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Speaker 1: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk pets.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Human Animal Connection Show, where we believe

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we can communicate with all animals. Join us as we

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explore the thirty three principles and healing methods of the

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Human Animal Connection. As animal lovers, we know that you

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share our commitment to making the world a kinder place

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for all creatures. Together, let's embrace the transformative healing power

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of the Human Animal Connection.

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Speaker 2: Well, hello, everyone, welcome to the Human Animal Connection. I'm

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your host, Jeanie Joseph and the founder of the Human

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Animal Connection, and I am so delighted to speak to

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Kate Titus and she is the founder and director of

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a Loyal Companion which helps dogs that have mobility issues

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or maybe senior in age, are having different physical challenges

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all kinds of things, from swimming to mobility exercises to

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training the human how to deal with a dog who's

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going through these things. So today we're going to really

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focus on some of the emotions that people might be

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experiencing if they're dealing with a dog that has special

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needs or getting to the you know that age in

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life where it's things aren't working the way they used

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to work. And all the emotions that humans go through

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as we experienced the So Kate, welcome to the show.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you. I've been looking forward to to

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talking to you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I know you've been wonderful. You've helped us with

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some wheelchairs with some of our students, our high school

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students that had paralyzed dogs, and we got them wheelchairs

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and got them moving again. It was so much fun

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because I was so before I had seen the process,

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I was concerned, how is a dog going to learn

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how to go from being paralyzed to having wheels, you know,

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in this case was real rear wheels behind them, and

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I was like so worried about what kind of training

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do we need? We put the wheels on and the

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dog went boom, just rolling around the room just you know,

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I mean, it was a little bit of adjustment that

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literally within seconds. It's soiting to see a dog that

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has not had that kind of motion suddenly be mobile again.

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So thank you for the good work that you're doing.

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And I know you've done a tremendous amount of research

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and understanding, and I know even though you're in Tucson, Arizona,

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you also work with people worldwide, right people can work

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with you online.

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Speaker 3: Great, okay, we do. We do quite a few video consults.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, excellent. Okay, Well, I know that one of the

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challenges that you see is not just on the dog side,

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but the human side. Emotionally, tell us a little bit

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what you've seen.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so that that scenario that you just explained about

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putting the dog in the cart, there is a blossoming

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of joy that happens, right, So the opposite of that

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has happened at some point where you know, you realize

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your dog is paralyzed, You realize your dog is not

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as able as they used to be a lot of

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different emotions start to get to pop up and to

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uh become your constant companion, They become your shadow. And

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and so what we what we see and what we

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try to do is we try to get folks to

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live in the right now. That's where your dogs are,

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That's where we need to stay. Let's not make this

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any more challenging than it needs to be for anybody involved.

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So what we'd like you to do is, let's work

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with the dog that's in front of you today, because

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that is going to be a different dog tomorrow. That

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could be a different dog tonight. But who's in front

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of you? How are they?

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Speaker 2: You know, how are they.

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Speaker 3: Feeling right now? Are they feeling like they want to

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go for a walk and they can I shouldn't say

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that too A lot have my dogs would make you know,

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do they do they want to, you know, do an activity?

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Do they want to do enrichment? Do they you know,

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what are they up for? Or do they just want

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to sit beside you and snuggle and be petted and

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and share share that connection with you. So we spend

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a lot of time talking to folks about what they're

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what they're feeling, and the challenges that they're having at home,

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because that's you know, that's really where we fill the

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gal we were We're not veterinarians, we're not surgeons. We're

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there to help you take those instructions from your veterinarian

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and make them work at home. You know, your vet

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can tell you what's wrong with the dog. They can

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give you some ideas on maybe how to manage that

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from a you know, from a medical or pharmaceutical standpoint,

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but understanding that you may be undoing all of that.

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Speaker 2: Just by the setup of your house.

