高齢犬ケアにおける飼い主の対応策
Measures Owners Can Take in the Nursing Care of Elderly Dogs
中塚圭子 ドルチェカーネ代表 JAHA 認定ドッグトレーニングインストラクター
Keiko NAKATSUKA Representative of Dolcecane, JAHA authorized Dog Training Instructor

Hello everybody. I am Keikoand practice, together with dog owners. I think that theNakatsuka and a JAHA authorizedreason why I have been able to write so many books on

dog-training instructor. Since 1993 I

the subject is that I have gathered the real voices of dog

have spent about 15 years working asowners. In this context, I feel that the habit of writing

an instructor and during that time I

things down is very important.

have resolved many kinds of
behavioral and other dog-related

Keeping a notebook is a natural thing for a veterinary

problems by working together with my students,

hospital nurse, so I first decided to write down

[Slide 1].

everything asked to me by dog owners in a notebook.
Then I realized it might be important to compile theLarge numbers of dogs that were bought or adopted as

answers to such questions and publish them in bookpuppies in the early years of the current pet boom areform. So far I have managed to get along quite well

now reaching old age. As a result, we are now seeing ausing a method that includes survey-taking and asking

gradual increase in the sorts of problems that arepeople about things I have been unable to introduce incharacteristic of elderly dogs. I have accumulated

my books. In “Seikatsu Hot Morning”, I was able to bringpractice in this area too.

to light many of the problems encountered by elderly
dogs. I was also the first instructor to hold classes forIn much the same way as elderly people, elderly dogs

elderly dogs in Japan.

experience a range of medical problems that can betreated, but at the same time they also begin having[Slide 3] As Dr. Wakayama has already explained,

various other troubles in daily life.

recently the environment for keeping dogs has
improved due to higher levels of medical service and

The photo in the slide shows my favorite pet dog Sally.

keeping dogs indoors, with the result that the lives ofShe died at the age of 14 years and 8 months, but Idogs have been gradually lengthening. The averagelearned a lot of things in the course of caring for her. My

lifespan of dogs in Japan has increased from 8.6 years inadvice concerning how to take care of elderly dogs at

1990 to 11.9 years today. In a 2006 report, the ratio ofhome is based on my experience with my own family,

dogs over seven years old was 42.7%. In 2007,

including Bell and Jico, (now deceased), and my othersurprisingly, this ratio increased by over 10% to 55.3%.

precious dogs. Today, I am going to attempt todemonstrate some of the devices that can be used toThe trend for large dogs has changed in this way. As ahelp care for older dogs in daily life. Thank you in

result, we are now in the midst of a problem with largeadvance for your attention.

elderly dogs. Since the deﬁning characteristic of theseanimals is that they are large, the burden they place on[Slide 2] First allow me to introduce myself in a bit moretheir owners who care for them is correspondinglydetail. I used to be an elementary school teacher. The

large. A similar problem with small elderly dogs issubject ʻEthologyʼ, the scientific study of animal

expected to come up in the future. Dachshunds, inbehavior, has a lot in common with human psychology.

particular, tend to develop problems with their legs andSince becoming a dog-training instructor and learning

waist.

about the habits of dogs I have been amassing studies

Workshop Ⅵ Caring for Older Dogs

21

The dog-training school I have been running was also

started wetting themselves, one after another. Theirborn out of the needs of the [pet boom] era. Iowners were all veteran owners, so Iʼm sure they had

established this school because I noticed that many

already prepared their dogs for class by having them gopeople have trouble training large dogs. The dogs thatto the toilet beforehand.

were puppies at [the start of the pet boom] became
elderly dogs in 2006, and are now in their final years.

Since these same dogs had never wet themselves in theUpon seeing more senior members attending myclasses when they were young, the owners wereelderly dog-training classes, other members with older

disappointed that “aging leads to things like this.” But atdogs began to gather one by one.

the same time they also understood first hand thatevery dog becomes like that if they live long enough.

