Over the years I've been blessed that all but one of the Hooligans entered his/her senior years. I've had multiple dogs since 1982, and recently figured out that I've always treated the seniors with a different set of rules than the younger generation has to follow.

Today I was giving the Hooligans treats, each one had to do something to earn a tidbit EXCEPT Mac who just stood there drooling (he will do exercises when asked). When they get up on the couch they must take turns, EXCEPT Mac who is allowed up when he wants up, regardless of whose turn it is. They can sleep wherever they want to, EXCEPT if Mac wants a particular spot and if someone is already there, he or she has to move (at bedtime they all have "their" own spots BUT if Mr. Mac wanted one of the favorite spots, I'd probably let him have it).

Is if FAIR? NO, of course not, it's totally unfair!!! But then, life isn't fair. I guess I'll continue spoiling the old guys knowing how short their lives really are.

Just curious ... what are your thoughts about your seniors and how you treat them in relation to younger dogs?

I give Banshee way more leeway than Jax and Sierra. The only rule that applies is NOBODY is ever allowed to take anything from Banshee. Her seat, food, toy and NOBODY is allowed to pick a fight with Banshee.

oh yes, having gone thru 3 seniors, at a certain point, they all got to do whatever the heck they wanted , lucky they didn't take advantage of it..and yes no one was allowed to pick on them..

Absolutely! Cleo is definitely the queen of this household and when Chama was alive they shared the queendom.

ETA: Come to think of it, my seniors all get very bossy!

Yep...Max can do whatever he wants. And we will play the doggie shuffle in the eveing so Max can get his bed..or whatever bed it is that he wants

Grace is almost ten and has been a stubborn pup her whole life. She definitely gets away with more than my youngsters, but I still put her through her obedience paces on occasion. She cracks me up when we are out walking...they all know they are supposed to sit when we stop...she never does until I say "GRACE!" in an exasperated tone. She give me a total dirty look...nevermind that she is the first one to plant her bottom if there is food involved!

Yep, I think they have earned a bit of leeway. I especially do not let the younger dogs hassle the senior. They deserve extra protection too.

Fanny Pants gets way, way, way more leeway than Oscar. She's deserved it though and I would tighten up if I noticed that she was taking advantage of the situation. Like Kathy mentioned, however, she does need some extra protection now because of her old age...we have to tell Oscar to "back up," "move," etc. to help clear the way around the house at times.

I definitely let up on the "rules" when Dakota was a senior. Heck for his last two years, he ruled the roost, to a point, of course. I even cut back on my work schedule for him during the last year I had him. That was HUGE for me (and made me take a long hard look at my own priorities at the time).

I tend to be softer on my old dogs. I tolerate more and expect less. IMO they have earned it.

My old dogs have always had more privileges and less responsibilities than the younger dogs. It depends on the dog, of course. I don't allow my old dogs to get mean or overly grumpy with the others, but they just aren't expected to do as much and they get treats for nothing much of the time.

I just have youngsters now (one almost 7, one 4). But for a while, I had three old dogs. Kylee was 16 1/2 when she died in April 2008, then I had Trick who passed in October 2009 (at 13 1/2) and Dora who was killed by a moose in 2010 (she was 11 1/2). That's the tough part when you have old dogs - they're just not going to be with you much longer. So I tend to spoil them quite a bit.

I miss my old dogs. There's something special about them. So I've been spoiling the dog that lives upstairs (landlord's dog). He is so unappreciated by the people who have him, and he loves coming to visit. He tries to push past me to get in every time I open the door .. *L* .. and if he manages to stop by before I've fed the girls, he knows he gets a "snack". His owners just buy a bag of cheap food, tear it open and leave it on the floor for him. They rarely even pet him, and he was covered in mats when I moved in. I took off a few pounds of matted fur and have groomed him all summer, so he looks better. Poor old dog just craves some love!