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Speaker 3: You know, you have I see, you have a rug

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on the floor behind you, over top of wood or

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lambin at whatever that happens to be. Depending on the

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ability of your dog, that rug may be the only

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space they feel comfortable walking on. So we talk about

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those kind of things that really helped to ease as

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much of the burden for the pet, which in turn

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helps to ease the burden for the pet owner with

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a pet parent. So we kind of try to look

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for those for those instances and where we can really

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provide some support.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and it can be really challenging. And you have

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a memory of your dog maybe three four years ago,

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maybe even a year ago, where you could go and

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go for that little trot or that walk or play

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or chase up all or whatever the things that you

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were used to doing, and all of a sudden it's gone.

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And the pain of that, the sadness of that. And

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sometimes I think maybe people get guilty, I think feeling

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guilty like am I doing enough? Am I doing too much?

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Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the

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rock thing?

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Speaker 4: Ish?

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Speaker 3: Matt Bargers are quite a knot you can get yourself

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tied up into and yeah, I'm just you know, and

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you have on top of that all of the everyday

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care that you're providing, so you know, you're probably a

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little tired. Depending on the size of your dog, you

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may have your own aches and pains that are a

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direct result of helping your dog. And you've got you know,

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there's a port a certain part of you, of your

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headspace and your mind space that is now totally wrapped

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up in your dogs that cannot be in anything else.

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And I think you know you're just there are limits

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all around you. You think there are limits all around

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you to how much time and how much space you

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have to give to your dog, but also give to

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yourself because you know self care is is huge and

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not not knowing what the tips and tricks like, you know,

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finding having a backup person is one thing that I

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recommend to everyone, whether that is your husband, your partner,

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your neighbor, someone that at least can give you an

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hour to go lie down and take a nap. You

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know that you you can have a break, whether it's

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mental or physical.

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Speaker 2: Right right, very very important, And I want to talk

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a little bit about pain because it's not always easy

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to know if your dog is in pain. I mean,

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if it's extreme pain, of course that you know. We

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might know that, but we might not know the routine

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every day arthritic pain or mobility joint pain. How do

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you I know you're not a veterinarian, you can't diagnose,

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but what do you how do you evaluate? Oh? I

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think that this is pain and you should talk to

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you about getting some you know, medication for this, or

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how do you evaluate pain?

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Speaker 3: I look at paint in a couple of different ways.

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First and foremost, I look for clusters of signals. It's

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not a single thing. So let's take panting for example.

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Panting is a very common pain signal. However, if the

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dog has just been for a walk, or it's just

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gone outside in one hundred and ten degree heat to

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go to the bathroom, panting is completely normal. However, if

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that dog has been inside, it's seventy in your house,

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haven't been doing anything, haven't been active, but they're panting.

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They've got a little pull to the eyes, there's a

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little squint. Perhaps they didn't want to get up and

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meet you when you walked into the room. They may

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be irritable to other dogs that are in the house,

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you know. So there are pieces that you can put

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together that say, okay, there have been some behavior changes,

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there's some physical changes in the way there is interacting

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with me, and that tells me that that there's probably

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some pain, some uncontrolled pain, and that is that is

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a big distinction, because we need to we need to

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get pain under control as much as possible, not only

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for you know, every day living or their activities of

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daily living, their ADLs to be able to do those

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like being able to transition from being on the floor

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into a stand up to go get a drink of water,

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or maybe it's being able to stand up to eat

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big one posturing to pee and poop. You really underestimate

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how challenging that can be. Those are both very complex postures.

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Even being flexible enough to groom themselves or shake off

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to get extra you know, debris or hair out of

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the coat. And you know, understanding how pain plays a

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role in that is essential. And I think the other

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thing that that is commonly forgotten is that pain is emotional,

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has emotional.

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Speaker 2: Effects as well as physical effects, right right, Sometimes behaviors

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that we don't quite understand there may be a pain component.

