I have a wonderful, sweet old German Shepherd named Isaac who has been a member of my family for going on sixteen years. That's right, sixteen!

He's never been sick a day in his life, but as an elderly Shepherd he's had degenerative hip trouble for the past couple of years. Over the past two weeks, he seems to have developed some kind of gastric trouble, too. His stomach gurgles a lot, and he sort of "burps," or makes sounds like he's trying to clear his throat. We make sure that he gets water and food, but he had two diarrhea accidents today and so we're monitoring him and keeping the food at a minimum (he had a problem like this last year, and we treated it by putting plain cooked white rice in his food, which helped.)

He was like this last week and then seemed to recover, so I don't know if this is the same thing all over again or what. And yes, I know that old dogs aren't known for their ability to bounce back from illness and that he's going to leave us someday, and this may be just another sign that his body's giving out on him. But while he's still with us, does anyone have any advice on how to better care for him?

To better care for him you first have to know what's going on with his internal organs. Are his kidneys failing? Is his liver failing? How well are his heart and lungs working? Is his pancreas producing enough digestive enzymes? Is his spleen enlarged? Does he have any abdominal masses?

The only person who can answer those questions is your vet. Get him checked out, including blood work and a fecal exam. Then follow your vets advice on how to manage his health.

apparently,he should have a regular check up on a vet because of his age.Old dogs has a more sensitive body system and prone to sickness.

well i think you need to change the food of your dog..

Older dogs can develop allergies to their foods, but the gurgle sound might be something worse. I had this happen to one of my labs when she got old, and it was cancer. I don't want to scare you, but I think you should check it out... your dog might be in pain.

[mrandrei]

Change your dog's diet. Switch to senior dog foods.

Changing the diet won't do a thing if you don't know what the problem is. If it's liver failure, heart failure, kidney failure, pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, or cancer, you need to do a lot more than change the diet.

The only person who's qualified to diagnose what's wrong and suggest treatment is a licensed veterinarian.

16 years is fantastic!

I completely agree bringing the dog to the vet as you just never know whats going on. If anything go for peace of mind. All the best!

[lil mutt]

Your dog may be experiencing these conditions maybe because of his old age... Like what someone advised earlier ask your vet to make a complete checkup of your dog to see if he has any more health problem that you can prevent from worsening.