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What are the best tips for helping my senior dog age gracefully?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Any tips to make sure my dog ages gracefully?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 9th, 2018

We can always help our four-legged friends age as gracefully as possible by staying on top of their wellness care. This includes regular visits to the veterinarian for physical exams and blood tests, as well as staying active and healthy at home. Keep your dog at a healthy body weight. Overweight dogs have additional strain placed on their joints, which can exacerbate existing arthritis, and are at a higher risk for developing diabetes or heart disease. Feed your dog a high quality diet and avoid offering too many treats or table foods since these can quickly pack on the pounds. A general guideline is that treats should represent less than 10% of your dog’s total food volume. Routine veterinary care is also critical for picking up on small problems before they become larger concerns. Although age is not a disease, our aging dogs are more prone to developing a variety of health conditions. Once your dog reaches “senior” status, it is recommended to increase the frequency of visits to the veterinarian from once a year to every 6 months. For an average-sized dog, this happens at 7 years of age, but for giant breeds like Great Danes and Newfoundlands, this occurs early, at 5 – 6 years of age. During this time, your veterinarian will be able to perform a full physical exam and routine blood tests to assess overall health of the heart, liver, kidneys, eyes, mouth, and joints.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 11th, 2019

    Do yearly health checks with the vet, more often if he's sick. Make sure Oscar stays up to date on his vaccines, flea and tick medication, heartworm treatment, and deworming medication. Get him yearly dental cleaning, scaling, and polishing with the vet. Dogs can develop many diseases when they get old, and some are arthritis, liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer. I hope this helps!

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