Dogs do change as they get older. But slowing down always has a reason, and your vet can often help identify it.
Is it normal for older dogs to slow down?
A little, yes. Older dogs may sleep more and tire sooner. But not every change comes with the birthday. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), which sets care standards for vets, says it plainly: old age is not a disease [1].
Here's the simplest way to tell the two apart. Aging is a slow-smooth fade. Your dog does everything a little less. Pain is uneven. It's worse at certain times, during certain moves, or on certain days. That pattern is the giveaway.
This matters because arthritis is one of the most under-diagnosed diseases in dogs, and it gets worse over time [2]. Researchers who studied vet records found that early signs “may be missed or still considered normal” by owners [3].
How can I tell if my dog is in pain or just getting old?
Watch the patterns in day-to-day activities. These five signs point to pain rather than age:
- Stiffness that dissipates after a few minutes. Stiff getting up, then fine once moving? That's the classic arthritis pattern. Age doesn't “warm up.” Sore joints do.
- Moving unevenly. Watch for a limp, a head that bobs as your dog walks, or a back leg kicked out to the side when sitting, which can point to hip, knee, or lower-back pain [4]. Age affects the body symmetrically. Pain usually doesn't.
- Skipping certain things. Your dog still enjoys walks but won't jump on the couch or balks at the stairs. Low energy slows everything down. Pain manifests in the movements that hurt.
- Good days and bad days. Pain can come and go with activity, time of day, and even weather [4]. A steady slowdown looks like age. Ups and downs look like pain.
- Mood changes. Grumpiness when touched, restless nights, or panting while resting. Dogs in long-term pain can even grow quieter, more isolated, which is easy to mistake for age [4].
Can young dogs get arthritis?
Yes, and that's one more reason not to blame age. A 2024 study X-rayed dogs between 8 months and 4 years old. Nearly 40% already had arthritis in at least one leg joint. When the arthritis was painful, owners had noticed a problem only about 3 times in 10, and just two dogs were being treated for pain [5].
Arthritis in dogs often starts young, frequently because a joint didn't develop quite right, as with hip or elbow dysplasia [2]. Then it lasts for life. The age when you notice arthritis is rarely the age it started.
Why do so many pet parents miss pain in older dogs?
Because it happens slowly, and “old age” is an easy explanation. In interviews, owners of dogs with arthritis described small changes in behavior that came and went, but few linked them to arthritis [6]. The American Animal Hospital Association notes that owners often don't see pain at all. They see a dog who can do less [2].
The fix is to change what you compare against. Compare your dog to itself. That's your dog's individualized baseline: how they got up, walked, sat, and slept day over day across months. You're the best judge of that, because you see your dog relaxed at home, not nervous at the vet [7,8].
Can I wait and see if it's just old age?
It's better not to. Pain that lasts too long can change how the nervous system works. Vets call this maladaptive pain: the body's alarm system gets turned up and stays up [2,8]. The pain can spread past the original joint, and even a gentle touch can start to hurt.
That's also why an X-ray showing “mild” arthritis doesn't mean mild pain. How a joint looks on an X-ray often has little to do with how much it hurts [8]. The American Animal Hospital Association's pain guidelines warn that missed chronic pain can even lead to euthanasia sooner than necessary [2]. Catching pain early is kinder, and usually easier to treat.
What else can look like old age in dogs?
Two conditions can pass for “just getting old,” and both deserve a vet visit.
Doggy dementia. Pacing at night is a classic sign of canine cognitive dysfunction, the dog version of dementia. But the American Animal Hospital Association lists pain as a problem that can look the same [1]. A dog who can't get comfortable on sore hips will seem restless at night too.
Weak back legs that don't hurt. Degenerative myelopathy is a slowly worsening spinal cord disease in older dogs. It usually causes weakness without direct pain but its secondary effects are painful [9]. Clues that point to nerves, not joints, include scuffed-down toenails, wobbly back legs, or a paw that flips over so the tops of knuckles are dragging [10].
What should I do if I think my dog is in pain, not just old?
Start by collecting evidence at home. Film your dog getting up in the morning, climbing stairs, and trotting toward and away from you. Note what changed and roughly when. Then decide how fast to act:
- Wait and watch: one small change that doesn't happen again.
- Call your vet tomorrow: a change that keeps happening, or two signs of pain together.
- Go now: your dog can't put weight on a leg, collapses, cries out, struggles to breathe, or suddenly turns weak or wobbly.
I won't tell you what medicine to give your dog. That belongs with your vet, who can examine them. But how a dog responds to pain treatment is itself one way vets confirm pain [2]. More than a few dogs written off as “just old” were simply hurting.
Can a wearable tell if my dog is in pain or just getting old?
No device can make a diagnosis, but one can track the patterns and predict the probability of pain. On any single day, age and pain look alike. Over months, they look different.
Our eyes can also fool us. In one study, dogs with arthritis got a placebo, a treatment with no medicine in it. Owners believed their dogs improved more than half the time, and vets 40 to 45% of the time. Yet pressure plates measuring the weight on each leg showed no real change [11].
That's why we built The Ruff, Tether's collar-mounted monitor, for objective feedback. It compares your dog to their own individualized baseline. It tracks how they get up, how evenly they move, how they sleep, and how they breathe at rest. It doesn't diagnose, and it doesn't replace your vet. It gives your vet months of real-life history that a short exam can't.
“Every clinical claim The Ruff makes crosses my desk before it reaches you. I hold it to the standard I'd want for my own dogs, because that's exactly what yours deserve.”
Animals speak to those who listen.
Dr. Zachary L. Pollack, DVM, MRCVS
- Dhaliwal R, Boynton E, Carrera-Justiz S, et al. 2023 AAHA Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2023;59(1):1-21. doi:10.5326/JAAHA-MS-7343.
- Epstein M, Rodan I, Griffenhagen G, et al. 2015 AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2015;51(2):67-84. doi:10.5326/JAAHA-MS-7331.
- Anderson KL, O'Neill DG, Brodbelt DC, et al. Prevalence, duration and risk factors for appendicular osteoarthritis in a UK dog population under primary veterinary care. Sci Rep. 2018;8:5641. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23940-z.
- Walsh S. Understanding the link between canine pain and problem behaviours. Veterinary Ireland Journal. February 2025.
- Enomoto M, de Castro N, Hash J, et al. Prevalence of radiographic appendicular osteoarthritis and associated clinical signs in young dogs. Sci Rep. 2024;14:2827. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-52324-9.
- Belshaw Z, Dean R, Asher L. Could it be osteoarthritis? How dog owners and veterinary surgeons describe identifying canine osteoarthritis in a general practice setting. Prev Vet Med. 2020;185:105198. doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105198.
- Cornell Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center. Cohen A. Recognizing Pain in Dogs. vet.cornell.edu. Updated October 2025.
- Walsh K. Chronic pain management in dogs and cats. In Practice. 2016;38(4):155-165. doi:10.1136/inp.i1489.
- Coates JR, Wininger FA. Canine degenerative myelopathy. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2010;40(5):929-950. doi:10.1016/j.cvsm.2010.05.001.
- Dewey CW, da Costa RC, Thomas WB. Performing the neurologic examination. In: Dewey CW, da Costa RC, eds. Practical Guide to Canine and Feline Neurology. 3rd ed. Ames, IA: John Wiley & Sons; 2016.
- Conzemius MG, Evans RB. Caregiver placebo effect for dogs with lameness from osteoarthritis. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2012;241(10):1314-1319. doi:10.2460/javma.241.10.1314.