenails short and the hair between and around the paw pads trimmed. If your dog isn’t walking as often as he used to or being groomed as regularly, this is even more important.

Large Area Floor Solutions

Create a pet safe area using furniture. I saw a little poodle once before she passed away, and her family had created a little racetrack with bumpers in a living room area with a large throw rug. They used the oversized ottoman to form the center, and had banked portions of a sectional couch and some chairs around it to form the outer edge. It was lined with non slip pee pads, and the dog, who was blind and had dementia, wandered around her track happily, and was kept safe from bumping into things that could hurt her. She had a bed in one corner that she could drop into for naptime. Similarly, a family with a geriatric schnauzer lined the hard edges and the exit of their living room with dog beds propped up on their sides so that he could wander at will and not get hurt, or get onto the slippery hardwood floors that were just outside that area.

Area rugs, throw rugs, and rug runners can be laid down to keep geriatric pups from sliding on hard floors. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve noticed the dogs in those homes going out of their way to move from rug to rug… even if the dogs can’t see well, in many cases they learn where the rugs live well enough to make life easier for them.

Yoga mats are a good alternative to rugs. When we had our old dog Esther, we lived briefly in a small home with hardwood floors, so I bought a roll of thin, grippy yoga mats in bulk and covered every square inch of the hardwood floors with those. They were made of a material that was easy to wash, and not absorbent… perfect for dirty feet and accidents. However, when we moved into a larger home with an open floor plan, we wouldn’t have been able to cover the entire open space in yoga mats or carpets. So I bought her some booties with traction to wear anytime she was downstairs. See below for more on that.

Pro Tip

Feed your dog on a washable nonslip rug, padded bath mat, or yoga mat as they age. This is a good general rule for any old dog, no matter the size. Our little short legged Groot couldn’t even eat a treat off the slick floor without her front legs splaying out. Feeding her on the carpet made all the difference. If your dog’s front or back legs are sliding out to the sides or to the front/back while he’s bent over eating, add a raised feeder and water bowl to that mix. You don’t even have to buy anything fancy. You can DIY at home… if you have old shoe boxes lying around, find one that will hold the weight of your dog’s bowl, and set a bowl on top of it. If the box is just a little too tall for your dog to use without straining her neck up high, you can trace the edge of the bowl onto the box and then cut a hole to sink the bowl into. A shoebox would be a perfect height feeder with holes cut out for both food and water bowls for tiny old dogs. These solutions don’t last forever but they’re a perfect quick fix. We fed Esther off of a shoebox for an embarrassingly long time! 

Senior Dog Approved Options for Traction

RC Pets’ Sports Pawks are what Esther is sporting above (see what I did there?). They worked like a charm for her. She never had one moment of worry or stress with them. This is one of the first things I recommend to my clients to try. It’s an inexpensive option, but not every dog will tolerate having booties on. If you’re going to go this route, whatever you buy, definitely go with a full rubber-dipped paw. And after a short time in them, your dog will look like this: (Please excuse the poor video quality, it’s hard to run backwards with the camera near the floor, but I took this video a while ago to share how effective the booties were for Esther).

The ones with the little paw pad designs on the bottom only are super cute, but the socks will spin around, and the nonslip portion of the sock will lose contact with the floor. Having rubber all around the bottom will seriously reduce that risk.

Straps are a necessity for this bootie solution. If you don’t have straps, they will eventually twist off, especially for larger dogs.

Paw stickers work great for many dogs. There is a bit of a learning curve to applying these, but I’m told it only takes a few tries. The dog does have to be patient for a few minutes to have them applied. Once they’re on, they last up to 3-5 days, depending on how well they’re applied, how wet the ground is/how much your dog’s paws sweat, and how well your dog’s paw pad hair is trimmed. You really need to have all hair that covers every part of the paw pad trimmed away, and it needs to be done regularly. Try not to stick them over any more hair than necessary. These stickers are extra sticky, and pulling them off of hair can really be painful. Let them fall off on their own enough that you can trim between the sticker and the paw pad if that happens.

Mushers secret was discussed in the cold weather issue. This product does work for traction on paws as well, but it needs to be reapplied often. As I mentioned then, I can’t say if it leaves a residue on hardwood floors, so buyer beware on that part!

Buzby’s nail grips This is a really helpful product for some dogs. I’m not sure why it works so wonderfully for some and not others. Application is important here, so I would ask your vet if they can help the first time or contact an animal rehab center near you to see if they’ll help you learn to apply them.

Pawtology PawFriction Kit In full disclosure, I have purchased this kit, but I haven’t tried it yet. PawFriction was developed by a veterinarian. It’s nontoxic for dogs and safe on floors as well. A medical adhesive is used to apply granules to the paws, giving the dog traction for about a week before it needs to be reapplied.

While these are the best options I personally know of for assistance with traction and mobility, they are by no means the only options out there, and they may not be the right option for your particular pet! If you have a product or trick you find especially helpful, please let me know! I love to hear how you’re solving problems for your senior dogs at home.

🐶 Sniffing Out Senior Dog News 📰

💲 $7M grant rescues dog study investigating rapamycin for canine aging

🥘 Genetic drive to overeat found in labradors and humans

⏰ Do dogs hate daylight savings time too?

Senior Dog Humor 🤣 

How did we do with this week’s newsletter?

• High Paws

• Pooped in the House