Senior State of Mind
Freddie was my heart-dog and I lost him to cancer when he was only 9 years old. Saying I was devastated, doesn’t begin to explain my heartbreak.
“He is so young”, I said to the veterinarian who did the surgery on Freddie’s tumor. Of course I was comparing him to my Bull Terrier who lived 16 years.
Dogs, just like humans age differently, but clearly I didn’t see the signs of Freddie slowing down until everything came to an abrupt halt. And maybe that’s a good thing, as I’ll explain.
We all have expectations of how things will look when we’re a certain age; just rummage through the family photos to see what motherhood is supposed to look like as well as transitioning into the grandma role or elderly aunt role. I giggle as I look back on my mom’s high school class photo where her 18 year old classmates look like they’re 40! But I digress…
If one sees themselves in a particular age role, they more or less become that image of what society says is appropriate. But some people, instead of being an age, are embracing who they are, not the age they are. So rather than say, “Oh I’m too old to take up running, we run. Rather than say, “I’m too old to go to go back to school, we enjoy learning. And instead of retiring at 65, we reinvent ourselves and begin a whole new career!
I’ve certainly done lot of things, independent of my age; in fact at the ripe age of 45 I took up running and by 50 I had completed 4 marathons! I enrolled in classes because I though it would be fun to study film, or learn the history of jazz, just because it made me feel good. And as for my senior dogs, Fanny and Fonzie, we go on daily walks/jogs; they use their problem-solving skills to remove kibble from puzzles, and they have even learned the names of toys that they can distinguish from names of other objects!
Yes, I can see that they have a more silver in their fur than they had a few years back, but unlike many humans who stress over getting old, these sweet, silly and very physically and mentally active dogs live in the moment and do what they are capable of doing because it’s fun!
Freddie was a lot like that, which is why I didn’t recognize his gray muzzle or slower gait on some mornings. He was a worker bee who, among many things, learned to spin a roulette wheel in our dog-training club where we raised awareness of the plight of shelter animals. Freddie was going strong, spinning the wheel until he was 8 years old, when the club shut down. I could have spent my time worrying that he was getting old, but I am grateful that I didn’t focus on his age, but rather on our fun together.
As they say, “Age is only a number”, but I’ll add that it’s also a feeling. Some people are old at 30, while some feel young throughout their lives because they don’t use their age to limit themselves. Dogs are a lot like that too. Sure they can slow down a bit, sleep more than they used to, but in my experience, if you provide enrichment, good veterinary care and include them in your activities, you’ll see the joyous puppy that remains in every senior dog just waiting to appear!
HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT!