At what age do we regard a dog as being elderly? I havea table comparing dogs and humans. Incidentally, how

The dogs conﬁdently climbed onto the obstacle balance

old is your dear pet dog? In my case, my eldest dog isbeam they had previously been so good at walking on

now 14 and the youngest is ﬁve years old. Since elderly

before and enjoyed playing various games. They also

dog-training classes are a way of preparing the animals

enjoyed the stretching exercises. At the time, thefor getting old, the classes are centered on dogs aged

practice of giving stretches and massages to elderly

between seven and ten years old. When large dogs

dogs wasnʼt very well known. But based on somereach the age of 15, they usually ﬁnd it diﬃcult even to

information I obtained from overseas, I produced aget into a car, and their physical condition tends toprogram for the day in consultation with hospitalalternate between good and bad days in a wave-likeveterinarians and veterinary nurses.

fashion. This makes it almost impossible for them toparticipate regularly in the classes.

The dogs looked like they were feeling good. Moreover,the stretching and massage fully appealed to theNext, I will talk a bit more about why I started holding

ownersʼ wish to touch their favorite pet dogs.

elderly dog-training classes. An important reason wasIncidentally, my own Jiita joined the Old Dog Classroom

because I began receiving many inquiries regarding

when he was three years old. As he started so young,elderly dogs from owners of pets that had graduated

you could say he had an extremely long old age.

from my earlier classes.
From these reunion classes, more and more owners
In the case of a physical anomaly, it is often possible togave voice to the opinion that we should start routine

resolve the trouble by consulting with a vet and having

preparations for when our dogs get old. They could see

the animal treated. I realized it was important forold age looming up on their pets, and this marked theowners to have a specific place where they could ask

beginning of regular classes for elderly dogs. In starting

about and obtain answers for the problems

up the Old Dog Classroom, I asked dog owners and vets

encountered in elderly dogs. Essentially, this was to be afor their opinions. After this, I established rules for theforum where owners could consult on how to deal with

Old Dog Classroom. These rules are:their favorite pet when the petʼs habits and personality• Move slowly. Within the extent possible, get the dogs

began to change as they aged, just as people do. So ﬁrst

to act with the idea of expanding their threshold levelof all I held a reunion that I called the “Roken Kyoshitsu”

just a little.

(Old Dog Classroom).

• Consider how to make the dogs feel good and havefun. This is a class for relaxing, and there should be

22

When the dogs and owners got together there wasabsolutely no competition between the dogs.

such a lot of fuss. These old dogs, that until then had• Be conscious of having a pleasant time with your own

been living a relaxed life at home, became so exciteddog. Regard aging as a form of evolution and enjoy

when they met up with their old pals that they evenmaking new discoveries.

ワークショップ Ⅵ

高齢犬のケア• Make the Old Dog Classroom a forum for information

did in their young days.

sharing with other owners.
Also, when their legs become weak older dogs tend to
Within these information exchange opportunities, thedevelop conditions such as hernias, etc. The agility

important thing is to not only encourage the sharing ofexercises can be a useful preparation for rehabilitation if

knowledge but also the sharing of each otherʼs feelings.

this does happen.

After we had been holding the Old Dog Classroom for awhile, we discovered that this sharing of feelings about

Recently, dog rehabilitation centers have been

old dogs was in fact the most important thing. I

established and veterinary hospitals have begun

mentioned about Jiita earlier. This laid-back classpopping up where vets and trainers performappealed to him so much. In other classes, he would

psychotherapy-type treatments. When elderly dogs

often get bored half way through but in this class hesuddenly try to perform rehabilitation movements they

couldnʼt wait to join the other dogs. He really liked thecan perform these movements without stress if theyrelaxed atmosphere surrounding his seniors, anhave experienced similar movements in the past. Now, I

atmosphere in which he was not pushed very much.

will show a video that has some actual instances of this.

