Common Health Symptoms of Aging Dogs

Some of the common symptoms that occur to a dog when he is aging are that he may have some changes in his skin and graying or white hair around his mouth area, sometimes the dog losses elasticity in his skin and he tends to decrease the amount of exercise he normally would get. Older dogs may have problems with their sight and hearing as well. But there are also other symptoms that can manifest themselves that are more serious:

• Cardiovascular
• Renal failure
• Hormonal
• Teeth problems
• Obesity
• Tumors

Since old age is something that cannot be avoided, it's very important to check your dog once or twice a year to get both general check ups as well as more extensive check ups like x rays, laboratory analysis, sonograms etc. It's essential that the owners of an older dog also get the information and training on how to best provide for and take care of an older dog in order to be able to give them a better and higher standard of living through nutrition, medications, and medical treatment if this is needed.

The age that each dog is considered older varies from dog to dog. Usually the bigger the dog is, the quicker it ages. An example of this could be a Great Dane at the age of five. This age could be considered old. However, if you observe a poodle at that age it will seem like a kid in comparison. Now this doesn't mean that older dogs are bound to malfunctions because of their size and age, in most cases, elderly dogs can live to enjoy many healthy, very active and pain free years.