A Matter of Feeling

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.

~ George William Curtis ~

In the eyes of the AKC (American Kennel Club), Chili has officially been a veteran since her 7th birthday in November of last year. With maturity and spay surgery, Chili has become like her human owner in that her metabolism and eating habits are increasingly mutually exclusive of maintaining her girlish figure. She runs as hard as ever at the beach, on walks or playing with the other dogs, but is more likely to show signs that she is a bit stiff after this type of exercise. She also seems to me to be a bit more selective of what activities she thinks are fun. It might be just me, but it also seems like she is not quite as enthusiastic about obedience as she used be.... Noticing these minor chances, we've begun working on keeping Chili feeling as youthful as possible. That's "Granny" Chili retrieving a dummy last summer with grand-pups Ecko (left) and Cooper (right) on either side of her.

• Chili LOVES her outings on the bike. With the Springer attachment mounted on my bike, we can get a good brisk 10 minute jaunt around the neighborhood at least 3 or 4 times a week. This provides her with much more intensive exercise than I could give her on foot and is likely a better cardio workout and easier on muscles and tendons than tearing around the back yard (pictures lots of fast starts/stops and occasional body slams) with the rest of the "pack".
• Chili LOVES her food, but has been getting less of it later. I've taken to feeding chicken necks which are easy to dole out in small amounts, or to cutting chicken backs in half for her instead of giving her whole ones. Her meat/veggie meal has decreased from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup recently.
• Since I went back to work full time and don't have quite as much time (or maybe I'm just too lazy?) for doggy food preparation, I have been using a "complete" supplement with the dog's meat/veggie meal rather than adding some of the "extras" (like kelp, yogurt etc) that I used to use. The supplement I am using as added glucosamine/chondroitin. As the senior dog in the house, I feel like Chili deserves a little extra to help her maintain her youth, so this week I am starting her on her own personal regimen of "Young at Heart" and "Joint Strong".
  

I'm eager to see how Chili does on her newly intensified diet and exercise program. Who knows, maybe it will inspire me to start making some of the same changes in my lifestyle too!