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And so it's not just a matter of looking at

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why is my dog doing this behavior that I don't like,

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But what is my dog feeling emotionally and physically that

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it could be pain could be a factor, and some

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behavior that has cropped up.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, Especially if you have a dog that's not

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normally cranky that becomes cranky. Yeah, that is usually a

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pretty a pretty big pain indicator on that front. And

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I think even just in their in their ad ls,

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in their their everyday activities. One of my favorite examples is, Okay,

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normally water is in the kitchen right right, or you

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have your water bowl, or it's it's on a tiled surface,

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which we have a lot of here in Arizona. You're

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gonna that dog is going to go through a cost

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benefit analysis. Is it worth it for me to get

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up from lying down? That's going to be an effort.

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Now I have to walk over there. Now I have

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to think about how difficult it's going to be to

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walk across that tile floor. Pain is a very big teacher.

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So I remember the last time I fell on that

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floor and it hurt. So am I thirsty enough to

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Is my need for water enough to overcome the fear

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of what could happen or has happened in the past?

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Is it strong enough for me to overcome that fear,

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go get the water, and then have to walk back

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and repeat those saying in reverse those same activities. Is

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that need great enough for that? So the pain element

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of that, the history of pain, really plays a role

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in how they choose to move their body and how

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they choose on what surfaces to move in. How much?

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Speaker 5: Wow?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a lot to really think about. And would

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you say bigger dogs or smaller dogs? Are they about

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equal in terms of the kinds of challenges they have

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or do you see more challenges and small versus big group?

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Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think the real difference is

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the ease with which a pet parent can reach them,

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pick them up, and make it easier for them to

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get place to place. As a person who's managed mobility

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in an eighty five pound dog, a fifty pound dog,

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and a nine pound dog, it's a whole lot easier

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to pick up my little guys.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 3: I have a rat terrier Chihuahua mex Halfmoon who has

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been in a cart for more than eight years. He

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is twelve and a half now, and his front limbs

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have gone through a lot, especially his shoulders, his elbows,

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his wrists. He's done a lot of pulling in his time,

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and a lot of pushing off to get himself to

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slide across the floor. He's not really able to do

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that as well as he was in a past, even

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with rugs down. It is a real challenge. So you know,

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he spends even more time in his cart now. And

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because these only fifteen pounds, he can do that in

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the house. I couldn't do that with you know, my

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boxer Kolua or my Great Dane fox pound Harley. That

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just wasn't an option to have that in the house.

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So we had to use different pieces of equipment and

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different strategies to get them from point A to point B.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Wow. Wow, that's just it's amazing. It's amazing.

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It's hard for humans, it's hard for the animals. Wow.

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So at what point do you feel like, Okay, this

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is no I know you're not a veterinarian, but just

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in your do people say to you, you know, in

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terms of quality of life. I'm not sure anymore. I mean,

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how do you have those conversations?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? We I feel like we're in the quality of

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life business. I mean, we're there to make their life

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as great as it can be for as long as

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they want to stick around. And I'm we try to

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help mom and dad figure out if the dog is

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still engaging with them. Are they active? And when I

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say active, that could be mentally engaged, not necessarily physically engaged.

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I try to take the mobility piece out of it.

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And this was the promise that I made to Harley,

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who was our basically our founding dog. Is that, buddy,

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I'm going to keep you moving as long as you

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want to be moving. But at the point where you're

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done and you're tired, eaves need to tell me and

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I will stop fighting for you. Yes, and and so

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I depend a lot on the eyes. I depend a

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lot on the level of engagement. I depend a lot

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on what my gut tells me.

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Speaker 2: Yes. So when you say the eyes, the eyes, you're

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trying back your eyes, not the dog's eyes or do

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you mean the dog's eyes on the dog's eyes? Okay,

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So tell me what you see in the dog's eyes

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when you see says yes, I'm I still want to

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continue and know I don't what are you what are

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you seeing?

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Speaker 3: So I see a I'm really looking to see if

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they're tired, you know. And there's a difference between I'm

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tired and need to take a nap and I'm tired

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of fighting, I'm tired of being here, and that that,

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to me is I really believe that that's that's something

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that the pet parent really has to be in charge of.

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I will never tell a pet parent that it's time

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to let their dog go, right, that is not my place.

