Looking good (regardless of age)!
We've had the usual slow downs expected with age. She's not as inclined to have a sudden burst of energy and sprint after a squirrel in the yard. She prefers to spend more and more time curled up on her pillow/cot/sofa. I've had to start giving her some anti-inflammatory drugs when we visit someone with a lot of steps in the house.
The biggest change has been her hearing. I started noticing it about a year ago. I would try to call her out of the pasture and got no response. Now, it wouldn't be uncommon for her to ignore me a bit to spend more time out there. But I would go out to correct her and bring her back, and she would turn around and look surprised like she wasn't expecting me to be there.
Our morning routine lets her explore the yard and do her business while I'm getting ready in the house, then come back inside for her breakfast. Usually I would find her laying on the back porch, and just the sound of one piece of kibble hitting the metal food bowl would be enough to get her to jump up and prance at the back door. Now I'll dump the whole measure of food in the bowl and slam a couple of doors before she looks my direction to see if something is going on. Once the back door opens she darts in as usual.
I mentioned it to the vet at the annual check-up. She found some wax build-up on my dog's eardrums and sent me home with an ear cleaning solution. I was aware of some wax issues from when I would clean the exterior parts of the ears, and there was a little bit present at that time. I diligently used it for a week, and at first it made things worse. I was having no response to clapping or other verbal stimuli unless practically next to my dog. Within a few days of stopping treatment her hearing was back - best I can figure is that the fluid compounded the issue but once it dried out things were back to normal.
However, within a month or two her hearing started to fail again. I did the cleaning solution for a few days but there was no change. I have walked out the back door and made it half-way to the barn before the dog starts from her sunny spot on the side of the house to see if I will spill any cat food or horse feed (it tastes better than pricy dog food apparently). I have come home from work, walked in the house, disarmed the security system, and made it almost into the living room before she sheepishly slinks up to meet me. In both situations, she acts like she is ashamed for having missed meeting me.
The most tell-tale sign those is her lack of response to certain voice cues. It used to be that phrases like "outside," or "car ride" would send her into a tizzy of excitement while "bath" usually resulted in a dampening of emotion. "Up" or anything like it was an invitation to leap onto the sofa for cuddle time. Now, no matter how inviting the tone, she won't get up on the sofa without a clear visual gesture. This morning she finished her breakfast and wandered into the living room where I was on the sofa with my laptop. She dutifully stood there wagging her tail. Normally she wants to go right outside, but with the cold front that came through last night I wasn't sure if she wanted to do that or curl up with me. I ran through a list of voice cues while keeping my hands obscured and voice and facial expressions the same. There was no difference in her ear position or wagging frequency as I asked about outside, see horses, car ride, go to vet, or bath time. When I got up off the sofa I figured it out quick - she made a bee-line to the back door and promptly plopped down on her cot on the porch.
I guess we have our answer.
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