Thanks to Megan Weaver, a highly-trained senior pet expert, for today’s post and Alice from Loving My Company for the photos of Megan and her dogs, Rooney and Einstein. Our older pets are family – and Megan’s mission is to change how we care for them. She shows dog parents how to give their pets the best quality of life throughout their senior years! https://www.lovingmycompany.com/
Start your year off with a Healthier Senior Dog!
You look at your aging fur baby, and you worry about how you’re going to keep her strong, balanced, and happy for years to come.
I have fantastic news!
You have the skills to keep her fit right from HOME!
When you think of the words Balance and Strength, do you ever picture…
Your furry friend balancing on one leg, standing upright on a yoga mat?
Or your pup “Pumping Iron” in the gym, WORKING THOSE BICEPS!!!
Just me?!?
Of course, we’re going to put our own human thoughts into these “fitness” terms.
Everyone does – and it’s hilarious!!!
But….. if we really want our sweet fur babies to stay strong and balanced throughout their senior years, there are exercises you can do at home that work their whole body!
Throughout my years teaching Canine Rehab, the pet parents who had the best results were the ones who performed exercises at home consistently!
If your dog is over seven, then this is something you’re going to want to pay attention to.
Consistently means –
Performing balance and strength exercises 3 times a week.
Just like us, you’ll want to give your fur baby a day off in between to give their muscles time to rest & recover. (Don’t forget those walks every day, though!)
I like to add in two balance exercises and two strength exercises during my senior pet’s walk three times a week because it’ll keep my fur baby’s brain active and strengthen his muscles at the same time!
Two Balance Exercises
3-Legged Standing:
Slowly pick up one of your pet’s legs & hold for 5 to 15 seconds, then pick up the next paw. Go around, holding up each paw four times total.
You might be doing this exercise already when you’re wiping off your baby’s paws if they’re muddy or wet.
See the instructional video here.
Figure 8’s:
During your walk, slowly walk in a wide figure 8 pattern 5 times in one direction, then reverse 5 times. The goal is to have your furry friend work on weight shifting & balance.
Balance exercises may look easy, but they work the tiny muscles surrounding your pet’s joints & strengthen the brain’s balance pathways as well, so keep cheering your pet on!
Watch the Figure 8 video here.
Two Strength Exercises
Sit to stands
Have your pet sit straight – Meaning knees pointing forward, hips over the hocks, no side sitting (no cheating), then have them stand back up! Perform 3 to 10 sit-to-stands during your walks.
This is like the dog version of squats for us. It works your dog’s larger muscles, like the quadriceps & gluteals.
Watch the Sit to Stand video here.
Hillwalking:
Pick a gentle hill and slowly walk up & down it for 3 to 5 minutes, then either slowly increase the time or the steepness of the hill over the next month. This is an overall body strengthener that is perfect for your aging pup!
You will be not only strengthening your fur babies’ muscles but their hearts and brains as well!
These exercises are great for us too! Feel free to work out with your pet!
Remember to always go slow.
Start off with only a few repetitions the first couple of times and increase it when your furry friend allows.
If your sweetie needs a little extra food to motivate her, grab some kibble from the amount she will be eating at dinnertime or use blueberries, carrots, or red peppers as a low-calorie snack that’s full of antioxidants!
As always, giving your pet a nice relaxing massage after exercise or before bed is a fantastic (zero-calorie) treat that helps relax unwanted muscle tightness or anxiety. Click here to grab the step by step pet massage workshop that teaches you why to massage, how to massage & where to massage your senior fur baby!
Why not have your next exercise partner be your four-legged friend!
They can get in shape right along with you!
Let’s start off this year strong and balanced!
– Cheers to 2021!
Age is not a disease. Enjoy the journey!
Megan Weaver LVT, CCRP – Owner and Founder of The Senior Pet Movement
About the Senior Pet Movement: Megan Weaver, a highly-trained senior pet expert, improves the quality of life for older pets. Running a Canine Rehab Department helped Megan deeply understand the struggles of older animals & their parents. She developed strategies for pet owners so they can easily care for their amazing pets! Megan’s committed to educating owners on combining their vet’s diagnoses with easily implementable at-home tools.