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And I feel like when I look into the eyes

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of even of my own dogs, but even some other

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dogs client dogs, you see, there's a lot of effort

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to being alive. There's the wrinkle of the forehead, the

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pull of the eyes. Then I can barely muster the

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effort to be here, and that speaks volumes to me.

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But I also want to know that the pain protocol

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that is in place is appropriate, and I'll always recommend

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that folks talk to their vet about that pain protocol

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before they take any big steps right because in some

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cases the pain protocols have other side effects that could

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shorten life in terms of the effects on the organs.

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And so it's not a simple decision of oh, there's pain,

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take a pill, right, so correct it's a balancing act.

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It's a balancing act of different factors. Okay, yeah, and

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you really have to consider quality over quantity, because we

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might be able to get, you know, help the dog

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live longer, but if that dog is in pain that

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whole time, have we really done them as service? And

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I would argue no, we haven't.

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Speaker 2: Yes, good point, good point. Well, we're going to take

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a short little break and when we come back, I

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want to hear some of the stories of some of

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the dogs that you've worked with and how lives changed.

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Would be back in just the moment.

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Speaker 5: You know the expression cats have nine lives? Well, what

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if you can give.

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Speaker 1: Them one more?

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Speaker 5: But give them ten? Movement is on a mission to

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help give cats an extra life. How with spae and

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Neoter Spain or neotering your cat helps them live a longer,

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00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:25,799
healthier life and it helps control free rolling cat populations too.

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Learn more about the benefits of Spee and Neoter and

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meet Scooter, the newter cat at give them ten dot org.

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That's give them ten dot org.

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Speaker 1: Hey friends. If you like what you're hearing and want

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to learn more, check out doctor Joseph's book The Human

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Animal Connection, Deepening relationships with animals and ourselves or visit

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the website The Humananimalconnection dot org to book an online consultation.

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Thank you for loving animals.

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Speaker 4: Back to the show, Let's Talk Pets on Petlife Radio

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dot com.

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Speaker 2: I'm back to the Human Animal Connection. I'm your host,

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Genie Joseph from The Human Animal Connection, and I'm speaking

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with Kate Titus. She's the founder and director of a

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Loyal Companion, which helps animals that are dealing with mobility issues,

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with age issues, with other situations that might make them

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less mobile and less enjoying life. And she has all

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kinds of solutions to help dogs that are in dealing

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with that time and phase in their life and how

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to get back into the best quality of life that's possible. Obviously,

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I know you're not a magician. I know you can't

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wave your wand and fix everything, but you can certainly

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make improvements. So tell us some of the stories of

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the dogs you've worked with that where you've really been

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able to help. We'll go We'll start with one that's

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a little bit closer to home.

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Speaker 3: Here in Arizona. We in the Southwest, we have something

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called valley fever, and valley fever is spreading across the

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US but Tucson and Southern Arizona happens to be the epicenter.

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So we had a dog come in from Pema Animal

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Care Center, which is our shelter. Her name was Daisy.

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She should have been about a forty pound Picnics. When

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we saw her, they had to carry her in because

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she was only able to really lift her head. She

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had valley fever in almost every joint in her every

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major joint in her body. She was really then. I

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think she was maybe twenty eight pounds. She was about

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twenty pounds underweight, and we worked with her for almost

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a year. She went from basically being propped up in

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a quad wheelchair, which is wheels in the front wheels

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and the back support for the body, just to get

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her into an upright position because you can imagine with

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not being able to move and not having a whole

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lot of padding, bed sores were a real concern for her,

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so we got her up into that standing position. The

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medication that was available through the shelter, thanks to Friends

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of Pack, which is the nonprofit arm, they were able

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to really get fighting against against the fungus. Valley fever

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is the result of a fungus that's found in our

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dirt out here. So over the course of that year

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we did some We taught the foster home exercises and

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range of motion. We did multiple swim sessions every week

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we had. We have a dog pool here, so we

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were swimming with her. A great part about that is

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it gets her off of her body, It lets the body.

