Ageing Dog: Advice Please

[Aled]

Hello All, OK looking for some advice. My Lab cross NZ Huntaway is 7 years old he has been neutered He seems to have aged immensely this year, we had an hour and a half rough shooting yesterday, and  today he is completely inactive, does not want a walk, has lain on the sofa all day, and basically done nothing! Now when he saw me open the gun cabinet yesterday, he couldn't wait to get going, and he worked well, but at 7 i did not expect this level of lethargy the following day. My previous dog was 10 before this happened. He is slightly overweight. Is this normal? 

Cheers Aled

[scarecrow243]

he could just be having an off day they are not machines they have off days just like us

[holloway]

How often does he work Aled ? several times a week ,once a week ,once a month you say yourself he is over weight  sometimes an unfit dog will over do it ,not suggesting he is unfit but i think some dogs will work themselves to a standstill.  also if you haven't noticed this before perhaps he is ill not tired .

Edited November 30, 2024 by holloway

[ditchman]

you work and overweight dog hard ..you will half its life

[JKD]

If my dog was inactive and hardly moved all day, I'd be worried that it wasn't well. Are his toilet functions OK ? Tail down, eyes looking sad/dull ?

[Lloyd90]

13 hours ago, Aled said:

Hello All, OK looking for some advice. My Lab cross NZ Huntaway is 7 years old he has been neutered He seems to have aged immensely this year, we had an hour and a half rough shooting yesterday, and  today he is completely inactive, does not want a walk, has lain on the sofa all day, and basically done nothing! Now when he saw me open the gun cabinet yesterday, he couldn't wait to get going, and he worked well, but at 7 i did not expect this level of lethargy the following day. My previous dog was 10 before this happened. He is slightly overweight. Is this normal? 

Cheers Aled

Did you get the dog fit for hunting season? 

How much exercise does the dog get daily vs how many hours were you out yesterday? 
 

Running an overweight dog (or person) doing far more than they are used to doing … potentially on terrain they’re not used to (hills?) is hard going. 
 

I tend to rest my spaniels after a hard days work, and they’re relatively young and kept trim. 
 

I’ve seen a few people who run the same day almost every day a week, normally keepers, and the dogs struggle to hold weight due to over doing it. 
 

The good keepers / hunters who are out several days a week tend to have several dogs that they rotate to give them rest after a hard day. 
 

As we know from how muscles work, rest and good food is more important than the fitness training in the first place. 
 

Give the dog a good feed, keep him warm and rested for a day… may be more if he wasn’t fit and has strained a muscle etc… and re-assess in a few days. 

[Aled]

Thanks for the replies guys, dog still eats his food wags his tail toilet function fine, and is happy. This evening, a nice trot trot walk with the tail wagging. So it seems rest and good food was the correct advice. Vet did say when i took him for his kennel cough vaccine that joint supplements and fish oil would be a good idea he is approaching middle age. Celt (my dogs name) has two long walks a day one in the morning and one during the evening, and a short walk lunch time. We go out shooting once a week, when rough shooting we are working hedgerows woodland etc, when wildfowling the walk to the site is quite long (but no further than his morning walk) but we are not hunting cover and are stationary when shooting. Cheers. Aled

[JKD]

7 minutes ago, Aled said:

Thanks for the replies guys, dog still eats his food wags his tail toilet function fine, and is happy. This evening, a nice trot trot walk with the tail wagging. So it seems rest and good food was the correct advice. Vet did say when i took him for his kennel cough vaccine that joint supplements and fish oil would be a good idea he is approaching middle age. Celt (my dogs name) has two long walks a day one in the morning and one during the evening, and a short walk lunch time. We go out shooting once a week, when rough shooting we are working hedgerows woodland etc, when wildfowling the walk to the site is quite long (but no further than his morning walk) but we are not hunting cover and are stationary when shooting. Cheers. Aled

That's good news then 👍 Just an off day 🙂

[marsh man]

My Lab is now just over 10 and have been showing stiffness in his front legs over the last two years , he is on three You Move tablets everyday and eat decent food , he have always had plenty of exercise and I can honestly say he have been out with me every day since I have had him as a pup , not all day but being retired he is out a lot .

Yesterday he was picking up all day , we started off on a wild duck drive and the pick up area is really heavy cover with plenty of water , after the pick up we had over 40 duck on the game cart so you can tell how hard the dogs worked , we then had five more drives and my ole dog was still running around on the last drive , not as quick as the start of the day but he still lasted the day out , this is when he burn himself out and he was asleep in the back of my motor within a few minutes of jumping in , when I get home I put a ramp up to stop him jumping down on his stiff legs , as soon as he is in he eat his grub and then go to his warmest bed and go sound asleep , I must admit he look as stiff as a board when I walk him around my crescent last thing at night , this morning he was getting back to his ole self and had a good walk and tonight he would had happily gone down the marsh for duck if I was allowed to as we don't shoot wildfowl in Norfolk on a Sunday .