Megan’s an LVT, CCRP, who’s worked with Board-Certified veterinary surgeons and neurologists to develop her expertise.
Follow Loving My Company on Instagram.
About Loving My Company: Based in Syracuse, NY, Alice specializes in photography for creative women entrepreneurs. She is also an educator dedicated to helping other photographers succeed.
If you do not have a first aid kit for your senior dog, now is the time to make one!
These are some great tips–and pics! I don’t have a senior dog, but I do have a senior cat.
Amber, I absolutely LOVE senior cats! I have 4 rescues myself & will be talking about senior cats as well in my information. Feel free to peruse the The Senior Pet Movement Website for more information on how you can join our email list! Thank you for your comment!
Great tips! I don’t have a dog but my mom does. Her dog is 8-years-old. I think these tips might be useful for her to keep her dog healthy and happy.
I love these tips. As our dogs get older, it’s important to keep them as healthy and active as possible. It’s as important for them as it is for humans.
Absolutely Ben! We actually take a lot of the human research on exercise and bring it to our canine & feline friends to learn about how to increase their quality of life. You hit the nail on the head!
This post is really informative. Thanks for sharing these awesome tips.
My pleasure Tasheena! I hope this helps your wonderful pets!
Thank you so much for these exercises. My dog is 12 and I had no idea we should be doing specific exercises like this. We’ll start right away! x
Thanks for sharing! I will share this will my pet owner friends also.
Love these ideas. The pictures are so great, the yellow really makes the pups stand out.
Yep, age is definitely not a disease. 🙂 Beautiful pictures, as always. And great tips, too!
It is good to focus on our pet’s health. I love that there are so many ways to help our pets in their senior years.
These all seem so simple yet so important for their aging bodies.
Love the work that Megan is doing with The Senior Pet Movement! Great article!
Thanks for your tips! I never knew about this before. I don’t have pets in my house but my parents do. I will make sure to relay this information to them.
These are wonderful tips! I think staying active isn’t only important for human but dogs as well.
These are great tips, We are looking to adopt a dog. may be this summer we will do it. I will keep these tips in mind.
Oh, that is exciting news! I look forward to seeing some photos of your new dog this summer.
People often set goals and make plans for their health at the start of the new year. It makes sense to think about the health of our pets at the same tiime.
I love this! My oldest boy just turned 12 and is thankfully still quite active. We’ve got the hill walks down – our yard has a huge hill on it. But I’ll have to start doing these other exercises with him as well.
This is fantastic. The perfect gentle regimen to ensure a flexible and healthy pet. I know my senior cats get Pet Mussel as a supplement and like senior dogs could benefit from careful and healthy movement exercises.
You NEEEEED to make this a printable. If I was a dog owner I would forget half the stuff when I clicked away. Please Ms Weaver!
What a great article and with Layla aging (14) I am always looking for new ideas to keep her healthy, there are some great ones here and bless her she loves walking so it will be easy.
I LOVE this! Both my girls are seniors now, they’ve just turned 12 (Gasp!), I can’t believe it. These exercises are simple to do and will be really helpful. Their health is on my mind much more now that they’re getting older. I want them to be around for a very, very long time and I want to keep them as healthy and mobile as I possibly can. Thanks for sharing this.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
We love senior dogs and try to make room in our house for a senior dog adoption every now and then. The tips are right on – and it’s so important for seniors to get stimulation through exercise. It doesn’t have to be a lot – a little goes a long way. And snuggle time – seniors love to be loved (I mean, who doesn’t!?!)! Thanks for sharing this info on senior dogs!
This is great and so timely for us! My girl Daviana is turning 13 in a couple of weeks, and we’re always on the search for ways to keep her happy and healthy. She’s a German Shepherd mix with A LOT of extra energy still. Anything that I can do to help her stay active and embrace the activities that she loves so much (camping, hiking, swimming, etc.) is a win in my book!
Great recommendations. Functional strength and flexibility are essential. Strong muscles protect the joints and spine, activity prevents obesity, overall making for a healthier dog.
Great tips for helping to keep senior dogs healthy through various exercises,