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The body is suspended in the water, so there's no

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pressure anywhere. We worked with her with her range of

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motion in the water and the swimming started to build

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some stamina. Pretty soon, the foster let us know that

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she was really annoyed by the front wheels, so we

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had her in a walking wheels cart. We were able

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to take those front wheels off and put a different

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different arms and different harness on, so she was taken

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off in her front wheel cart doing great. About four

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months later, five months later they let us know that, yeah,

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she was getting pretty active. So we started to work

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on balance and strengthening with her and her rear limbs,

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and by about the nine month mark she was running

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with a little drunken slor thing a little in naxia,

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but she was fully ambulating on her own, and by

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by month twelve she had become ornery enough that the

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foster had to we had to find her another foster

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home because this foster also had other medical fosters and

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she was way too active for those fosters. So that

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was that was pretty that was pretty amazing, And she

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went to a fantastic home. And yeah, she's a she's

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definitely a success story.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, beautiful. Well from hopeless to full of hope. Yeah, yeah, beautiful, beautiful.

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And I think one of my favorite types of dogs

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to work with are dogs that have a disease called

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degenerative myelopathy. Uh and it's a lot like als in humans.

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So basically, slowly and.

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Speaker 3: Over time, it's usually their backlimbs just start not functioning

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the way they should. They start to knuckle on their paws,

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they start to lose strength, and there is no there

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are non medications, there's no cure for this disease. It's

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really all about maintaining and supporting the best quality of

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life that you can. And we've had we've had quite

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a few of these dogs and they have to be

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a personal favorite of mine. And we had we had

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one Sir Dalton. He was actually a grand champion show

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dog and he came to us with DM big boxer,

401
00:22:06,839 --> 00:22:10,880
big mailboxer, and his mom decided that she was she

402
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was a wound nurse so she could handle all of

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the things on his feet, and decided she was just

404
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gonna rent a cart for him. We do have a

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rental program, and I thought, you know, we've got a

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few more months with the cart daily walks. He went

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through three sets of wheels, so we use foam wheels

408
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and those take a lot to wear out. He ended

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up living and thriving for another year and a half,

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almost two years with the cart with exercise, and he

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just did great. He did amazing. And we had Max,

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who was a German shepherd with something very similar. He

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also had DM, but we swam him every week, and

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you know DM is supposed to be it's different for

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every day, but you have anywhere from months to a

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couple of years. We ended up swimming every Wednesday with

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with this shepherd with Max, and he did great. You know,

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he loved to be with the kids. We had him

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in a product called toe ups which keeps him from knuckling,

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would keep those feet flat on the ground, and he

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really just thrived. His mom owned a dojo in town,

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so he would go and visit the kids while they

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were getting ready to do their their session their yeah,

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their martial arts. So just you know, some amazing, some

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amazing things we get to be a part of. And

426
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it feels great being on the journey with not just

427
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the dog, but with the mom and dad because they

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need as much support as the dogs do, and I

429
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think they get overlooked a lot because in our society,

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you don't you know, you can be a caregiver to

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your in laws or to your husband or your wife,

432
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but that's expected, you know, that's what society is expect

433
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the you know, the use of your energy. But say

434
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you're doing the same thing for your dog, and you

435
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,920
get kind of a funny look. So there aren't a

436
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lot of support groups and places where these people can

437
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go and feel valued and understood.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's really important because you know, of course

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we believe dogs are family members and you know they

440
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,440
need the same understanding and privileges and rights and support

441
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that that when you say, if you're caring for your

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mom or whoever you're caring for you But it's like

443
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you say, there isn't a lot of recognition that a

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how much energy it takes and how much emotional balance.

445
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It takes, you know, to be a balanced system for

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another being. And and how do you help people see?

447
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,920
You know? Okay, So maybe the time is limited or

448
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,880
are these conversations that you have to have a lot,

449
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or maybe it is time. I know you don't tell them,

450
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but do you? How do you assist when people are struggling?

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Speaker 3: So we do a lot with quality of life scales,

452
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,000
some that we like to use that I would probably

453
00:25:04,039 --> 00:25:07,599
have five of them, and they go anywhere from you know,

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is the dog able to be alive?

