Adopted 2 senior dogs/ any advice?

[JackintheGreen]

37. On the advice of my vet...

I have a 12+ y.o. rottie mix. We adopted him around age 6/7. He'd been a junkyard dog in Philly and possibly a rock chewer. His teeth were, are are, terrible. Broken, black, horrid looking. I asked our vet about it when we got him because he was having the same issues with eating. Both my main vet and her practice partner told me (on separate occasions) not to worry about teeth too much because dogs don't feel pain in the same way we do. She didn't suggest that they don't feel pain - and he certainly does in other places - but meant instead that things we find intensely painful like mouth pain don't trouble dogs in the same way as, say paw injuries or hip displagia (poor old man's got that now, too).

As for the sorta Maltese being off her feed, again my boy is the same way. He's prone to ear infections, which in his case are made worse by a corn meal allergy. Most cheap to mid range dog foods have corn meal as a primary ingredient and he just won't eat them. I've got three dogs totaling more than 200# between them, so I can't afford to go the Eukanuba + canned route, but there are upper mid range dry kibble brands out there that do not rely on corn. It may be you just haven't found the right kibble yet and she dog-senses it. Or whatever mysterious powers dogs seem to have in this regard.

Good luck to you.