Cold Weather Senior Dog Care

As the temperatures hit the 20 below mark again couple weeks ago, I thought I’d repost my Instagram post from a while back, with a few tips on winter/cold weather (especially) senior dog care, based on our holistic dog care practices at our kennel.

When the temperatures reach the -15C and lower mark it is time to think about the goldies oldies aka the canine senior citizens.

Not only do I keep a close eye on them, but I do always make sure they have extra straw in their houses and I even put a bit (or wood shavings) on the floor in their kennels.

Oat or wheat straw are perfect type of bedding for winter
time, it is not only the best insulation and provides warmth,
it is safe to use, warms even if it gets a bit damp and keeps
the dogs nice and clean as well.

The next crucial thing is to keep their blood circulation going:

- Letting them out a few times throughout the day for shorter strolls in the play yard,

- Adding warming herbs into their food and
- Providing an additional small portion of warm meat soup in the middle of the day.

The warm light soups have become quite the favorite amongst our oldies and I love knowing they are not only receiving extra calories needed to keep warm in the cold, but also getting warmed up by the warmth of the soup plus staying more than well hydrated.

Any of the older dogs who may be having health issues, weaker blood circulation or just changing their coat get a nice thermo dog jacket.
These are actually our race and camping coats we have for our teams and serve perfectly also for older, weaker or other dogs in need.
Magpie and Mouse love their Troll Dogsport coats which are super light, water-resistant and have a thinsulate layer inside, keeping them toasty warm. See both wearing their jackets on the second picture below.

Warming herbs good for winter use in form of teas or powdered and added directly to food are for example:

Ginger

True Cinnamon (not Cassia cinnamon!)

Turmeric (serve always with freshly ground black pepper corns to increase the absorption of turmeric)

Nettle (nit necessarily warming, but moves blood and is a great winter aid overall)

You can also check out this post with my Warming And Immunity Building Herbal Blend recpie.

Above pictured is our senior gang, polishing their dishes of a mid-day light warming soup, served at around -18°C

Clockwise from center dog with red coat:

Magpie 14,5 y.o. (center with coat)
Sparky 14,8 y.o.
Mouse 14 y.o.
Krtek 12,5 y.o. And she says that she is no way a senior dog! She in fact still runs as a lead dog! I have to admit we have a number of 12 year olds who we don´t consider the senior gang - they still run on short mushing fun trips.
Frostie 16,75 y.o. 
Finn - not a senior but he lives in the same kennel so has to get a timy bit of soup too not to feel neglected :)