455
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Speaker 1: So?

456
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Speaker 3: Are they breathing? Are they eating? Are they drinking? Are

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they mentally engaged? I mean really basic, basic level all

458
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the way over to how do you feel about what's

459
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going on? Is the dog engaged? Or what are their

460
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ADLs look like? Their activities at daily living? Are they

461
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,960
able to do those? So depending on which one of

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those speaks to an individual, an individual client that we're

463
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working with, I like to send all of them. And

464
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when I had dogs that were in that phase, I

465
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read through them and decided which one spoke to me

466
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and that's the one I stuck with. So what I

467
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,079
what I tell folks is take it now, you.

468
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Speaker 2: Want to take it? Take it before you have the

469
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prop before before you're even having this conversation seriously with.

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Speaker 3: Yeah and yeah. Because you have that, you have that baseline,

471
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so when you take it again, you don't have to think, oh,

472
00:26:00,279 --> 00:26:03,119
well it's not that bad. Well he had a thirty

473
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,440
seven here and now he's down to a twenty, just

474
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,359
for an example. So it really gives you. I'm a

475
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,440
data person, it gives you rationally, it gives you a

476
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,920
reason to think, Okay, we're getting close. And I think

477
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:19,920
after the dog is gone, I think it helps relieve

478
00:26:20,039 --> 00:26:22,599
any of the guilt or much of the guilt that

479
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,240
you have that you did it too soon or you

480
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,359
know you shouldn't have done it. Well, yeah, your dog

481
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,920
was failing, Your dog was telling you that they were ready,

482
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,480
and you listened right and you recorded, and I think

483
00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:38,400
I get I take solace in that.

484
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,599
Speaker 2: Definitely, definitely. Yeah. And it's so important to respect the

485
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,920
dogs needs and wishes. You know, we have our own

486
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,200
needs and wishes to have our animals be with us

487
00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:51,680
forever and it isn't going to happen. It's part of

488
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,640
the experience of having a dog. If you have a

489
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,680
dog and love a dog, you're probably gonna lose a

490
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:01,319
dog or more dogs, and he does, how many you have? Yeah,

491
00:27:01,319 --> 00:27:03,599
I know I have one. She's a rescue, we don't know,

492
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:08,359
somewhere between eleven and thirteen. And she's definitely showing some

493
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,000
signs of Yeah, so I think I'm gonna need to

494
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,359
make an appointment to come and bring her in and

495
00:27:15,039 --> 00:27:17,440
have you take a look and see what we can do.

496
00:27:17,559 --> 00:27:21,079
She's still very engaged and wonderful. But you know, she

497
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,160
was a therapy dog, and she was a rescue of

498
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,000
course from pack and was a feral dog. I mean

499
00:27:27,079 --> 00:27:30,279
she used to scare grown men, so she was quite wild.

500
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,519
But she became a therapy dog. So she's had, you know,

501
00:27:34,079 --> 00:27:36,319
nine good years of therapy work. But I can tell

502
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,319
she's less interested in going to see the kids. She

503
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,440
still likes to get in the car and go somewhere,

504
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:42,960
but she can't wait to get back in the car

505
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:43,440
and go home.

506
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:44,279
Speaker 3: Yeah.

507
00:27:45,599 --> 00:27:48,880
Speaker 2: That's definitely telling me. Okay, you know this has been great,

508
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,960
but I'm sorry about my body's just not what it was.

509
00:27:52,039 --> 00:27:54,680
And yeah, so that's a lot to face. You know,

510
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,960
It's something that we humans have to face in layers.

511
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,240
It's not something that you make a quick decision about

512
00:28:01,319 --> 00:28:04,920
nobody makes a quick decision exactly. So what are some

513
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:06,839
of the things at home that people I know, you know,

514
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,400
you'd have to see the dog to know for sure,

515
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,480
but what are some sort of general tips to think

516
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,960
about with you when you're dealing with dogs, Like I

517
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,960
am with you know older she's peeing and pooping in

518
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,160
the house now, you know she's and I think it's

519
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,599
because it's not easy to go up and down the steps.

