What are some things I can do to help extend the length of my dog’s life?

One important thing would be regular well checks, regular preventative care by keeping them on appropriate heartworm prevention, keeping the appropriate vaccines up to date, having the exam, and then having blood screened. We do all this so, if there are any problems, we can detect those early, and doing so often carries a better prognosis.

You also want to be present and really pay attention to them. I often say I wish our pets could talk to us. And in some ways, they do in those subtle ways. They let us know that they're not feeling well or that they're changing things they're doing at home. Being aware of your dog’s behavior changes lets you know if they're having trouble with something. Dogs also need that mental stimulation of going out for a walk, going somewhere different, going for a ride if they can get in the car, instead of “vegging” in place.

The most important thing you can do is not let your senior dog get fat. When your dog is seen for annual visits by his veterinarian, the very first thing the veterinarian's going to do before he ever even touches your dog is doing a body score. He does that by touching your dog's ribs and feeling his waist in front of his hips and behind his ribcage. He will tell you what the dog's body score is from one to nine. Both four and five are normal body scores, and if you keep your dog in that normal range of four or five versus a six, we have scientific proof at this point that that will extend his life by a couple of years.