No’ elderly pets enjoy learning new things just as much as young ones. They get a good deal of pleasure from mastering a tast or puzzle and then being rewarded for it. As with younger dog will then view what he did as acceptable and do it again. ignore behaviour you don’t want him to make a habit of and reward those you do wish to be repeated.

Games that involve more mental than physical agility are best. You can play your dog’s favourite activity games too, but on a more gentle scale so as not to tax his body too strenuously and risk injury. Reduce the length of walks and find new ones to maintain his interest. Gentle tug games and training exercises that your dog can do comfortably-for example, sit, stay, fetch and shake a paw-will help keep life enjoyable for you and your pet.

Eventually, the older dog sleeps more and is increasingly reluctant to exercise. Which he is able to function normally, if only in this modified way, he is probably quite happy and contented. If your pet’s bladder, bowels and limbs begin to fail, and he is unable to function without mental distress or physical pain, the only humane to do is to have your old friends euthanized, allowing him to die painlessly and with dignity. it’s the last kind thing you can do for a much-loved companion.

A good centre will:

• Only take dogs on veterinary referral.
• Have suitable accident and third party liability insurance.
• Have experienced staff trained in canine first aid.
• Provide a heated pool large enough to cater for all sizes of dog, which has swim jets to increase the water flow as necessary, a safety pet harness, and a means of getting the dog into the water easily.