Melanie and the girls in Alaska

Absolutely,
Jessie is close to 14 years old. She is sweet and gentle and is perfectly happy to just lick the other dogs faces and make sure all is okay. Max and Cash have to sit before treats and meals and I never make her. She is old for number one and for number two there is not a dominant bone in her body.
No one gets to push her around, take her toys or her bed. I will make them move and give the toy up as she won't. Unless, she has something she truly wants to keep and then neither dog will take it from her. She just gives a look. Doesn't happen very often though. I just let her do what she wants, but she is such a good girl that she really doesn't do anything wrong. She has never been grumpy or mean her whole life, and I just want the rest of her life to be as happy as can be for her.

I think this is funny as my daughter and I just had this discussion. We noticed the we give our senior dog (a beagle) way more tender voices, care and concern then our younger dogs. She is the pac leader anyway but she never gets scolded as much and she gets first treats etc. She even has the orthopedic bed!!!

Yes, but I happen to be the senior! Now I don't overlook the fact that they don't always bring their balls back to me and drop them. I used to keep one in my pocket and throw the other one. Then I would alternate, just to teach them to come back to me. Then I let it slide for awhile and they brought them back to me if and when they felt like it. Now, I don't chase balls anymore and I don't give treats if they eventually bring them back. They're back on top of their game, and I'm not huffing and puffing through the whole thing.

They're 6 years old now, and I'm sure we'll all eventually hobble to get to the balls, but that will be okay then. Yes indeedy - things will be different for the seniors!

Oh absolutely the seniors have different rules... or rather a whole lot fewer rules (like practically none!) We're very soft on them and they pretty much get away with most anything they want. They've definitely earned it. And we make sure none of the younger dogs pick on them, especially Kaiser the tripod. He still *thinks* he could take on the world, the rest of us know differently but we aren't telling him that or letting anyone else shatter his delusions either.

Oz is getting the benefits of becoming older, less rules, more leniency. I don't tolerate Dolly picking on him, things like that.

By the time my dogs are up there (10 plus) where I think they are seniors, they know the rules. (Some dogs - and they know who they are - get to sleep on the bed; all dogs respect people; most dogs go to the barn; all dogs "mind." All dogs are allowed to drive me to a certain degree.) Barker the Elder was incontinent near the end. She knew what I was doing with the piddle pad and she would help position herself on it appropriately.

I do and I don't with Cheyenne. I wish I could give her more freedoms but she would totally be running the house and we would be doing her bidding. I love her, but I wish she would mellow out a bit on her "Large and In Charge" attitude. If I don't answer the phone by a certain number of rings she is barking, if I am on the phone for a long time when I am saying good by she starts barking. But she is CheyChey my number 1 girl.

Echo, my soul mate, was like this ... but once I discovered his game plan he was scolded several times and stopped (his whole life was spent trying to make me happy and he was extremely sucessful.) It took me a long time to figure out he was barking to get me off the phone ... I didn't learn nearly as fast as he did !!!

Gayle, I think she is saying good bye to people, like good riddens, you are taking up too much of my moms time. She will also bark if the phone rings past a certain time at night or too early in the morning. If I am doing laundry and I didn't hear the beep for the dryer she will bark to let me know the dry was calling me. She communicates with me a lot. My DH will ask her is she has to go potty and not a word, but if I ask and she has to go she will tell me with a certain barking pattern that is like "Yes I have to go potty, get you butt moving".

What a character ... she sounds delightful ... love dogs like her!!!

Same here!

Ditto...if Dunc is staring down my piece of hotdog/chip/pizza crust he gets it. If Anna wants it, she has to sit, down, shake hands, play dead, etc. Dunc just gets it. And more of it.

If he takes a bone from Anna, no biggie. If she gets near him chewing, she gets correctly quickly.

Whatever make the old man happy!

Yep, probably to the detriment of my other dogs. The worst thing I did was stopped twice a day walks when my Morgan girl could no longer handle walks (due to CES). I couldn't bear to watch her feeling left out and not understanding why. That was totally unfair to the other dogs, who I would take out to the park maybe once a week.