520
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 3: So yeah, yeah, So those are behavior changes that are

521
00:28:24,599 --> 00:28:26,240
really one of the things you want to keep an

522
00:28:26,279 --> 00:28:29,680
eye on it. And definitely house training is one of

523
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,839
the big ones. My girl Helen, who happens to be

524
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,799
right over my shoulder there, yes she has. She has

525
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,240
lost her house trading once or twice when it feels like, oh,

526
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,759
I got a poop right now, where that warning system

527
00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:52,319
isn't quite what it used to be. So routine is huge.

528
00:28:53,079 --> 00:28:56,720
Keep it as close as you can, including the bathroom times,

529
00:28:56,799 --> 00:28:59,200
because sometimes they don't realize that they do have to go,

530
00:28:59,519 --> 00:29:01,920
but you take I'm outside and that triggers, oh, this

531
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,119
is where I go to the bathroom.

532
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,279
Speaker 2: Do I have to go? Yeah, I have to go, So.

533
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,680
Speaker 3: That can be helpful feeding times. Obviously, you got to

534
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,799
have a routine for the input to get a routine

535
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:13,119
for the output. If you have a dog that is

536
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,799
weakening in the hind or the front legs, some sort

537
00:29:16,839 --> 00:29:19,079
of traction is going to be an issue. So you

538
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,720
want to either look at rugs with no skid backing.

539
00:29:24,839 --> 00:29:26,960
You need to be mindful of any trip hazards and

540
00:29:27,039 --> 00:29:28,680
humans that you have in your house. That can be

541
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,319
a tough one. You can also get There are a

542
00:29:31,319 --> 00:29:33,799
couple of different kinds of boots that we love or

543
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,440
socks that we love for this that are easy to

544
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,799
put on and take off. I love lava socks. They're fantastic.

545
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,799
We carry those here. They're like a mix between a

546
00:29:43,839 --> 00:29:48,039
slipper in a sock. But also I love rubber dipped socks,

547
00:29:48,519 --> 00:29:50,519
so they have rubber all the way around them, not

548
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,240
just a cute little paw pattern, so if they rotate,

549
00:29:54,599 --> 00:29:57,359
they still have traction. And we do have a fun

550
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,319
trick on how to keep those on because some people, oh, yeah,

551
00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:02,160
I tried those, but they just fall off, and I'm like,

552
00:30:02,599 --> 00:30:06,200
I got you on that one. Multiple water stations can

553
00:30:06,279 --> 00:30:07,960
be good if you have a dog that doesn't like

554
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,160
to move around. Having that single water station isn't as efficient,

555
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,599
and especially during the summer, you need to make sure

556
00:30:14,599 --> 00:30:18,759
they stay hydrated because the other element to that is

557
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,000
senior dogs don't regulate their temperature as well as they

558
00:30:22,079 --> 00:30:25,279
used to, so being mindful of the temperature of the house.

559
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:27,519
If you have a dog door, and this is a

560
00:30:27,559 --> 00:30:29,920
big one, if you have a dog door, you need

561
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,599
to make sure that your dog is still able to

562
00:30:32,759 --> 00:30:38,519
manage getting in and out, especially getting in, because getting trapped, yeah,

563
00:30:38,559 --> 00:30:41,240
getting trapped outside in one hundred and ten degree weather

564
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,160
can be a death sentence. That can be very, very bad.

565
00:30:44,599 --> 00:30:47,559
That is not a good way to go. The same

566
00:30:47,599 --> 00:30:51,039
thing is true if you have a pool. Pools can

567
00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:53,920
be great, and I think they're very tricky for people

568
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:58,680
who have dogs that have in the past been excellent swimmers.

