When to switch a dog to Senior food

[sujean]

i have heard a lot of different schools of thought on this: how old should a dog be to switch to senior food? and exactly what is the difference between regualr vs senior? is there any more or less nutritional benefits for a dog in these foods?

our dog has a mix of nutro for sensitive stomachs and nutro with glucosamine. it seems to work well for him. i'm reluctant to move to senior food (he is 7) as he is doing really well on this mix.

any thoughts?

[whinnie-boo]

What breed of dog is it? I think that is important because different breeds mature/age differently then other breeds. How much energy does he have from his current diet? Have his eating habits changed? Is he gaining or losing weight?

[mastifflover]

You know I feel if they are doing well on their food I would not switch. Senior food is lower in calories because as they get older they do not exercise as much but as long as he is not gaining weight and is doing well I would leave him on his food. Also your food has supplements that are benficial to older dogs as well

[sujean]

Originally Posted by whinnie-boo

What breed of dog is it? I think that is important because different breeds mature/age differently then other breeds. How much energy does he have from his current diet? Have his eating habits changed? Is he gaining or losing weight?

he is a belgian malinois. he is 90 pounds and doing the same as when we got him.

he has not gained or lost weight, eats the same amount of food everyday (sometimes less...he hates eating by himself so if he is not hungry enough and we are not hovering over him, he will leave it.) and he has the same amount of energy as always.

the only thing that i worry about is as he has gotten older, when he gets up from lounging for a while, his bones will creak. but he runs for frisbees and balls just the same.

ok one last thing; tyson tends to hurt his paws a lot. well, i don't know if it is his paws as we never see any open wounds. sometimes he seems to have pulled his muscle that gets better after he walks a bit. then other times, he will not even have been out exercising yet for the day and he walks around limping! it's a different paw everytime! my theory is that my husband has a torn liganment in his foot and somedays will limp more than others. these are the same days that tyson seems to have the limp as well.

*sigh* my house is full of limpers...

[mona_b]

To be honest,I have never put a dog on Senior.My previous GSD was with us for 13 years.He was in great health and never on senior.Tron is 8 and not on senior.Neither was Yukon.

If your dog is healthy and doing fine on what he is on now,then really there is no need to switch.

As for the limping,it's possible it could be arthritis.

[Carina]

"Senior" kibbles are a lower in protein and fat, sometimes higher in fiber because elderly dogs are more likely to get constipated, and sometimes have glucosamine etc added.

However IMHO various "life stage" kibbles are a marketing ploy - then again I am not a huge fan of kibble.
If he's doing well on what you are giving him, stay with it. Often the glucosamine added to kibble is in fairly insignificant amounts (see "marketing ploy) above. Arthritis is common in older dogs, especially ones who have been very active....I'd start him on glucosamine/chrondritin, and fish oil (or canned fish in smallish amounts) daily along with his food.
Aspirin given with food, or coated aspirin, can safely be given to dogs to keep inflammation (which is often what causes the pain & limping) down. You can give one before/after heavy exercise, or even once a day.