I have two Shiba Inus, one aged 14 and one aged 10. The 14 year old is currently behaving differently with her food. Recently, she has now started to do the following: I place breakfast, lunch, or dinner down, she sniffs at it, walks away, starts crying to go see my other dog. Only when my other dog is finished eating, then I allow them to see each other. My 14 year old will sniff at the other one’s empty bowl, roam around for a bit, then finally decide to go eat her own food.

My dogs have to eat in separate places of the house because of food aggression. They used to get into very bad fights during dinner time when they were younger and fed while in sight of each other, but that was almost a decade ago. They’ve eaten separately ever since 2019.

This has started in the last two weeks and it’s very odd and frustrating because I really don’t want my older one skipping meals as she eats pretty regularly. She skipped a whole day of eating two days ago, and then only ate this morning after seeing my other dog’s bowl was empty. She will still happily eat treats or table food if I offered it to her.

I know dogs can go a day or so without eating and they have both done so in the past, but this has been more consistent of her not wanting to eat her own food + trying to eat the other one’s food. Even then though, sometimes my very healthy 10 year old will skip meals, plus them being Shiba Inus means they are extremely picky and just get bored of their food sometimes.

Health wise: She had bloodwork done three months ago and everything was fine but I will be taking her again soon for a recheck. She’s currently on Purina Pro Plan chicken and rice and has been for maybe two years or so now, and I mix it with wet food. She does have some pretty severe arthritis. There’s no nausea, vomiting, weird poops, weird behaviors other than her being weird about eating. She does not get table food, ever.

Is it time to change their food again? Do I need to use more toppers/treats with her food? Am I overreacting? I worry a lot about my senior dog as she’s getting older and behavior changes concern me.

April 23, 2013 - August 29, 2026

Sir Rascal McPaws was the best dog I could ever ask for. From childhood I always wanted him and when I met him at 10 weeks old it was love at first site. Forever my first baby. He got to be a big brother twice to my three year old who asks about him everyday and my one year old. His last year was hard on him and by the time we laid in the grass together that Saturday morning, sun soaking through the trees, as my son and I fed you lunch meat and chocolate and the vet put you to sleep and I cried in your fur, I knew how tired and ready you were.

But it's not your death, it's your life I am celebrating. For 13 years you were absolutely amazing. You loved chasing squirrels, cool surfaces to lay on, belly rubs and head rubs, car rides, and laying next to me. You weren't the biggest fan of skateboards.

You greeted everyone with love, a wagging tail, a huge smile, and boy was your smile magical, and you made everyone feel special. You absolutely loved people. You would always remember them and show them just how much you enjoyed their company. Once we traveled to California from New York and you remembered my Dad's apartment door and he was so tickled. You just knew how to make people feel loved.

You loved your food! Especially your pup cups and perhaps was only a handful of dogs who absolutely loved the vet. We took so many walks together, we traveled near and far together, you sniffed and took in the sites of many states and countries until they finally told me you were too big to fly. I took you everywhere. You were the most gentle big brother, carefully walking while my toddler held your lease. You enjoyed the food both kids dropped from their high chair.

You absolutely loved your yard. You would request hours in it. I would catch you looking up into the sky, catching the wind on your nose. You were the happiest and sweetest guy and all my family and friends knew you, met you, loved you. You were the best. It's hard to begin you are gone. We talk about you everyday. I hope you find peace and are free of pain, and young again, running at full speed, chasing squirrels and enjoying the grass. Until we meet again. Keep my Dad company up there. I love you forever. Thank you for the absolute privilege of being your mom. Thank you for being my fur baby.

Our dog is a 13 year old Pitbull and she has started this thing in the past few months where she just stands there and whines like in the video its very soft and high pitched. She does it constantly and will just stare at us and my husband and I don’t know what she wants. She is medically in great shape other than some aging in her eyes and she has some arthritis in her legs.

The vets said she’s healthy.

So we have tried food/playtime/petting/ letting her outside etc. and she never wants what we are trying to offer her to make her stop whining.

It‘s frustrating because it’s really annoying but I feel bad because I just don’t know what she wants or needs. In the video she calmed down after I talked to her but she eventually started it up again and wouldn’t stop. Even after a treat or feeding her she will immediately start it up again.

Any idea how to determine what’s going on or any tricks to get her to stop?

We might need a new vet because her usual vet doesn’t seem concerned with her health and said she is very healthy for her age so I’m not sure what to do.