The thing is the fitness level they are before the shooting season start and not to let them carry unwanted  weight .  

[Aled]

Thanks Marsh Man, i was reminded of how my body felt on a Sunday morning during my final 2 seasons of playing rugby (retired aged 37),...i was stiff everywhere except where i wanted to be stiff! ...however smarmy joke aside, Celt is back to his old self this morning, i think a bit less silly food to help him reduce his weight, and an acceptance that he'll need rest for 24 hours is the way forward. Plus you move supplement and fish oil! 

Cheers All. Aled

[Bigbob]

I used to give my old lab a cod-liver oil capsule and a omega 3 capsule and the days you didnt where like chalk and cheese 

[bruno22rf]

18 minutes ago, Bigbob said:

I used to give my old lab a cod-liver oil capsule and a omega 3 capsule and the days you didnt where like chalk and cheese 

Do the same with my 10 yo springers and they are full of beans. I try and give a higher protein food the day before any hard going for them as well.  

[Aled]

Thanks both. 

[Aled]

End of the season so i thought i'd give you an update: You Move and fish oil seems to have made a difference, hes also lost weight, and is looking in great condition. He is still a bit stiff the following day, but better than he was. So we will keep his fitness levels up over the summer, with more reminder training and some informal pigeon work. 

[Penelope]

30 minutes ago, Aled said:

End of the season so i thought i'd give you an update: You Move and fish oil seems to have made a difference, hes also lost weight, and is looking in great condition. He is still a bit stiff the following day, but better than he was. So we will keep his fitness levels up over the summer, with more reminder training and some informal pigeon work. 

Have a look at JointSure; a lot cheaper than YouMove for the same active ingredients. I recently bought 300 tablets for £36, YouMove was just over £90 for the same number.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jointsure+for+dogs&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB1146GB1146&oq=joint+sure&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgBEAAYChiABDIJCAAQRRg5GIAEMgkIARAAGAoYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyCQgHEAAYChiABDIICAgQABgWGB4yCAgJEAAYFhge0gEINDQ0MGowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[Aled]

Thanks for that Penelope. 

[bruno22rf]

Glucosamine to the same strength as youmove is available for £4.50 for 240 and green lipped muscle powder is cheap if you buy loose by the 250g which would last for ages.

 

[Penelope]

14 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Glucosamine to the same strength as youmove is available for £4.50 for 240 and green lipped muscle powder is cheap if you buy loose by the 250g which would last for ages.

 

Where are you getting them from for that money, please?

Green Lipped mussel is used a lot in the carp bait industry. The below is for defatted, although I wonder if the full fat version would be better.

https://aabaits.co.uk/product/green-lipped-mussel-extract/

Full fat.

https://ccmoore.com/powdered-bait-additives/241-full-fat-green-lipped-mussel-extract

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=cc+moore+full+fat+green+lipped+mussel+extract&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB1146GB1146&oq=full+fat+green+lipped+mussel&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgCEAAYFhgeMgYIABBFGDkyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMgoIAxAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBBAAGIAEGKIEMgcIBRAAGO8FMgoIBhAAGIAEGKIE0gEJMTAzMDRqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[bruno22rf]

2 hours ago, Penelope said:

Where are you getting them from for that money, please?

Green Lipped mussel is used a lot in the carp bait industry. The below is for defatted, although I wonder if the full fat version would be better.

https://aabaits.co.uk/product/green-lipped-mussel-extract/

Full fat.

https://ccmoore.com/powdered-bait-additives/241-full-fat-green-lipped-mussel-extract

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=cc+moore+full+fat+green+lipped+mussel+extract&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB1146GB1146&oq=full+fat+green+lipped+mussel&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgCEAAYFhgeMgYIABBFGDkyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMgoIAxAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBBAAGIAEGKIEMgcIBRAAGO8FMgoIBhAAGIAEGKIE0gEJMTAzMDRqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

BOOTS everyday glucosamine with vit C are under £3 at the moment for 240 and contain 236mg of Glucosamine - the youmove contains 250mg but the difference is negligible.

[Penelope]

1 minute ago, bruno22rf said:

BOOTS everyday glucosamine with vit C are under £3 at the moment for 240 and contain 236mg of Glucosamine - the youmove contains 250mg but the difference is negligible.

Thank you.

[daveboy]

There is a lot of fake yumove on the internet.

Amazon Counterfeit Product Warning | YuMOVE 

Edited Wednesday at 17:43 by daveboy

[Aled]

Interesting all. Thanks