Communicating With Your Old Dog

As Pongo’s 14^th birthday approaches, I am struck by the changes in our daily life - how my commitment to giving him what he needs to be healthy and happy has changed.  We no longer go for a daily walk.  Pongo’s arthritis has progressed to the point that he doesn’t always want to go for one.  Occasionally when I put on his leash, he’ll walk to the end of the driveway and then stop.  He pulls back on the leash and refuses to move forward.  Paying attention to his attempts to communicate new ideas is important to me so that I can try to meet his needs. When he pulls back, I listen.  We don’t have to go for a walk, Popo. 

Other days, he wants to go.  He still shows the excitement of his youth, but he fatigues easily.  Our walks are much shorter these days - sometimes only a few blocks. But he shows signs of boredom being in the house all day.  His mind still longs to run, though his body cannot follow.  Even though his arthritis makes activity difficult, he needs to have the opportunity to be outside and smell the world.  Experiencing odor through sniffing is the essence of dogness.  In the past few years, we stopped going to the Bonney Lake dog park, as we spent more time going hiking on the weekends.  Now I find we are beginning to go back where Pongo can just be a dog. He no longer gets the other dogs running in a game of chase, sprinting at full speed.  But he trots after the younger dogs, wags his tail hello, and sniffs a little butt when they stop long enough for him to position himself at their rear.  He tires quickly but the joy is evident in his eyes.

I have started a new routine of jogging at a nearby school track on Sundays.  I take Pongo with me but let him off leash so he can go at his own pace.  Surprisingly, he still tries to run with me, sticking to the track a few hundred yards behind.  The second time we went, I put him in a down-stay in the grass by the soccer goal after he had an opportunity to sniff around and do his business.  He watched me as I made a lap around the track, then got up to meet me as I came around on the other side.  Repeated attempts at down- stays brought the same result.  He always got up, sometimes within minutes, sometimes when I rounded the track.  But each time he’d fall in line behind me, plodding along.  I am breaking all the rules of dog obedience, but then that's not what it's about anymore. I’ve come to accept that eleven years of running together are imprinted on his brain.  Like a professional athlete, it is not easily left behind. 

I am even more attentive to his barks and whines.  As parents do with infants, I try to interpret his cries.  “Do you need to go potty?” I ask.  Or, “Do you want to eat?” His YES is usually evident by excitement in his eyes and movement to a standing position then toward the door or the kitchen.  Sometimes his YES is an emphatic sneeze with a giant head nod.  But Del and I have noticed a new need.  A need for comfort.  He is visibly in pain sometimes and wants to cuddle or be massaged.  Del and I take turns lying on the floor with him rubbing his ears, neck and belly.  I cherish this cuddle time together.

               He seems more sensitive to sound these days, barking at every knock or bump.  When there is a lot of activity in the house (i.e. lots of noise), we have found that Pongo prefers to be in our bedroom with the lights off and a radio going.  I hung a blackout curtain on the window and this space is now calming to him.  It is huge that he will lie down quietly and accept being separated from the rest of the family, and especially Mommy.

                Another recent change is Pongo can no longer make it through the night without going outside to potty.  One day, we found dog pee in the garage near the cat litter boxes and then it was no longer a singular event.  As his ability to hold his urine began to decline, we began to buy puppy training pads and placed them adjacent to the three cat boxes.  Often now when Pongo makes eye contact with us and whines, he is telling us he needs to go outside.  In December we added a doggie door to the garage so he can go outside anytime he needs to whether we are at home or not. 

  

              Meeting Pongo’s needs today are more challenging than when he first came to me from the Washington Animal Rescue League thirteen years ago. But being sensitive to his changing communication continues to strengthen our bond.  I thank God every day for this sweet devoted boy who has given me so much.