How many times have you left your older dog behind? Perhaps you have a younger dog that is still full of energy and your senior dog can no longer keep up? Or maybe your older dog has too many mobility issues to even make it down the street.
I know this because I live it. I have a 5 year old French Bulldog who is extremely active and I have a 15 year old Pug who suffers from arthritis. I personally can’t look at Mackenzie’s face and leave with just Paige and equally so, I can’t look at Paige and say that we can’t go for a walk today.
The Dogger is the perfect way to help both your dogs. I can walk Paige while Mackenzie rides. He gets out for as much exercise as he can manage and enjoys the ride the rest of the way. It is such an amazing way to keep everyone active – including you
When the idea of a wheel chair for dogs was first mentioned to me I immediately saw the sense in it. In fact, most mobility devices designed to assist humans can be adapted in some way or form to dogs, i.e. dog strollers, wheelchairs, harnesses, carriers etc…The selling point for me in any of these products has always been its functionality. In other words, its purpose must be practical not some superficial reason.
Dog strollers help older dogs with trouble walking
To me, carrying a healthy dog in a front baby carrier is not only confusing but also serves to undermine to intention of the product and subsequently prevents potential buyers from considering it as a useful tool for dogs with mobility issues. It’s easy to understand why a pet owner might consider these products for their aging dogs and nothing drives the point home more than actually seeing one being used properly.
Just yesterday I saw an older dog using a wheel chair and while it saddened me to see that it had lost the use of its hind legs it was really uplifting to see how excited it was to be outside actively engaging with other dogs.
I believe that it is our responsibility to provide the best quality of life for our dogs and denying them there natural right to an active life is not only unfair but also abusive.
This is why it is important that these devices be marketed in a manner that promotes practicality rather than as an extension of someone eccentric personality.
The Guinness Book of World Records claims “Chanel”, a 21 year dachshund owned by Denice and Karl Shaugnessey, became the oldest dog alive after a 28 year old beagle passed away in the spring of last year.
Despite having to wear special goggles for her cataract eyes and being limited to a strict diet Chanel is a very healthy and happy dog. I know that for any dog to live this long there has to be a lot of love between the owner and pet.
This is something that I feel should be promoted more when selling the idea of owning a pet. Not to sound like a financial advisor here but in order to maximize your investment you want to create an optimal environment in which it will prosper. I know in our family, in addition to proper exercise, diet, and regular trips to the vet, we have always shown a lot of love towards our pets and each one has gone on to live beyond their expected lifespan.
So while it may be an obvious statement it is still worth reiterating if for nothing else but to get your dog in the record books! Hahaha. Remember….health and happiness are intimately linked and best sustained in loving environments.
Wow, when you hear stories like this it really changes your perspective of professional athletes. Maybe they really are human with real emotions and genuine interests. Whom might I be referring to you ask? Well, let me start by saying, I am not a baseball fan and most certainly not a fan of the overly paid athletes who play the game but when I read the story about Ken Griffey Junior and his three dogs I had to lighten up a bit. According to an article by Seattlepi.com columnist Jim Moore, Ken Griffey Junior is a big dog fan and considers them apart of the family even going as far as researching what hotels accepts pets before embarking on the family vacation.
Particularly touching, is his love and devotion to his aging 12 year old Rottweiler. Akiba’s been through a lot — she had E. coli as a pup and almost died, and more recently, she had a basketball-size tumor removed from her chest. Moore explains that Griffey and his wife, Melissa, were at a loss with what to do but weren’t ready to give up, It’s no different than one of your kids, you want to try everything you can. With the help of an experimental drug administered through shots given once every two weeks followed by a cycle of once every four weeks the tumor disappeared.
Ken Griffey Junior lovingly talks about the rest of his dogs in the article and shows an honesty of emotions rarely shown by athletes, unless of course, they are found guilty of using muscle enhancements…sorry, but I had too. Haha. Anyway, aging dogs always find a way of tugging on my heart strings and this story reminded me that we really must find ways of keeping them in our lives happy and active for as long as possible. They are great companions and when they give you 12 plus years (as in Griffey’s case) of unconditional love we owe it to them to do what we can.
