Maximize my Older Setters health

[e49735]

Hi all,

I am happy that my Ryman English Setter is 12 years old, and still likes to go bird hunting several days a week for 2-4 hours at a time.
Her spirit, nose and desire are still great, and with a day or so recovery, she is ready to go again. She is a trim dog, as her mom, and I attribute her longevity to good genes, with regular, but not overdone, exercise and a loving family.

Her hunting style has changed, in that she hunts at a comfortable walk pace, with nose on the ground....as a younger dog, she would glide through the woods with her head up. She will track a running rooster or quail covey and if I stay close can get shooting... (if the birds lay up) she'll point em. But rarer these days. She gets productive points on hen pheasants and woodcock, but very few on running bobwhites and rooster pheasants.

Assuming she is mildly arthritic, what supplements or meds have you found to help older dogs? I give her Dasaquin, and my vet prescribed Novox (carprofen), which I have used very sparingly, because I am cautious about possible side effects....how about dog food formulas?....right now she has a limited ingredient kibble and I dice it up with chicken, yogurt, game birds, canned dog food, canned tuna etc.GREAT appetite!...She has always been somewhat allergic to seasonal grasses and pollens and it shows in her eyes.
I am comfortable with her current situation, but if we could help her get more "pep in her step" when searching, might be helpful.
If she gets scent in her nose, she definitely picks up the pace (she's always been a moderate searcher, not a "hi motor" dog), but her general searching habits have changed to this almost "hound like" searching pattern.

any reflections on your hunting companions as they have aged....I know she is "past her prime" Just want to maintain optimum health and happiness.
thks, Terry

[e49735]

Oh, one other thing related to her perceived soreness.....sometimes when jumping up, she puts her front paws up, and I pick her back end up for help,, so it seems the pain is in her hips. Other times she jumps up fine.
...I never see her limp, though....

[Judy]

Not sure whether you can buy it in the States but I swear by Joint Aid for Dogs
https://www.gwfnutrition.com/products/j ... supplement
it's worked well for my dogs, keeping them moving easily into old age. I had a Flatcoat crippled with arthritis, started her on this and, inside 6 weeks she was fine and stayed fine for a couple of years before she started showing any signs of stiffness again, aged 12. Now I put the older dogs onto a maintenance dose around 10 years old and haven't seen any problems with them.