shadowmarie

I'm glad you brought this up, as my Shadow is 13+ now and I too have noticed many of the same behavioral changes. She is much more of a scavenger than she used to be, searching out cat or deer poop on the trail as never before. She has eaten dirt for the past few years (in the summer when we have dirt!), and as others noted, her blood work is normal. I gave her some vitamin and mineral supplements for old dogs just in case, but that didn't seem to affect the behavior at all so I stopped. She has started to bark a lot more than she used to, especially when she gets excited. I think this may be because she can't do her happy dance as well as she used to, and uses barking instead to express her excitement. She has also become a lollygagger on our walks. She spends a lot more time sniffing, as though it takes her longer to make all the neural connections to interpret the scents. She has "old man butt" too, and doesn't jump up on the furniture anymore. She still retains her top dog position but it is clear it tires her out and she sometimes just lets things slide that she wouldn't have in her prime.

I took a vacation to Duck with my dog. It was OK, but the place is really developed and there just aren't that many hiking trails other than the beach. We rented a house for the week, and it was quite expensive even off-season. Also, because of scheduling, we had to spend one night in a hotel and it was very hard to find one that accepted dogs (This was several years ago and things may have changed). The best vacation I've had with my dog was to rent a cabin in the Adirondacks for a week. Lots of privacy, off-leash hiking, etc. We went in the fall and it wasn't at all crowded or expensive.

I'd only be worried if your pup had been a big eater before and has changed his habits. Also, as the others said, it may depend on what you're feeding. Have you changed his diet recently? If neither of the above apply, I'd take him to the vet. My farm collie has always been a picky eater and would often go a day or two without eating. However, she has been that way for the past 13 years--at this point I'd worry if she suddenly developed a big appetite!