Pictures of your 10+ year old dogs

[Punkygirl0101]

Swiftwind gave me an idea for a thread, one where people with dogs 10 or older can post a couple pictures of them and tell about their stories. Where they came from, if they have ever had any accidents, etc. I know there has to be atleast a few people other than Swiftwind and I who have elderly dogs.

I shall start, I have two elderly dogs. Harry is 11.8 years old, and Bradley is 10.4 years old.

Harrison Hans. We got Harry when I was 7 1/2 years old. My dad had died a few months before. We had two dogs at the time (A standard red dachshund named Hannah, and a black toy poodle named Joey). Harry was about 11 weeks old, he came from a byb I suppose (The newspaper). He had a heart murmor when he was younger that was pretty bad, he had to be on meds and almost needed to go to UC Davis for heart surgery. He started fetching on a daily basis (Thanks to my mom who taught him). And he slowly started making his heart stronger. One vet trip we were told his heart murmor was barely there anymore, and that he could be taken off the meds. He has been fine ever since. He hasn't even had to go to the vet for any medical related reasons since. Hes a very healthy boy. He has moved houses/apartments now 8 times lol. We changed apartments alot when we were younger, even moved to Washington (only had Hannah and Joey then), and then we lived in our last house for almost 8 years. He has to been to the beach tons of times, Brads the only other dog of ours who went to the beach (That we know of). And now Harry enjoys fetching all day, and sleeping. Hes still very active, but sleeps a lot more than he used to. We always say the day he doesn't want to fetch, something is seriously wrong. It has only been this past year or two he has gotten so much more gray hairs. He was pure red up until then, with minimal gray hairs. (His son Bob is 2 1/2 and has several gray hairs already).








A few pictures of him from the past(Fetching):





And a the youngest Harry pictures I can find (I think he was about 3-4 months):



Bradley Riff-Raff. We got Brad when I was 9 I believe. My mom surprised us with him after school one day. He was so tiny (Only about 4 weeks old). He came from a byb as well. My mom believe he was a purebred dachshund (She saw the mother)..but turns out he wasn't. Brad has always been my brothers dog. He slept in his bed and room every night, and my brother always gave him more attention then the other dogs. Last year he got himself a girlfriend, and pretty much abandoned Brad. Brad is my little man now! He sleeps with me every night and I take care of him. Brad is showing a lot of signs of old age. He has arthritis. He can't climb the stairs to go to my bedroom, so I have to carry him up and down every morning and evening. He also sleeps a lot, though he still enjoys going outside and barking at nothing.







These are the youngest Brad pictures I could find (He was probably 4-5 months old, maybe 6 months):

Brad and my brother

Brad and our cat Todd


Lucy and Peanut are believed to be 8+, we don't know their exact age. And then Elliot, and Daggett are 8. Cartman is 7. So I have a lot of senior dogs.

[Swiftwind]

Full Name
Harley

Nicknames
Hetch, Harles, Bad Dog, Fat Boy Fat, Hetch-poo, Harlequin, Precious Boy, Baby

Age
Harley was apparently born on 17 February 1996.
He is 12 years and 1 month old.

Breed
Jack Russell Terrier x Maltese (that's what we were told, but I'm skeptical)

Conditions
Hypothyroidism
Had bladder stones in 2006

History
Ever since I was young I had always wanted a dog, but my mum and sister insisted they were 'dirty' and that cats were better. After our third cat, my mum finally caved in and said we could get a dog. I was 9 at the time. We went to the petshop (not knowing better those days), and we were SO close to buying a Corgi, but a passerby informed us that they were sick, and that her and her mum bred Corgis and that it would be better to buy from a breeder. So, we didn't end up buying a dog that day, but my mum looked around for another place, and came across a place that sold different breeds of puppies.. It was like a rescue place, but I believe it was a dodgy one.. a mini BYB.

My sister and I were looking around at all the puppies, and we were both drawn to one cage in particular, with cute JRT-like pups. My mum said that she wanted a female dog, so we chose one we all liked, and took it outside to the grassy area to see what she was like. She was scared and very timid, did not play with the other dogs, and just sat on the grass and didn't move. My sister and I took her back to her littermates, and that's when we saw this cute, boisterous young pup, annoying his littermates by barking at them as they tried to sleep. We knew this was the dog for us! We took him outside, and he was making friends with all the other dogs out there, playing and bouncing around. And so, we adopted Harley, at only 5 weeks of age. He was such a cute, tiny, mischievous puppy who LOVED to bounce.

We still had a cat at this point, Olivia a beautiful seal-point Siamese. Unfortunately a couple of weeks later, Olivia was attacked by a stray cat and she contracted a liver disease. She was seriously ill, and took up residence in Harley's soft bed. Harley, being a crazy 8 week old hyper puppy, stopped his puppy antics the week Olivia got sick, and he decided to curl up with Olivia in his bed every day to keep her company. We knew this was one special puppy.

Harley is a very intelligent dog, and he has such a special presence about him, it's hard to explain though.

He's been my life saver, saving me from further being attacked by a stray dog when I was 10, and I owe my life to him for that. He has been there through all my ups and downs, and it's hard to see him getting older. He has cateracts and I'm sure his hearing is going as well. I'm starting to notice that he's aging more and more. He started going grey when he was about 8 or 9 years old.

These days, Harley sometimes has trouble going up stairs, and will just stand there and bark until someone comes over to help him. He also stands at his dog door and barks to be let in. He has a lot of issues going on in his head, I think. Because he is still capable of doing these activities. He is slowing down heaps and sleeps much more, but he still enjoys his walks and from time to time he gets all this energy and is like a puppy again, jumping up and down and getting excited over things.

Younger Years

Puppy - about 9 weeks old


Two years old


Six years old (before he was diagnosed with hypothyroidisim)


10 years old - starting to go grey


Now, 12 years old