569
00:30:59,319 --> 00:31:02,480
So you know your dog would run out the dog door,

570
00:31:02,559 --> 00:31:04,960
run out the screen, and go jump in the pool,

571
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,880
swim a couple laps, get out, shake off, come inside,

572
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:12,200
shake off, get everything wet. Those same dogs are at

573
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,079
a severe risk if they get outside and want to

574
00:31:15,119 --> 00:31:18,359
do the same thing as a senior. Now you've got

575
00:31:18,359 --> 00:31:21,240
a senior with let's say a medium or long coat,

576
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,559
guess what, they just increase by weight by about eight

577
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,839
to ten pounds, or the weight of water is about

578
00:31:27,839 --> 00:31:31,880
eight get eight pounds per gallon, So getting in and

579
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,440
out of the pool can be a very bad situation

580
00:31:35,559 --> 00:31:37,599
for those guys. So if you have a pool, you

581
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,720
want to make sure you treat that, you treat your

582
00:31:39,759 --> 00:31:43,799
dog like a toddler around the water. You should always

583
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,519
be there and always be paying attention. So if you

584
00:31:47,599 --> 00:31:49,599
have a way to shut off access to your pool,

585
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,960
you definitely want to do that. Keep gates closed, just

586
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,000
pay attention to that. And I think the other big

587
00:31:57,039 --> 00:31:59,960
one that I would recommend is elevating the food and water.

588
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,200
It should come to about It's kind of hard for

589
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,039
me to show you, but should come to about maybe

590
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,160
mid forearm. So you want them to be able to

591
00:32:09,319 --> 00:32:11,920
relax and put their neck down, to be able to

592
00:32:12,319 --> 00:32:14,559
look at the food or water and then move into

593
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,480
it and then come back up. So, especially if you

594
00:32:17,519 --> 00:32:19,599
have an animal that has had a lot of rear

595
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,799
limb weakness, those front limbs have been doing work, a

596
00:32:22,839 --> 00:32:25,640
lot more work than you know, for longer than you

597
00:32:25,759 --> 00:32:29,039
probably know, so they are tired, they are starting to

598
00:32:29,079 --> 00:32:31,400
break down. So there's no reason to make them do

599
00:32:31,519 --> 00:32:34,359
extra work. If you look at your dog putting their

600
00:32:34,359 --> 00:32:36,400
head all the way down onto the floor to eat

601
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,960
from a bowl on the floor, it's almost like they're

602
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,480
doing a handstand to eat. And so because there's a

603
00:32:42,519 --> 00:32:44,920
lot of head movement when they're eating, there's a lot

604
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,519
of weight shifting happening as well. So elevate that food

605
00:32:49,039 --> 00:32:52,119
so it's easier for them to get the food. Get it,

606
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,319
just have to look up a little bit to chew

607
00:32:54,319 --> 00:32:58,119
and swallow, look back down, so much easier. Same thing

608
00:32:58,200 --> 00:32:59,119
with the water.

609
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, great tips, great tips. Well, if people want to

610
00:33:02,359 --> 00:33:04,519
get a hold of you, can they do a video

611
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,039
session with you and get some evaluation and help. Okay,

612
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,880
So that is Kate Titus from a Loyal Companion and

613
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:16,920
the website is Aloyalcompanion dot com. It's been so delightful

614
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,000
to talk with you. I can't wait to bring Sophia

615
00:33:20,079 --> 00:33:23,400
in my older girl and to see what we can

616
00:33:23,599 --> 00:33:25,880
do to help her have better quality of life in

617
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,640
her advanced senior years.

618
00:33:28,039 --> 00:33:30,920
Speaker 3: Looking forward to seeing her and seeing you again.

619
00:33:31,279 --> 00:33:34,359
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you so much, and thank you for listening

620
00:33:34,359 --> 00:33:37,119
to the Human Animal Connection. We'll see you at the

621
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:39,640
next podcast. Bye for now thank.

622
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,160
Speaker 1: You for tuning in to The Human Animal Connection Show.

623
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:47,640
Please visit our website, The Humananimalconnection dot org. There you

624
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:51,160
can sign up for our free email newsletter, book a consultation,

625
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,279
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626
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,440
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627
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,960
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628
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629
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:10,519
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