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I usually refrain from commenting on topical matters, especially when it comes to the recent one one on the oldest living dog. Most articles don’t capture the depth and nuance of these dogs’ lives. And more often than not, the story gets reduced to what the dog ate, making it seem like diet is the only important pillar of health and longevity.
In humans, we know that there are more factors that contribute to health other than diet. In fact, according to WHO, '60% of related factors to individual health and quality of lifestyle are correlated to lifestyle.' In fact, according to this study, outside of nutrition, these factors can greatly impact the health of an individual - exercise, sleep, sexual behaviour, substance & medication use (or abuse), application of modern technology, recreation and, study.
It's helpful and logical to extend the same thinking to the health of our dogs then. While diet & nutrition are important , they are not the only pillars that contribute to longevity of health in our dogs.
A recent study, for example, found that in a sample of the oldest dogs (>12 years), the dogs received less activity/interaction with the owner, and were more likely to have experienced one or more traumatic events', along with suffering from health conditions. One of the conclusions of this study was - welfare and health for dogs can be improved by educating guardians on the risk factors of 'trauma' and identifying support/interventions to reduce that impact.
In this study, examples of trauma included spending time in a shelter, changing owners, traumatic injury/prolonged disease/surgery, getting lost and changes in family structure.
When talking about trauma, I have to draw reference from an extremely illuminating and important book - The Body Keeps The Score. In his book, the author describes the relationship between trauma and the body as:
'Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think. We have discovered that helping victims of trauma find the words to describe what has happened to them is profoundly meaningful, but usually it is not enough. The act of telling the story doesn't necessarily alter the automatic physical and hormonal responses of bodies that remain hypervigilant, prepared to be assaulted or violated at any time. For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present. Our search to understand trauma has led us to think differently not only about the structure of the mind but also about the processes by which it heals.'
In our quest for improving our dogs' health, we also need to ask -
What is the extent of trauma suffered by my dog?
What am I actively doing to reduce its impact on their day to day life?
How am I helping my dog heal?
Bobi's story, however, said a slightly different tale.
Image Source: BBC, Bobi breaks the Guinness World Record for being the oldest dog at 30 years
At 30 years and 266 days, Bobi is apparently the oldest dog ever. According to his guardian, his secret is - Bobi is a free roaming, human food eating dog whose life is filled with social interactions with other animals. He was apparently never chained or attached to a leash, and was given freedom + agency to roam around the forests surrounding his house.
For some reason, this stood out to me. Bobi’s story gives us a small but meaningful insight into what it means to thrive, and yes, it goes beyond diet. In Bobi's case, it seems like the 'formula' included agency, closeness with nature, opportunity to engage in diverse social experiences and relationships and, of course, "no animal canned food".
Is this to say that Bobi never experienced trauma?
I don't know.
But given the little that we know of his "secrets", I'm inclined to believe that perhaps he had the environment and a lifestyle to perhaps help him heal and recover.
Our pet dogs
Let's compare this to how most of our pet dogs live. Unlike Bobi who was also a pet dog, most pet dogs, especially those in urban cities, grow up:
Within the 4 walls of their home
With limited access to nature
With limited opportunities to engage in species appropriate and relevant behaviours like chewing, digging, sniffing
Accessing either processed or poor diets with limited variety
With limited and often extremely frenzied, "impolite" social interactions
And with limited choices, overall
It seems like what we now understand (and practice) as culture is an antonym to nature (and what's natural). Today, the culture of dog guardianship in urban spaces is characterised by crowded dog parks, dog spas, pet friendly cafes, pet friendly pubs, brunches with your dogs, shopping with your dogs, dog birthday parties with nothing less than 10 dogs together and the list keeps growing.
It seems like the consumerist (and capitalist) culture that has enticed and lured us for so long (and continues to do so) is attempting to do the same with our pet dogs. And more often than not, I see dog guardians failing to ask -
But is this what our dog needs? And does this help them thrive? And if not, what is it that our dog needs? And how can we offer that to them?
I recently spent a week in a small village in Uttarakhand. It was a much needed holiday at the end of a challenging year. We spent every day slowly walking around the hills and being our most inactive selves. The dogs were mostly off leash, with access to wherever they wanted to walk around, how much ever they wanted to relieve themselves, how many ever pinecones they wanted to much on, and sleep wherever. I saw them calmer, more connected (with each other and us), more at peace - I saw them truly being their dog selves.
Now I'm not suggesting that we pack of our city lives and move to the hills. But I think there are lessons that we can keep in mind:
We underestimate the significance and impact that agency has on our dogs' physical, emotional and behavioural health. Offering choices and giving them access - enabling that agency seems to be one of the secrets to helping them thrive. From giving them choices in what they eat and where they sleep to giving them choices in whom they want to engage with (and disengage from) - we can incorporate this into day to day living.
We need to think about experiences that are enriching for our dogs, and not stressful. A visit to a dog park or a pet friendly cafe is more likely to be stressful than enriching. Instead, consider a sniffari - the opportunity to slowly and meaningfully explore an area by sniffing; or social walks, with another dog walking side by side or calm interactions with other dogs where there is communication, skill learning and the opportunity to forge friendships or even disagree.
We need to provide food that fills the soul and brings alive the mind and body. Giving that bowl of food to our dogs shouldn't feel like a check mark or a chore - it should instead be seen as an opportunity to spark joy! Food after all can be a love language, and express it so.
At the same time, we have to look beyond the diet. Like for humans, we have to consider the impact of our lifestyles on our dogs, their health & longevity. Opportunities for sleep, rest and relaxation, healing, problem solving and more have to be critical parts of our dogs' lives.
Of course, this isn't a comprehensive list and only a starting point, really. A helpful starting point at that hopefully.