After witnessing this, I thought it was necessary to• In the ʻstep-overʼ movement, it is very important forincorporate a similar kind of lure into everyday lessons

the dog to trip over. Pulling back the legs as in an “oops-too.

a-daisy” fashion is also very meaningful. In this video,
we use golf bars, but it is safer to use light, thin lengths

Therefore, as well as elderly dogs, nervous and easilyof wood, if you have these at home.

frightened dogs also achieved very good results by• In the slalom, vets advise that it is better for the dog tojoining this class. For me personally, this became anmove in a naturally forward-looking position because

excellent opportunity to caution myself against turning

the load on the dogʼs body is less. Then, when thedog-training classes into occasions for merely imposing

animal masters the technique, it does not pay too muchlearning or for passing tests.

attention to its owner.
• When encouraging a dog to climb over an obstacle,

At this point, I will introduce some examples of the sortuse something which is an appropriate height for theof lessons we give in the Old Dog Classroom. Firstly, wedogʼs agility so that the animal does not have to jump

give agility lessons as a preparation for growing old.

to get down, and will not be injured if it does jump

Agility lessons can involve something like an obstacle

down. In this video, after the dog sits, it is carried down.

race. For puppies, these lessons are used to give the• Crawling under a chain is something a dog can dodogs experience with various kinds of movement andpleasantly and with little load. We did this while tightly

various tools. For young adult dogs, they are used for

securing the chair by hand so that the dog would notpracticing precise movements in order to avoid

get caught in or not tumble into the chair. You can try

accidents when running at speed, jumping or tripping

the same sort of thing at home with whatever materials

over. Elderly dogs need a reasonable amount ofare available. But pay attention so that the dog does not

exercise. This exercise should be conducted at a slow

strain itself too much. Owners should do this whilepace with a focus on maintaining balance.

smiling and talking to the dog so that both animal andowner enjoy the experience.

“Easy agility”, which can be practiced at home as well as
in class, helps to maintain physical function in elderly

Next, owners of elderly dogs often experience somedogs while giving them the joy of being able to donuisance relating to their petʼs “food fixations”. Whenthings. In this way, we have the elderly dogs experience

the pet was young, its feeding habits were controlled

agility with the aim of improving their self-conﬁdence.

by training. But when the dog becomes elderly, there

They gain the enjoyment by remembering what theymay be behavior changes that owners often findWorkshop Ⅵ Caring for Older Dogs

23difficult to tolerate. For example, an elderly dog may

Now, let me explain how to do all this in concrete terms.

begin to break things, intrude into an unexpected place,Firstly, you can scatter food. If a small dish is used, theor produce ear-splitting barks in demands for food, etc.

meal becomes easier to eat this way. The dog can ﬁnish
the entire meal very quickly.

Conversely, elderly dogs sometimes experience a period
in which they will not or cannot eat. As owners, weThrough changes such as switching from food bowls towant our dogs to eat, but if they are unwell and we tryʻtreasure sheetsʼ it may be possible to satisfy a dogʼsto force them to eat, the dog is put into a difficult

hunting instinct, which is to eat slowly in the course ofposition. So let me talk a little bit more now about thesehunting for food. Dogs get pleasure from the“food ﬁxations”.

expectation that there may be some more foodsomewhere. Even after they have eaten everything in

My favorite pet dog Sally began displaying an excessive

sight they continue searching. Next, there is a device tourge to eat when she was around 12 years old. She

ensure that dogs eat their food slowly while tasting it

became obsessive and her weight began to increase.

by, for example, putting several large food balls into a

She eventually gained more than five kilos, grew verylarge food container to prevent the dog from eating too

fat, and totally lost the slim look of her youth.

quickly. Pay attention to use balls that are large enoughthat they canʼt be swallowed accidentally. You can buy

Let me show you one picture of my memories of Sally.

