You just need to start treating him like a senior dog. Let him sleep as much as he wants, don't force him to take walks and give him special privileges for having lived such a long life. He probably has arthritis and all the other aches and pains that come with getting old, so I wouldn't force him to spend any time around the other dogs. He won't have the strength or energy to deal with them if they decide they want to play with him and at this age he'd rather be sleeping.

I would have the vet check him for the snoring since it could be caused by several factors. A few are: being overweight, smokers in the home, nasal congestion, nasal infection, or blocked airways.

You mentioned he's gained 3 lbs....how much overweight is he for his size, and what does he eat? Has the vet given you a target weight to work toward and suggested a special dog food? I suggest buying a quality senior, weight-loss, dog food and trying to get his weight down gradually.

The other thing to keep in mind is the condition of his teeth. Senior dogs that have lost or have bad teeth often gulp down their dry dog food...thus causing them to over eat. Feeding canned food would be a solution for dogs that don't chew their food.

I second what Annz is telling you, 15 years old is a senior dog and they have a different set of needs.

Jan, Bear went in to have his Ears, teeth cleaned , 5 pulled , Shots, and Health check. Vet stated that she wanted him to get back down to 22 lbs. He is at 25lbs. She also checked his breathing for nasal congestion, nasal infection, and blocked airways. She Didnt fine anything wrong with him. She told us that for his age he is VERY Healthy. He has been on IAM's Senior food for the last 4 yrs. He gets 1/2 pain pill in the morning and at night. For Joint pain. vet wanted us to start walking him to help with the weight problem.And with the weight makes it hard on his little joints.
As I said before he will walk down to the chicken house and that is about it. He does like watching the chickens . But to go for a walk he has No part in that.
I do know that he is a Senior, he has lived a long life so far. I just dont know what to do about the weight problem and him clearing the house when he starts to snor. Or waking the dead. I do thank you all for your input.

Sounds like you're doing all you can for him. It will take time for him to lose weight.....and I don't mean weeks.....I mean months or a year or more, so don't expect quick results.
Since he's been cleared by the vet, the snoring is probably from the extra weight. Best you can do, until he loses weight, is to buy a good set of ear plugs :~).

Regarding his feeding schedule.....try feeding several small meals thru the day vs 1-2 meals a day. It'll keep him more satisfied and should help with the weight loss.

Thank you Annz! :)

when my senior dane was still with me, she was raw fed. even with a normal portion of meat, she still acted hungry. not wanting her to gain weight, i started adding canned green beans to her meals. she LOVED them! they are virtually calorie-free and are a good "filler". i used the low sodium ones, ashley ate a whole can at each meal, juice included. :)

i bet your ole guy is a real sweetie! you must be doing something right to have kept him going for so long!!

You might want to try a no grain diet, the food is more expensive but it doesn't have many of the ingredients that can cause allergies like the IAM's does, which could be the reason for her snoring. We spoiled our girl too much and now our puppy is a little over weight too. A month ago, the Vet put her on an 850 kcal per day diet. She also has allergies to the grains which made finding a food she could eat challenging. After a lot of research, I tried Fromm's Four Stars Nutritionals and so far it's worked out great for her.

They have excellent ratings and reviews and have never experienced a recall. It's made in the USA with only products sourced in the USA and there are several flavors to choose from. All the flavors have limited ingredients and a lower calorie level of 352 kcals per cup; her favorite is the White Fish and Potato. It's only been a month or so but her coat is super soft and shiney, she's stopped scratching and snoring and she looks generally healthy in a way we haven't seen before, her eyes are bright and she smiles a lot. LOL

Here's the link to their site so if you're interested you can find a location in your area that sells it. They are a little pricier than other dog foods but considering the quality of the food and the results we've had, I think it's definitely worth it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fromms'

Oh He is very much loved . He is a big part of our family. He has only been away from me No more the a week in his hole life. He comes to work with me , and has lived in the truck when I was out with my husband.

We have tried Raw feeding him, But it dont work with him. He does like fruits and some veggies. Oranges are his fav.

I will look up that wedsite and also talk to our vet about it .

Thank you All! Means alot to us.

And Baby Bear Dog thanks you too!!!

i'm curious...why did raw not work for him?

Nanpearl,
I have to tell you a little more about my ole man. He was a save. People that lived Next door to us had the mom and dad. they didnt care about their pets. Mom was a mess and very thin after the puppies came into the world. They gave mom and dad to the Shelter when the babies where 2-3 weeks old. had the puppies in a box outside there place with a Sign FREE. My then 8 yr old daughter came in to tell me "Mom can I have a puppie. " I went out to look at these little guys where not going to make it. I took in all 4 babies, went to petsmart and bought the bottles and milk for them. We started feeding babies every 2 to 4 hours . We lost 2 about 4 days into it. Yes we did take them to the vet, and there was nothing that we could do to save them. We had both brothers , and we did everything our vet told us to do. at 10 mo's bears brother got very ill. and Bear also was sick just not as bad. we took both brothers into the vet and found out that they had parvo. We kept them at the vet for the treatment and both made it. ( vet told us that it could have come from anywhere and how to clean the house and yard so we didnt have it again. and not to bring any puppies that didnt have their 2 nd set of shots ) We had both brothers for about 2 yrs and again the brother came down sick . He wasnt holding any food or water and just a sick little man. We where back at the vet and we ended up losing the brother. After his death we had them find out why. It was told to us that He was missing part of his colon. and We needed to have bear checked for it too. they did x-rays and all kinds of test and bear came back with a clear bill of health. We where told at that time to watch what we feed him and if we started having any problems to bring him back in. Once he was 5 yrs old he started gaining some extra weight. at that time he was about 15 to 20 lbs. he was starting to get a pot belly. I blamed that one on me feeding him some extra food , and him eating extra fruits and veggies. Or snacking on what the kids left on the floor. We talked to a lady that Only feed raw. She told me to try it and maybe Bear would get a healthier coat and lose the pot belly he was getting. He was on the raw for about 10 days and was very gasy and having very soft movements. It came down to that he wasnt making it to the door to go outside. ( he had a doggie door) I didnt get mad at him for his mistake just cleaned it up and moved on. about 30 days into it he was still having bad gas and not making it to the door to make it outside. I took some of the mistake to the vet worried that something was wrong with him. They tested him again and Found him to be very healthly other then he was having problems with the raw feeding . They told us to but him back on IAM's and watch him for a few days. We took away the Raw and went back to IAM's and 5 days later he was up playing again and had no problems. From there we decided Not to change anything with out talking to his Vet 1st. After all that Bear has had to deal with and the problems the other babies had I am not willing to make my ole man sick or feel like he is not on the tower that I have put him on.

Mountainlady,

It is always a joy to see people who love their animals the way you and all the people in the this forum do. Please be aware that while Vets recommend the Iams, they also tend to recommend Science Diet which is one of the worst foods on the market. Both of these foods have a lot of fillers and grains in them which is a leading cause of allergies. They are also made outside of the USA and have experienced recalls. My point is, knowing which are the best foods on the market for our pets is not always a Vet's forte.

My dog is only 10 months old, and was fed IAM's Puppy Smart when she was weened. I didn't know better and thought it was a good start for her, but by the time she was 3 months old, she was scratching, rubbing her nose and getting ear infections. Like I said in my earlier post, changing her to a low grain or no grain diet has helped her tremendously. I have to admit she does get a bit gassy when it's time to go outside but that doesn't seem so abnormal to me. :c)

If you do end up switching his food, be sure to do it very gradually so his little body has a chance to adapt to the change.