Something all dog owners have to deal with at some stage is coming to terms with their pet getting older and becoming less able than they used to be. This article looks at what can be done to deal with the inevitable onset of old age in dogs, and how you can keep your dog active and healthy for as long as possible.

A sad fact of life is that natural dog lives are much shorter than human lives. There is a common belief that one human year is the equivalent of seven dog years, but this has been shown to be inaccurate because it doesn't account for how quickly dogs reach maturity. A dog that is one year old is capable of reproducing, for example, whereas it would be unthinkable for a seven year old child to do so.

A slightly more accurate guide would be to consider each human year the equivalent of ten dog years for the first two years of their life, and then count each year after that as the equivalent of four dog years.

An average lifespan of a large dog is between seven and ten years, while smaller breeds tend to live a little longer than that. As they reach their latter years, signs of senility may start to occur, resulting in striking changes in their behaviour. Senility affects half of all dogs over ten years old, and symptoms can include deafness, blindness, or a lack of energy.

There are a number of signs that can reveal senility in dogs. One common one is incontinence. When senility sets in, dogs which have been going outside to do their business for years may start to do it inside the house. This is because the cognitive function of their brain is diminishing, and previously important learned behaviours like toilet training become lost.

Another sign of senility could be if your dog stops responding to your voice. One explanation for this could be a loss of hearing, as this is common among dogs as they reach old age. The other, slightly more worrying explanation is that senility has made it difficult for your dog to process your command and understand what is being said.

Becoming senile can be extremely alarming for dogs, so it often provokes anxiety and a reluctance to settle. Many dog owners have found that these particular symptoms can be reduced with herbal calmers. These are tablets containing soothing herbs and plant extracts such as Valerian, which are intended to relax and calm dogs.

While nothing can truly prevent the onset of senility, herbal medicines are considered by many to be effective at treating a wide range of the symptoms associated with it. The important thing for dog owners is to make a distinction between behaviours that are an unavoidable part of the normal ageing process and those that can be treated with herbal or conventional medicines. If there are any doubts or questions about this, a veterinary surgeon should be able to give good advice on what can be done to help your dog as it enters the latter years of its natural life.