It's never long enough: A practical guide to caring for your geriatric dog

As our dog's muzzle turns grey and their footsteps begin to wobble, we often wonder what more we can do to ensure our aging dog's well-being. Based on more than 15 years of veterinary visits with her senior dog patients and their families, new studies in animal and human health related to aging, and a lifetime of heartfelt tales about her own beloved senior dogs, Dr. Mary Gardner answers vital questions pet parents ask about how to extend and enhance older dogs’ lives and better manage the pressures of caregiving for aging dogs.

Breakthroughs in veterinary healthcare and deepening people-dog relationships have helped dogs live longer. Yet it seems our canine family members reach their senior years after only a few fleeting moments. Keeping our silvered-muzzle friends physically comfortable and emotionally engaged sometimes brings struggles that pet parents may not be fully prepared or equipped to handle. We may juggle tasks that involve alleviating pain, meeting special nutritional needs, creating a senior-dog-friendly home, and cleaning up frequent messes—along with learning to recognize and successfully manage our own caregiver-related stresses.

With warmth and a steady dose of humor, Dr. Mary Gardner’s go-to guide is perfect for dog parents who want to ensure their furry family members continue living their best lives throughout every stage of their golden years. From cloudy eyes to crusty noses, knobby knees to achy hips, picky eating to tucked tails—and everything in between—parents of senior dogs will learn which ailments their dogs will commonly confront and how these impairments may affect their lives.

Dr. Gardner guides pet parents in supporting geriatric dogs' well-being and navigating the complexities of providing elder-dog care at home, including:

• watching for age-related issues,
• identifying health warning signs that may require veterinary assistance,
• implementing simple home hacks to ease dogs' daily activities and pet parents' caregiving,
• selecting tools, products, and resources that soothe aging dog ailments,
• choosing the veterinary medical care that best aligns with pet parents' goals,
• asking key questions during veterinary visits,
• anticipating the trajectories or patterns that certain illnesses follow,
• assessing life quality,
• managing caregiver fatigue,
• evaluating options for aftercare,
• experiencing and coping with loss, and
• honoring your dog and their impact on your life.

Drawing on her veterinary medical expertise and focus on geriatric pet healthcare, Dr. Gardner helps us walk our wagging-tail family members through their twilight years with dignity and celebrate the deep relationships we share with our dogs.

There is nothing better to Dr. Gardner than a dog with a grey muzzle or skinny old cat! Her professional goals as an author and veterinarian are to increase awareness and medical care for geriatric veterinary patients and to help make the final life stage to be as peaceful as possible, surrounded with dignity and support for all involved.Dr. Gardner didn't always know this is where her life would lead. She realized she wanted to become a veterinarian only after a decade as a Software Product Manager. After graduating with her doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Florida's veterinary school in 2008, she worked for several years in general practice before finding her calling in veterinary hospice. She cofounded the internationally-renowned veterinary hospice and end of life practice--Lap of Love--in 2010.Through helping thousands of families with hospice and end of life care, she learned that way before their pets reach the end, caregivers really struggle caring for their aging pets. That's how she fell in love with helping the weak and the wobbly and those that care for them.Dr. Gardner is an award winning professional speaker! She and Lap of Love have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, the Associated Press, The Doctors and numerous professional veterinary publications. Her writing is focused on providing resources that help support pet owners during this beautiful and challenging season of their pet's life.