Is it normal for my 9-year-old dog to be so playful and energetic?

This is a great question! It is normal that your dog will slow down with age, and want to play less. I would recommend following her lead. If she wants to play ball for 5-10 minutes and then stops after that, it's fine. Same for when she is on walks. If you wants to end early, I would stop the walk and bring her back home. It's great that you are getting her as much exercise as you are now, and I'd keep it up as long as she wants it :-)

It sounds like Queen is having some playtime ! It is absolutely normal given her age, as she grows older she will not be doing it so much. It is normal for dogs to play but if they are overexcitable most of the time they need training to help them learn to be calm too.

The truth is that any age estimate beyond a year is just a guess, so it's definitely possible that the vet was wrong. However, the vet does have the advantage of seeing many different dogs in different age groups, so their guess does have some good experience to back it. I can see why the vet would guess an age beyond seven years, because Sara does appear to be quite grey. However, this happens at various ages in different dogs, so there's no way to know for sure if she is actually over seven. I know it's sad that they live such short little lives, but if you keep her from getting overweight and have regular vet exams, then she should stay happy and healthy for a good number of years. I hope that helps and all is well with Sara.

At 3years of age he would generally expected to be more active but every dogs character is different and some are very placid. If his behavior has changed over the last 3 months I strongly recommend a full health check by your vet to rule out medical or painful conditions which may be reducing his mobility

It sounds like Phoenix is an energetic puppy! Some puppies are more playful and energetic than others. Chasing and running around with other dogs should be fine for him, we don't recommend taking your dog on a run with you until they are full grown, but play running is fine. I would recommend working on training him to come when called in case you do need to catch him though. You can reference this article for ideas on how to train this https://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/teaching_rover_to_race_to_you_on_cue/ . Taking Phoenix on walks daily may also help to release some of his pent up energy.

It could be either situation - some dogs are simply not that interested in toys or in playing, similar to how some dogs are not big chewers or don't particularly love to go on walks. It's also possible that she wasn't exposed to toys and never 'learned' how to play. You could focus on other ways to interact with her - perhaps she would excel at simple obedience training, or she may like snuggling under a blanket with you.

Great question! Many dogs of any age enjoy enrichment toys that are either balls that bounce unpredictably or puzzle toys that release small treats. Peanut and his friend are still pretty agile, a good game of fetch or playing "hide and seek" with a toy can be a lot fun for everyone. These websites have some good examples of enrichment toys, but plenty of puzzle toys can also be found on Amazon or in pet stores: https://www.ottoenvironmental.com/toys-3?pagenumber=5 https://www.czs.org/custom.czs/media/CenterAnimalWelfare/Orangutan-Husbandry-Manual/Enrichment/Enrichment-manufacturers-suppliers.pdf Have fun playing! :-)