Life With Three Senior Dogs: Sometimes You Just Need a Break From Them Too!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a dog person.

I grew up with dogs my entire life and when I first moved in with my husband, we had a total of 4 dogs all in one very small townhouse. I came with 2, he had 1 and then we ended up with 1 other together. I admit, that was too many dogs. We’re down to three and they are all senior citizens with missing teeth and various minor ailments.

As much as I love these guys, I’ve been struggling lately because they are all extremely high maintenance, needy and whiny. Sometimes they will just sit there and bark for hours! And they fight with each other, too which throws everyone into a tizzy. My husband wears headphones a lot.

Needless to say, having three high-energy, high-needs dogs is A LOT. Sometimes, such as lately, it’s been too much, and I can finally admit that and not feel too awful about it.

Maybe it’s their old age, but we are at a point where they are all wide awake for the day at 4:30 or 5:00 AM, whimpering to go outside and to be fed. It didn’t used to be this hard when they were “little.” It’s kind of like they feed off each other’s anxious energy and before I know it, they are all barking at the top of their lungs, waking up the whole house before the sun comes up. Needless to say, I am exhausted by it and my husband is pretty stressed out, too. No one has been getting good sleep and we’re almost like zombies some days.

So, I finally had enough when my son got sick last week with hand-foot-mouth, and I finally sent the 2 Yorkies to my parents’ house for a week. I couldn’t take it anymore and I finally had to take a break from my own animals. As silly as it sounds, it is true. I consider it a mental health break for me and a vacation for them. They love it there and my parents revel at the opportunity to spoil them. I am so grateful that they take them and take really good care of them when we are away or like now when I just needed a break.

They’ve been gone for a few days now and I feel guilty saying this, but WE FINALLY HAVE PEACE. Our household is completely different! It’s unbelievable how much two tiny little dogs can disrupt your life and how much the lack of sleep can affect your entire family. I didn’t realize it until they were gone, and we just have the one dog here, Gramps. I have really struggled with feeling relieved because after all, these girls are my babies. I love them dearly.

Enjoying a ride

I got them in 2010 at an entirely different point in my life. They have lived in every apartment, townhouse, condo, etc. and they have slept next to me, suctioned against me every night of their lives. But once I had my son, things started to change, and I hate that because I want to have enough love and energy for all of them. I realized this week how much attention they are missing out on, and I suspect they are quite jealous. I had 2 little princesses for 10 years and then in 2020, I adopted a 14 year old blind dog with health issues, and that rocked their world.

They hated him, but they slowly came around and let him in the club. Then came the baby which really rocked all their worlds. It is no wonder they are rebelling even more than they normally do. They feel abandoned and they also probably don’t like having toys thrown at them and being grabbed by a screaming toddler. Maybe they recognize they are getting older as well and they aren’t as spry as they once were.

Do dogs get depressed the way humans do? Are they angry at me and that is why they pee on the bed? It is incredibly frustrating and draining to clean up dog pee every day. I’ve dealt with it for so long that it’s just part of our daily lives.

Every night this week my husband and I have talked about them and how different the house feels. It is so quiet. No one is crying to go out every hour. No growling at each other over food. We are so much more relaxed. We agree that we miss them and miss them curling up on us, but we can’t deny that it’s been amazingly peaceful and relaxing not to walk in the house and hear nonstop barking from the minute we pull into the driveway. I haven’t had to clean pee from their cages and then give them little sponge baths for their paws in the laundry room sink. That is never something I like doing on my lunch break in a suit!

I know that I could give them away or re-home them or whatever people do (and I don’t judge, because sometimes, things don’t work out for so many complicated reasons), but I am not going to do that. I can’t.

All three in a quiet moment

As crazy as they make me, I love them, and I know they only have a few years left. Gramps, who we adopted during Covid, is already 17 and I know that his time is limited. I don’t say that to be morbid, but rather to accept reality of having a senior dog. We absolutely adore him, and my husband considers him his first-born son, but he is an extraordinary amount of work as well. He cannot go down the stairs so if he goes up the stairs, he gets stuck and he sits there panicking. Poor guy! The 3 of them are more work than our toddler by a long shot! I know that our kid will be potty trained and the 2 yorkies will still be….struggling. (Gramps is house-trained thankfully otherwise I would have pulled all my hair out by now).

The truth is that some dogs aren’t meant to live with other dogs or with little kids as harsh as it sounds. We’ve made it work, but clearly it’s not perfect. My girls are extremely territorial, and they don’t want to share me with anyone. They are anxious and stressed out by everything all the time. Before we have company over, they have to take a chill-pill so they don’t bark and cry. Trust me, it’s torture when they go crazy. They didn’t have to take medicine for most of their lives, so I get why the past few years have turned them into little hellions.

Maybe they have big little feelings just like kids. Maybe they need to practice mindfulness. Who knows?

They are coming back home on Sunday and we’re going to get back into the routine. This time away from them has been a good break and one that I definitely needed for the well-being of our house! I am hoping that we can make some slight changes in how we do things to make it more manageable for all of us, but I also know that there are going to be some sleepless nights and very early mornings. That is just life with elderly animals, or at least these high-strung elderly animals.

I made a commitment to all of them and of course I love them unconditionally, but I also love myself and my family enough to take a little break every once in a while.