Walking the dog in old age

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We have a dog walker who is an army veteran bomb disposal dog trainer . I am sure he would be able to take your dog out after meeting up with yourself present at first . My dog is a rescue as well and it does her good to be in the compant of his highly trained dog as well .

There are 3 ladies locally who have dogs and who use electric mobility scooters. One has 2 collies who run along side, it's quite a sight.

The dogs seem very happy to either have a ride or walk alongside, and the owners enjoy getting out and about. It's lovely to see.

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Gently train your dog to walk beside your electric scooter. My lurcher did this with no problems at all.

Do you have a child or grandchild that would come and give him a good run once a week? Playing games with him as suggested? Unfortunately he will have to go with a dogwalker otherwise, I think he will soon adjust once he sees his lead

Approx £20 for individual walks and £15 group walk, no more than 4 dogs at a time. That's per hour may vary in different areas.

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My granddaughter has a dog walking and training business. She offers individual walks as well as group walks. Maybe there is someone like this in your area * watermeadow*
I hope you find or have found a solution for your dog.

Tho this thread is a couple of months old, I think it’s relevant as there will be many older dog owners on here who suddenly find they’re not very able, walking wise.

25Avalon

I read of someone who adopted a rescue dog which was too scared to go out and was extremely distressed if forced to do so. The owner decided to give up on walks and instead to have plenty of play sessions and mental stimulation and the dog was found to be perfectly fit on this regime. For example you could send the dog out of the room and hide their favourite toy and then get them back in and tell them to find it. You can get purpose made puzzles games. If your garden is self contained you could throw a ball to fetch. Stimulation is the key.

I think that’s a really good idea 👍🏻

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When I was a youngster my friend and I used to go and call on an elderly neighbour. We would walk across to a local field with her dog. There we would run and play with the dog, throw ball etc in return we would go back to her house and she would give us juice and cake. As we got older we would take the dog on our own and were allowed to walk further a win for everyone

Many doggy day cares, dog walking etc are run as commercial, money making businesses , by people who might like dogs but have zero qualifications.

I wouldn’t like to think that, if I sent my dog to doggy daycare, they also allowed reactive dogs there, too. ( a reactive dog tried to kill her a few years ago).

Sending reactive dogs to day care is rarely a good idea. Reactive dogs are often over whelmed by big feelings. The last thing they need is to be thrown into a place full of dogs they don’t know. Practicing reactivity makes them better at reacting.

Hi. Reactive dogs. 1. My grand-dog is reactive to most other dogs- but not all dogs. And interestingly, not when we (her family) are around. In fact, she sometimes goes to "doggie day care" and plays w other dogs. I suggest you ask your vet if they have ideas on a setting (even another elder) where your pup could spend 2 hours/day. *I have a fenced in yard and wish someone would ask us for that so our dog could have fun. (Tho' the schedule would need to be flexible.) 2. I walk 4 miles/day, but not all at once! Consider that? Break up your outings into manageable pieces. 3. I often see slow-dog-walkers, from parents w toddlers to elders and I think, "Dogs want love."

Several people I know send their dogs to day care once a week They mix with other dogs, just two or three and get trained on the activity trail. The owners can go out for the day or go out and not worry about leaving the dog alone for long periods. The person who runs it is an experienced trainer. The dogs love it, get loads of exercise. and their training has been so beneficial, they have stayed there for holidays or when my friend had a big operation.

It is not cheap but gives such security and comfort to their not so young owners. The dogs get fun, exercise and learn to socialise. One, a red setter, was a nightmare before he went but now is calmer and fairly obedient - well as much as a setter ever can be.

I would suggest a good experienced dog walker who would walk yours alone . Maybe get them to come to your house to build up some trust for your dog .
Or could you find short easy walks on the flat , which would be good for your fitness too. Or walk with a friend who could help you. I definitely wouldn’t rehome . 8 is probably the turning point and your dog will hopefully start to calm down. Unless it’s a Springer spaniel or a lab .

Twiglet77 . I too hate ball chuckers . I personally know two dogs who needed spinal surgery after leaping up and twisting to catch a ball from a ball chucker.
My dog is ball obsessed but I do a low underarm throw, so no leaping or jumping. And only a few times .
My dogs a gundog and loves retrieving, we use a dummy .

Galaxy

We have self contained field/ dog exercise area in our local area, you can hire them for £10 and hour, and sit on a bench whilst your dog runs around, explores the equipment, maybe that could be something you could do once or week, might help.

May work if you have a dog that will go and do its own thing. My Velcro terrier would sit beside me for as long as I sat on the bench, or stood still, and wouldn’t choose to leave my side unless I told her to wait while I walked away, or threw something for her to retrieve!

I hate ball launchers with a passion, they’re the quickest way to wrecking a dog’s joints or causing a cruciate ligament injury. Repetitive running after a ball isn’t great, but with a ball launcher they run further and faster, and stop sharper, which is what does the damage.

My dog was slightly reactive to some dogs when I first got him from a rehoming centre. I made him worse through becoming more and more nervous. I employed an experienced dog walker who never had any trouble with him and very soon he wasn't reactive when I took him out either. An experienced dog walker is the way to go I'm sure. They get to take out all sorts of different behavioural dogs and should know how to deal with it. Talk to them and I'm sure you'll be reassured.

Just to give you my experience. I live with my sister and my slightly reactive spaniel would never walk with her but having recently had a hip replacement and him not being walked, he decided he would go with her. Could a dog walker visit you and get to know your dog before attempting to walk ? Also my dog has attended scentwork classes and if you hide treats in a snuffle mat or around the house they get nose tired very quickly as it works their brain, you could give that a go.

Sorry just read tge reactive part! Going alone would still work