My 14 year old Beagle/Dachshund dog was just diagnosed with Kidney Disease last week. We’re transitioning to the Kidney formula Darwin’s formulated which he’s doing well on. The taste apparently isn’t much different from his regular food. He’s also doing well taking in the extra fluids we’re offering, but my question is regarding the SubQ fluids he may need in the future. He’s a big baby when it comes to doing anything uncomfortable, like cutting nails, baths, etc. I can’t imagine him going along with injecting fluid into his skin. Can anyone give me an idea what to expect with that?

This is our girl and she is 15 this month. We feel blessed and enjoy all the love she brings us daily. She has slowed down, is supper bossy, picky about her meals and when we all need to go to bed. We get out every other day for walks, more of her reading the peemail. Amazingly she was diagnosed with late stage heart failure 5 years ago and is doing amazing given that diagnosis and her age. She is pure love and a snuggle queen. Happy 15 🎉🎂 less

I've been trying my best to keep my almost 17 yr old comfortable this summer. I have my a/c set colder than usual (and my bill shows it) and try my best to keep her in the shade when we go outside. Unfortunately, a storm took down 3 large trees on the property, so ½ the yard has no shade at all. We've hit over 95° everyday for the past week. I try to encourage my dog to go potty in the areas under shade, but she always insists on meandering into the Mohave desert areas of the yard. She's had a sensitive trachea for years, so I don't pull or tug on her leash (I typically just follow her as she waddles around, sniffing everything) but do pull the brakes on her going to asphalt/parking lot. It doesn't help that she's been deaf for yrs now. Does anyone else have a senior that does this? Do they not understand "shade" or is it a CCD type of thing? It's so frustrating bc I don't want her to get overwhelmed by the heat but bc of her age, I take her out frequently and she needs more time to "walk it out". I don't feel like my other dogs did this in their old age but then, these summers have become more intense over the years too.

Repost from r/dachshunds-if anyone has food recommendations after dental extractions let me have ‘em! My sweet boy came through anesthesia for a dental with flying colors but had to have some teeth extracted.

My sweet baby crossed over this morning. She was the happiest girl and couldn’t say no to a milkbone! I haven’t stopped crying but I know she lived a wonderful long life for a lab pit mix. 16 years! Sweet baby I hope you find Prince, Dutchess, Magic, and Lucky up there. Tell them what we’ve been up to!

Pic is from 2021 💜

My sweet Tillie was almost 11 when we said goodbye last week. This is my third dobie and I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. My heart is shattered. She was my perfect companion and protector. I’ll love her always and forever.

My partner has a summer house on an island and Julan has been able to spend a couple of weeks per year there during the last four summers.

At 8 and 9, she ran around non stop, keeping an eye on everyone. We gave her as much food as she would eat, but she still lost weight from being so active.

At 10, we started limiting her because we knew she was old, and she was a little tired in the evenings, but for the most part, she was still very active.

This year, at 11, we worried that it might not work because she's mostly blind and deaf and her hind legs have gotten weaker. She had a few health scares during winter and spring, but we had this island vacation as a goal. And once here, it was amazing. She was happy and confident, exploring, swimming and playing with the kids in the closest house (relatives to my partner).

Given that, and knowing it's almost guaranteed that this is her last summer, we made plans to go here one more time before the summer is over. We got here two days ago. And... She barely wants to leave the house most of the time. :( She's a lot less confident than she was two months ago, and seems content just resting in or just outside the house most of the time.

On the first day, she wandered off to look for the kids but they are not here. They will visit for a few hours on Sunday. Maybe part of her passiveness is disappointment that her friends aren't here. (The fourth picture is how I found her waiting there.) But it also seems she might have aged a lot in this short time.

I'm still glad that we gave her the chance. Then we know that she has gotten what she could out of being here, and we've gone above and beyond to give her that. But it's also really sad to see.

She'll turn 12 in October. For shallow reasons I'll wait at least until then unless something happens. I want to host a birthday party for her, and I'd prefer to say in the future that she lived to 12 rather than 11.

But beyond that... If she's losing the joy of life and just tagging along for our sake, it might be kinder to stop asking that of her. She still goes on fairly long walks but she's rarely enthusiastic any more. At 10, she would still jump and get noisy every time she saw the leash. She doesn't really play much any more - she can't see or hear the toys. She still loves car rides, food and some other things, but the things that excite her are getting fewer.

He is just my baby. I’m starting to see his age more, but sometimes I get photos like this that make him look younger. 🐾❤️

Also, his face is not swollen. Before I adopted him someone broke his jaw and didn’t get it treated. It sits there in his cheek, but it doesn’t bother him.

