Q&A with ‘The Paw Man’ (734) – Who Goes First? Wendy Flyger Hi Paw Man, I have a 17yr old Jack Russell, who is pretty fit and active for her age..do dogs get a old age smell like humans can? My partner thinks she smells..but I dont. cheers Wendy Grant Teeboon Well it’s good that your partner doesn’t think that you smell. Yes they can…. But it is usually a symptom of a physiological problem. A JR at 17 years of age is almost guaranteed to have some kind of issues going on inside, many of which can have an odour associated with them. Speak to any nurse or carer who works in palliative care and they will tell you all about the smells associated with the aging. Wendy Flyger Bummer, she gets a bath every 2 weeks or so, and she is shedding something terrible, is that age related also? Grant Teeboon Very much so, although bathing every 2 weeks would seem excessive as it removes the natural oils from the dogs skin and can actually cause dry cracking skin problems but I suggest that you speak to your vet about how often you bath your dog and also what shampoo you should use if you are bathing that often. Wendy Flyger I guess we are pretty fortunate to have her still so I won’t complain. She is such a joy to love. Can you love a pet too much? I got her as pet therapy as I have depression and recently had a heart attack, I get upset about the thought of her not being with me..she is spoilt, but thats fine by me.. Paw Man Hell yes you can love a pet too much and in the wrong way. The most common example I see of this is pet owners being too responsive to their dogs ‘wants’… for example only feeding the dog what it likes as opposed to feeding it what it needs. Or giving-in every time the dog ‘asks’ for something. Basically ‘spoiling’ a dog does it no favours at all. Many simple things we do can have unexpected consequences…. Such as bringing our dogs inside every time it rains can cause them to not want to toilet on wet surfaces….. so they do it inside in the dry. Wendy She has bought me so much joy..she is worth every tens of thousands of dollars she has cost me.. Paw Man Sadly both us and our pets live finite lives and in some ways it is a blessing if we pass on before they do…… I think pets handle the passing of an owner better than most owners handle the passing of a pet.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:42:42 +0000