Hi friends,
Our 15yo shepherd/cattle dog mix has really been slowing down this year. She’s always been in amazing shape and was still hiking/walking pretty long distances up until last year.
She’s always needed a lot of mental stimulation, to the point that most of her life, she’s received all her meals in a food ball that she would roll around the house slowing dropping pieces of her kibble. It requires a little bit too much effort these days, as she has more difficultly walking and frequently slips. She’s also taking shorter walks outside, as she’s dragging her toes some and battling arthritis. Although we do take a number of short sniff walks through the day.
Despite all of this, she seems to still have more mental energy than her body can exert. She’s following me around the house more after we increased her pain medication recently, which is great, but she’s clearly bored - staring at me and whining like she did when she was young and needed one of several daily runs.
She already gets a dental chew, and a toy that I freeze with pumpkin, everyday. She’s not overweight, but I don’t want to give her a ton more calories.
Does anyone have any ideas for more mental enrichment that doesn’t require a lot of physical movement or a lot additional food?