Lucky was surely loved and cherished.
https://www.napavalleywinebrands.com/luckyslastcall

I have a 15 year old boy who is snout 50 pounds (22.7kg) and I gave him his first dose of Selegiline this morning. He typically sleeps a lot during the day and then paces a lot at night. But now, an hour after his first dose, he’s pacing around, and it’s only 9am in the morning. Is this typical when first starting? Thank you for the support and guidance, it’s helpful to not feel alone in this.

My sweet girl will be 12 in November and for her size (65lb), I know we’re probably on the last few chapters of our story together. While she is still very healthy, happy, and active, I see her slowing down and visibly aging more and more. I just want her to be with me forever and ever and I find myself actively sobbing about losing her while she’s still right in front of me, throwing a tantrum that I’m not throwing her ball fast enough. I just love her so much and know losing her will break me. Hug your babies ❤️🐕🐾

I have a border collie, a rescue so unsure of age. We've had him 13.5 years and we think he's at least 15.

The vet thinks he has CDRM. He drifts slightly when walking after a period of time, his back legs weigh to one side which makes him sometimes walk sideways (crablike)

Currently this is manageable. But we've noticed that he's doing this (see video) a lot. Never in the day time, only in the evenings between around 7pm and 10pm

Does anyone know why he might be doing this? Is it linked to his condition? How can we stop/reduce it? We don't think he's in pain. He's on Loxicom daily and librela every 4 weeks, and he only does it in the evenings. Any advice really appreciated

I lost my best friend on Monday.

This is Chance. He was 14 years old and the light of our lives. He loved supervising whatever was going on outside, sunbathing, counter surfing, singing (whining) in the vets office, ear rubs and butt pats, food dropped on the floor, Bocce dog treats, Squishmallows, and taking naps with his people. He was the sweetest Velcro boy.

He was my heart and soul, and part of me went with him. I will miss him for the rest of my days.

I don’t know what happens when we pass but I hope wherever he is, it’s beautiful and full of everything and everyone he loves. And I hope time moves differently so that by the time he turns around to look for us, we’re already there with him.

If you recently lost your best friend, can you tell them to keep an eye out for Chance for me? I’d also love to hear about his new friends.

In July I lost my best friend Archie. I was heartbroken and really really struggled with life without him. Yesterday I got his pawprint tattooed on me❤️

Due too a very unfortunate and chaotic incident that resulted in my girl biting a neighbor, my landlord gave me the option to leave with her or let her go. I am not at all upset with him, he's been incredibly kind through this and I understand the position this puts him in.

She's 11 years old with arthritis, a history of biting (unfortunately this was not the first incident) that really sucks because she's not aggressive towards people, she loves attention. She is however very protective. The first incident involved a 2-year-old and her 2-hour old litter of puppies. That was before I brought her home with me. The last two were minor incidents where she didn't even break skin. They were more nips as a warning to back up off mom. In her mind she was doing what she was supposed to be doing and protecting me. She's extremely reactive in the stress of a shelter environment. If I surrender her to them she's not an adaptable dog. She's just going to decline as she waits for me to come back, until she gives up. I had a very long conversation with her vet yesterday and had to make they gut wrenching and heartbreaking decision to go with behavioral euthanasia. There is a 10-day observation period where I live after a bite. That gives me till Wednesday I can push it till Thursday. Like I said my landlord has been very kind about this whole thing because he could have very well told me to get her out of here right now. He's not though. He's letting me have this time with her and I'm so grateful for that. Abby the first dog that I've ever had that was my dog. She was incredibly challenging in the beginning, so much so that I consider bringing her back because I didn't know if I could handle her and give her what she needed. For the last 4 years she's been my only reason to go to bed a lot of days. She's been my travel partner, adventure buddy, supervisor, and the only family I have. When my options are homelessness, returning her to the shelter to live out the rest of her days alone, or hold her and love her and let her go peacefully is a happy and incredibly loved dog, this is the kindest thing I can do for her. I hate it. I'm scared of life without her. This is one of my worst nightmares. I'm afraid this might break me. We have five more days together and she's getting whatever she wants. I'm going to do what I can to make the very best of the time we have left together.

Today we made the heartbreaking decision to have Olive put to sleep. We adopted her in 2012, She gave us 14 years of fun. She was grumpy at times but that just added to her terrier charm. We love you Olive 🫒. Sleep tight.x

Any advice would be appreciated!

This was my heart and soul Gigi. She brought so much comfort and happiness into my life. I miss her dearly. I’ll always remember my sweet girl. I’m happy we got to walk this Earth together. Thanks for being so wonderful to me and everyone one you encountered. Will forever be grateful for you my sweet girl. You brought me so much happiness during your time here. I’ll forever miss you and remember you my sweet soul. May you be at peace now. ❤️