hello to everyone from mike and beauty . i do have some good questions that i just cant seem to figure out on my own beauty is turning 6 this December 5th yayayayay. Beauty has been with us since she was 4 months old and aside from here being an extremely picky eater we had to switch up our living situation a 4 years ago she is on a raw diet which she seems to like raw pork shoulders with uncooked bones chicken the same way and beef ( still hunting down a good lamb source . But my issues as of late are that beauty seems depressed to me she gets walked every day with some time to run in a field that is on one of our walking paths and i know i am a very over protective parent but i feel deep inside im still not doing right by my love  so ill say im still not properly educated on my love and need some very helpful advice as to feeding schedules and how often i should have her out side she has separation anxiety like no other dog i have ever seen and im home a lot with her due to the fact im a streamer and welder from home she has a decently large back yard to roam and run in but she literally prefers to be right next to dad or mom at all times she gets a lot of freedom to do what she likes but doesn't dig she does chase every once in a while and lives with a cat they grew up form kitten and puppy together  she gets about a 45 minute - 1hr walk /run every day we have cut down on human food that i s cooked largely but i think my love is a tad unhappy i am open to any advice hope to hear back from you guys soon

also dont worry that bottle is ibuprofen and was knocked down during the picture taking lol dont worry not that kind of house hold had a broken shoulder at the time

Mike @lolmypally I think you said it all in your second sentence - she's turning six so she's no longer the hyper young pup that most of us expect.

Ignoring the weather - it's a tad warm here today at about 90° (humidity must be up, it feels warmer) my three are all crashed. One on the floor under my chair, one in the middle of the living room and one in her corner on the (cooler?) tile.Since I'm not one of the active members of the community, my dogs don't get the exercise they really need but they're all content. Like in your second picture, two of my three are splayed out, belly up fashion and they wouldn't do that if they weren't really comfortable.

I have one who has free run outside because she stays close (within 100ft) to me; the other two are on leads when they go out and they play with each other when they aren't chasing cats (I have two of those too) so they get a bit of exercise.

The main thing I'm looking for is are they content as they are - and mine are and yours also looks satisfied to be with you ... long story short, don't sweat the small stuff unless you have real reasons to thinks she's unhappy.

What does your raw feeding look like? How much do you feed? Are you feeding 80-10-10? 80-10-5-5? How much of what kind of human food was she getting?

In general at 6 it's normal for some slowing down to happen. At 45 minutes to an hour of walking a day it wouldn't take much slowing down to think something was wrong since that might not be much walking depending on your pace. For the most part though at 6 is when they slow down and any arthritis they might have will start to show itself. With raw feeding you should have oily fish as part of your diet but if not add some fish oil and vitamin E. I noticed some slowing with my girl around 6. A shorter walk sated her at that age, but she should still be able to go out and put on the miles. Do you walk the same course every day or real close to the same course? Changing things up a bit, going somewhere new with new smells helps to put some pep back in the step of most.

awesome sauce nah she is pretty spoiled and i over think everything grew up in a bad angry home myself and to others they are just dogs but to me i literally consider beauty to be my child if she is sick im sick worried etc thanks a lot for the response just consider me the guy that is over protective and even when im told im doing right i still feel im doing wrong and i didnt think of that do sibs actually chillax after 4 to 5 years i mean she can still fly like the wind and will chase cats birds and in the winter the deer that walk through our back yard lol the gold flash is what she is but thanks a bunch mate and you have blues so so so beautiful

i try hard to give her enough meat to bone to organs as possible she usually only wants to eat once a day but she has been this way since day one which was 3 and a half months old we probably went through every bag of dog food pet-co has to offer we weaned them in slowly with 24 hour fast so she never got sick from it she smells the food and walks away or she wont even go near it it wasn't until the raw she started getting happy for her meals again and still sometimes she skips her meals she had a vet visit 1 month ago give or take 2 or 3 days other then a very very slight uti the vet said her blood work came back great and that she looked good she is not spaded and ive been told i need to hurry up and do that i just was always afraid she would hate me for it lol and as for her walks we have 4 different routes we take and each one is timed differently for the summer days sometimes she lets me know she is done and wants to go home others she is like where shall we go next dad. i used to smoke cigarettes not in the house my fiancee would kill me but outside away form beauty but that just meant other then her walks she got alot of outside time now i dont smoke anymore that started about 1 year ago but i still try and let her out to hang out as much as i can

Slowing down is natural but with raw feeding it is paramount that you are definitely feeding balanced meals. If you aren't balancing the meals properly it can affect their health and longevity. It can slow them down more than it normally would, cause bone density issues, age their internals faster, eventually lead to kidney and liver damage. Raw can be the best thing for a dog, or the worst thing if done improperly, which is why I was verifying. We can love them to death. Literally.

An older unspayed female has to be watched closely for Pyometra. It is a secondary infection that happens in the uterus due to an imbalance and build up of hormones that comes with being allowed to cycle but not have pups. The infection is hard to spot coming and if not caught it will kill the dog quickly. The older she gets the more at risk she will become to succumb to Pyometra. The only way to ensure this will never happen is spaying. Frankly, she will probably be much happier being spayed. Heat cycles are no joke and not that comfortable. While no one likes to be put under, the long term advantages outweigh it....for now. The older she is though the harder being put under will be on her, so I wouldn't put off getting her spayed much longer or you will have to weigh the risk of pyometra vs the risk of anesthesia.

thank you so much wow i didnt know that well time to call her vet

I know you love Beauty a lot but she might want some same species interaction, have you ever considered getting another dog. It's amazing how much they perk up with a puppy to play with. Just a thought,
Cat