[gemy]

Generally speaking I would look at 8yrs old as starting the senior years for small dogs. This is often the time a lot of vets might change their wellness care to one addressing the ageing dog. The vets might change their blood panel profiles, may suggest diet changes, query you about activity levels, address arthritic changes in their joints, etc.


Needless to say with the large dogs 6yrs is often the benchmark - you look at the breeds average life expectancy and divide by 2 and voila that is the start of middle age.