special toys to use in the treasure hunting game, and I

One day, I left her at home as usual. Then, when I came

recommend you to use them. If you play the treasurehome from work… It was so terrible that I aimed myhunting game using the whole house, it will lookcamera at her. I was dispirited to see that her personality

something like this. Almost all elderly dogs end up not

had completely changed. I heard my husband say, “Thisbeing able to eat very well. One day they are suddenly

is not the same Sally we knew before.”no longer interested in eating. It will seem incrediblethat they were previously barking out their demand for

The countermeasures we took against her obsession

food. So we should try to make eating as pleasant aswith food were as follows.

possible for them. It is also important to adopt an

1. Donʼt let your dog get into bad habits. Manage [theattitude of, at least to a certain extent, accepting anypetʼs] food by not leaving it lying around outside ofbarking for food when it occurs.

meal times, etc., change meal times and the number ofmeals served each day. (This is important from theIf older dogs demand food, grant them their wish to a

standpoint of environment management when the dog

small extent such as by giving them one small piece ofis young). Also, re-examine the environment with anfood at a time, and then cease this after ten pieces. Thisintention to start afresh.

should stop the anguished barking for food. I have

2. Increase the volume of meals by soaking dog food inheard that a similar method is also used in dealing withcold or warm water, or by adding vegetables.

elderly people.

3. Find creative ways of slowing the pace at which thedog eats.

Finally, if owners are in distress they can obtain somepeace of mind by sharing their experiences with otherAs for changing our own thinking, owners need toowners who have had similar situations. We have set up

recognize the importance of not just regulating how

a teatime meeting where owners can talk about thetheir dogs eat (by managing their meals), but also ofways in which they care for and live with their elderly

saying “no” firmly when the dog is disobedient, beingdogs. Here they can find somebody to listen to theircreative about feeding, and persuading reluctant dogs

problems when they are feeling anxious. From time toto eat, even if only at a slow pace.

time, owners bring along easy meals or snacks, whichhelps them with their own health management.

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ワークショップ Ⅵ

高齢犬のケアIt is a path we can only take once.”
Everybody acknowledges that caring for an elderly dog
is a path that every owner will have to follow eventually.

The original version of this poem referred to a child

By sharing stories they can apply other peopleʼsinstead of a puppy and an old person instead of an old

experience to their own dogs.

dog. It is a poem my husband always murmurs when hesees his mother. Every day is a day for making memories

We also hold product experience meetings.

of living together. Everyday is an occasion for bearing

Commercially available goods can be expensive andwitness of having lived in this world.

may end up being wasted if bought before they can betried out. I have proposed that veterinary hospitals

My wish is that all dogs and all dog owners will walkestablish rental systems for such products.

pleasantly and treasure their ﬁnal steps together, even if
this requires great effort. Thank you all so much for

Even if you donʼt take part in dog-training classes,

listening.

please try to put into practice some of what youʼveheard here today. Another good idea is to ask thetraining school that your dog attended in the past to
create an opportunity for elderly dog classes. I wouldalso be very happy if veterinary hospitals could provide
ʻexperience cornersʼ in their waiting rooms.
Dog-owning acquaintances who meet up on walks
often seem to have dogs of the same age, but I wouldrecommend that you also talk to other owners withdogs of diﬀerent ages to your own pets. Tell them yourexperiences and listen to theirs.
It is becoming easier to prepare for your own dog

䇼Slide 1䇽

growing old by seeing how other elderly dogs are faring
around you today. If you have prior knowledge, you will
feel less anxious about the changes and if you cananticipate how your dog will get old in advance, it will
not be such a shock.
So one thing you can begin doing right now is toexchange information with the dog-owneracquaintances you meet on walks. Please do so by allmeans“Donʼt be angry at a puppy, as you yourself came alongthat path.
Donʼt laugh at an old dog, as you yourself are goingalong that path.
The path we have taken and the path we will take wewill travel together.

䇼Slide 2䇽

Todayʼs path is the one we are traversing now.

Workshop Ⅵ Caring for Older Dogs25

䇼䉴䊤䉟䊄 㪊䇽

26

ワークショップ Ⅵ

高齢犬のケア