You and your dog have been together for many years and have shared many good and bad times. When you were a child, you could tell your parents if something hurt or was not well with you. Even as a baby you could at least cry to indicate that something was wrong. However, our beloved pets cannot do either. Besides, a dog's pain threshold seems to be considerably higher than that of humans, and they will not whimper or cry until the discomfort is quite severe. It is therefore necessary for you to know what is normal for your dog, any changes will be quickly detected. One good way to do this is to develop the following habits of observation.

1. On first greeting your dog in the morning, stop what you are doing, and watch him for about one full minute, allowing him to move about as he wishes.
2. During the morning and evening outdoor activity, observe him for at least ten seconds as he moves up or down stairs, on and off a curbing, porch, etc. Let him walk a short distance ahead of you and watch his body movements for ten seconds.
3. Once a day observe the first twenty seconds of eating a meal, a full twenty seconds during sleep, a complete urination, and a complete bowel movement.

Many subtle variations from your dog's normal patterns will be noticed by doing this, even though you are not looking for anything specific. In addition, unconsciously noticed changes will register on your brain and, during the giving of the medical history at your veterinarian's clinic, they will come into your conscious memory. If gross abnormalities are seen, resist the urge to get upset and excited. Try to objectively watch those abnormalities, so you will be able to describe accurately what has occurred.

This observation pattern should become a habit. Though it will take practice at first, it will eventually occupy only a total of four to six minutes spread out over your waking day. Most symptoms of illness are vague, general, or nonspecific. A single symptom, by itself, is often meaningless, at best, and misleading at worst. There are so-called pathognomonic symptoms which supposedly, in and of themselves, indicate a specific illness or disease. While such symptoms do exist, they are few and far between.

Rare Diseases That Strike The Aging Dog

Fortunately, the aging dog has relatively few disorders of the brain and spinal cord associated with the process of growing old. Arteriosclerosis, that bane of human aging and a primary cause of senility, is quite rare in dogs. Hence it is unusual indeed to meet a truly senile dog.

Cerebral hemorrhage, also called apoplexy or stroke, is likewise a very infrequent occurrence in the canine. Rabies is caused by a virus which is attracted specifically to nerve tissue and is transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal. However, there have also been rare reports in recent years of airborne transmission. It has been traditionally believed for centuries that once symptoms of rabies develop, death is inescapable, and because of the hazard to other animals and people, such dogs are euthanized if they have not yet bitten anyone.

Recent reports of two human rabies cases which were treated successfully and survived the development of rabid symptoms, if confirmed, may possibly alter the present grim outlook for rabid dogs. With the extremely effective and safe vaccines available today to protect your aging dog, however, there is no excuse for you to ever have to worry about this disease.