Aging

Chance at an agility demo in 2002

Apparently I missed that yesterday was a Dog Agility Blog Event Day and the topic was aging.  This is a topic very close to my heart and one I think about regularly.  Chance was my first dog as an adult, and my first performance dog.  I started doing agility with him when he was about 2.5.  At first it was just for fun, but we both enjoyed it so much, I started competing with him and he was pretty darn good and I got hooked. Chance is 14.5" tall and his lean weight is 32lbs. His structure is actually quite good but he's basically a mack truck!  For comparison sake, Rave is 19.5" tall and 35lbs!!

During those early years of doing agility with him, Chance went for walks a few times a week and played TONS of ball.  He was a retrieving maniac and I had a chuck it and indulged him for hours.  He was also about 35lbs at the time.  I never did body awareness exercises, strength training or endurance work with him.  I just ran him in agility and played ball and took a few short walks in a field every week.

Chance 2005

Chance 2005

When Chance was 6, he had a injury to his biceps tendon which sidelined him for about six months.  And when Chance was 8, I was out in my agility field working him in the early morning and as he came over the A frame and ran off it, I threw his ball.  As soon as he hit the wet grass, he cried and came up on three legs. The boy had ruptured his cruciate.  He had surgery done by a specialist in the hopes he could return to agility.  I was super diligent about his therapy and that's when I learned so much about conditioning and all the things I should have been doing with him from the start.  

Chance did return to agility for a brief while, but it was clear that he was just not sound.  After having his entire body xrayed, he was diagnosed with horrible elbow and back arthritis.  His hips still looked good, but he was also already developing arthritis in his repaired knee.  So I made the decision to end his agility career and we focused on rally and tricks instead, since he was a workaholic in his younger days.

Chance post cruciate repair 2007

Chance is 15 years and 4 months now (when you get to this age, months count!!!).  He's horribly arthritic, moves very slow and lives in a pretty constant state of pain.  He has liver issues, so cannot take NSAIDS so our options are limited.  He still goes for walks 3 or 4 times a week though at the farm, and while he moves slow, I do think the exercise helps him.  If I go too many days without a walk, he seems much stiffer.  Chance's parents lived to be 17 and 18.  I have no idea if his body can hold him for that long, but I am doing my best to keep him going with Adequan, tons of supplements, massage (he hates it!), and limited tramadol for pain.  He hates acupuncture and chiro work even more, so we don't do that.

But I live with tremendous guilt.  He's in the state he is, because I didn't know how best to take care of my canine athlete.  I would never through the ball like that for my dogs now, all that pounding into the ground really took it's toll on him.  And the poor little tank jumped 16" his whole career.  And I practiced with him at 16" as well, and we practiced a lot back then.  I just had no idea....

My mixed breed Sammy suffered from my ignorance as well.  She is 13 now, so I still had not been enlightened when I started doing agility with her.  She's pretty straight in her structure, but much lighter framed than Chance. She's 17" tall and I made the decision to run her in the Performance program in USDAA for her whole career, as I didn't see the need to jump her at 22".  So she only jumped 16" but I did way too much agility with her without keeping her body properly conditioned for it.  I had to retire her from full time competition in 2007 after she hurt her back at a trial.  Until this past May, she still came out for the occasional veterans jumpers run, but her eyesight isn't great anymore.  Her brain would still like to do more though! Her back is often sore, but it is soft tissue based.  She was xrayed about 1.5 years ago and there was no evidence of arthritis anywhere in her body, which I am so thankful for.

Sammy at Fair Hill 2006

Sammy at Fair Hill 2006

Life is a journey, and hopefully we learn with each experience.  All of my dogs, competing or not, are very fit now and I try to keep them all at a lean body weight.  And my competition dogs are super fit.  Tying into my last post, it's all about balance.  I don't jump them too much, once they are trained.  I am careful not to do tons of A frames (and I always teach a running A frame now).  And I don't over train weave poles.  All of their tricks also work in proprioception, strength training, stretching and balance.  I don't let them retrieve too much and when I do throw a ball, I tried hard to make it so they catch it on the bounce. Or catch a frisbee while striding on the ground.  I am so glad they like to swim too, as that's probably the best exercise for their bodies.  So I try to keep them physically and mentally balanced.  And I also make sure they get enough rest too.  The dogs would love to stuff every day, but sometimes they need to let their bodies just rest and recover, just like we do.

Rival has mild hip dysplasia and to this day (at age 5.5), he's yet to take an off step.  I attribute much of that to how lean and fit I keep him.  Hopefully his career will be long and he stays sounds well into his golden years. My young dogs have Chance to thank for their good care and bodies.  Aside from being just an incredible dog, Chance has been my teacher in so many ways, I am so grateful for all he's brought into my life.  Every day I get with him now is such a gift, and I will do my best to make sure his days are as comfortable and happy as possible.  

Chance 2011