Advocating For Your Senior Therapy Dog 

There is not much sweeter than an experienced, seasoned, sugar-faced, senior therapy dog! But partnering with an older dog for therapy work comes with a special set of things to watch for and a different kind of awareness. 

Even therapy dogs who have loved being a therapy dog for a very long time can sometimes become less than enthusiastic about their “job” and their handlers can become complacent. Senior dogs vary in age; it is typically based on your dog’s breed or breed mix, their health, and their life experiences. Keeping watch to be sure both their brains and their bodies still want to do the work is vital to being a good therapy dog team. 

Things to watch for in your older dog: 

• Reluctance to visit – reluctance to visit certain people and facilities where they once were comfortable, an overall reluctance, or something in between. 

• Sniffing the environment more than normal. Sniffing can be to gather information, because there are wonderful smells, or it can be a stress relieving or appeasement behavior. 

• Signs your dog doesn’t feel well. 

• Reduced mobility. 

• Changes in appetite – senior dogs’ nutritional needs can change. 

• Changes to sight or hearing – adapting to environments and people that are not their home, friends, and family may be difficult as their senses become compromised with age. 

• Changes in temperament and/or tolerance. 

• A general lack of enthusiasm for visiting. 

Just because a dog has loved doing visits for a long time, doesn’t mean the dog will continue to enjoy visits in their golden years. Some dogs absolutely do! But there are also dogs who prefer to retire and enjoy naps on a comfortable dog bed in their familiar home. 

If you are wondering about your older dog, you can have someone observe you and your dog while on a visit. Those extra eyes can be very valuable in determining if your older dog is still enjoying therapy dog work and is still physically able to do it. 

If your older dog is still loving their visits and their health remains good, keep an objective eye on things and continue to enjoy each and every moment together.