I officially have a senior dog.

Dogs, especially large breeds, are considered seniors at 7. My Oreo turned 10 in October. However, the events of the past month have really pointed out that I truly do have a senior dog in my midst.

Quick catch up, Oreo is my rescued, 10 year old, 61.6# (today), Aussie mix blue speckled male. We have had him for a year as of the 8th of March, though we officially adopted him on veteran's day...fitting as his previous owners were USAF and we are USN.

About a month ago, Oreo showed some sensitivity in his hips, the vet recommended that we do a "wait and see" as he was still running, getting on the furniture, playing, and being his general self.

Last week due to food obsession correction he bit my arm. Anyone that knows rescue and dog behavior knows that a dog doesn't bite for no reason, and it isn't the dogs fault if he bit you. My doctor said I had some of the most colorful bruises he has seen in a very long time, because Oreo clenched his jaws more than once I have a series of them that have wrapped around 2/3rds of my arm, I named the one on my inner arm "Fudgie the Whale". Any New Englander will get that reference. So a vet appointment was made.

Today I took him in to see Dr Harrington, a vet that has been taking care of my families pets for years. This is the man that stayed open late so my sister could come in and have her 15 year old cat put down when it was found that cancer had nearly taken over his whole body at the Emergency Vet.

He mentioned things that I had noticed, but never having had an older dog didn't noticed as red flags. For instance, Oreo automatically sat when Dr H got near his hips and he has narrow hips and should have more muscle tone there. I had noticed that he would sit instead of receive his butt scratch he also isn't a fan of having his haunches brushed out. As he has always had the big chest/little butt I never noticed that.

So I had to leave the love bug at the vet's office. They will be sedating him, taking a full course of blood work (thyroid, cancer, glucose, etc) from him and x-raying his hips, pelvis and abdomen. The bonus is that they will also be clipping his nails which he is not a fan of either.

I get to pick him up later this afternoon and see all his scans and hear the verdict. Joy.