I am going to be making a major move in the not too distant future that’s going to require being on the road for several days making my way across the country. I also have a quite old dog, who has advanced arthritis, is mostly deaf, and partially blind, and has loss of bowel control. I really don’t think dragging him across the country is in his best interest but he’s healthy and really a sweet old guy. My other younger dog is devoted to him as her big brother so I know she would miss him. Would you hope for the best and take him on a long car ride or bite the bullet and have him PTS?
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I say PTS after a great last day. The arthritis must be painful, and I think the drive, and the relocation would be too much for him. I think it’s kinder to do it before moving.
The other dog will miss him, but that will happen someday anyway.
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Apologies if what I say sounds harsh, but you list advanced arthritis, deafness, blindness and incontinence before you state your dog is “healthy”. From an outsider perspective with no knowledge, history or emotional connection, I think I would give this dog a great last day before being PTS, whether you are relocating or not. For this old timer, quality of life is the best consideration we can give. Relieving him of pain, suffering and giving him a dignified painfree passing is our greatest responsibility - although one of toughest decisions we’ll ever make. Best of luck to you. It’s a very difficult position to be in.
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As above poster said, given his overall condition, and probable prognosis of a short future, I would PTS after a lovely last few days. The safest, least stressful, most comfortable option, I would think.
Younger dog will adapt – that has to happen at some point, anyway.
I would not add a new dog until I was well settled into the new home. A new personality could change a lot of dynamics, in addition to the move.
I also have an older dog, 13 yo. It is amazing the travel that I don’t do because I don’t want to put undue stress on him. In addition to the disruption to his routine, he is no longer comfortable on longer car rides. He shows the effects for a couple of days afterward.A back-and-forth moving situation such as you describe would be a hard decision point for me as well.
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This does not describe a healthy dog.
It is ok to let him go, and more compassionate than taking him on a cross-country trip.
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((hugs)) for all of you ~
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Just an opinion from someone who has been a caretaker of humans who were loosing their natural abilities.
The arthritis is its own thing, of course. How well it can be managed varies widely among individuals.
Deafness, blindness and incontinence are not the same thing as “bad health”. Lots of healthy people and animals manage just fine with these conditions for a lifetime, or for some number of years with a later onset.
Deafness, blindness and incontinence are not necessarily miserable conditions. At all. If there is a daily routine that manages these conditions well and the individual is adapted, honestly they aren’t even a big deal.
The two things that would make me think again about the comfort and manageability of these conditions are – 1) If travel causes the individual more anxiety and discomfort because of those conditions, which may or may not be the case. But is more likely to be if the individual is not accustomed to travel. 2) How long the individual has had these conditions and how well they have adapted to them even before travel. If travel is making a somewhat difficult situation even more difficult, that’s a factor.
If travel is uncomfortable, that matters. And, it also matters if the individual feels insecure and/or uncomfortable without their normal daily life.
But that’s not necessarily a given. If they feel comfortable just to cruise along as a passenger, it may be just fine. 
In my experience, with an older individual that works best with short trips with a long rest period at home afterward.
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I wouldn’t say he’s suffering. He still runs and plays. He’s just has typical old dog issues but basically he’s in decent health, eats and drinks normally, he gets cosequin for his aches and pains, so no, not suffering.
Thank you @OverandOnward
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I moved my blind and partially deaf Peke into my new house (though without the long car trip) and he figured out the layout in about two days max.
So I’ll be a dissenting opinion and say that if car trips don’t cause a lot of stress and his incontinence can be managed to keep him clean on the road, then I would go for it. Especially since he’s only partially deaf and blind.
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My 13 yo lab does as well. 
My dog is very healthy, has never been sick in his life, and no injuries other than a few scrapes and a couple of wasp stings.
My dog has developed spinal stenosis in the last couple of years that is limiting his mobility with his back legs. He’s a bit wobbly back there.
But – he doesn’t care. He adapts. He wakes up excited about a great day every day, as he has all his life.
He’s going to romp and run and have fun. Which helps keep him strong to better adapt and manage those wonky back legs.
I was getting video of him frolicking around the yard to show the vet how much the mobility problems have increased. But when I looked at the video, my first reaction was “this dog is fine!” 
He’s doing everything he wants to do on the grass and in the woods. He doesn’t care that his back feet don’t hit the ground exactly where they were aimed. He’s happy.
But travel isn’t comfortable for him any more. And it causes some anxiety. He can stay overnight at his usual playcare facility for maybe 1 to maybe 3 nights at a time before he starts getting stressed and anxious.
So my travel is arranged around my dog’s needs. Somehow I am building my life around an aging labrador retriever. When aging progresses, people and animals are less and less flexible to accommodate normal life changes and disruptions. They increasingly need a world that is predictably the same every day.
If I had the life changes you are making, OP, there would be some tough and possibly complicated decisions to make for the best welfare of this dog.
If ar thritis were uncomfortable, if the blindness and deafness were somewhat recent developments, I’d be leaning toward letting the dog go to dog heaven. Your other dog may be sad, but will adjust.
Would your dog be ok staying overnight at a familiar location at either end of your travels, to cut down on dog trips?
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It sounds to me like the dog is happy, so I think you should take him with you. If you can, investing in a dog hammock for your car would make the ride more comfortable for him if he travels in the back seat. It will also protect your seats if he has an accident. I might also put some diapers on him and plan for frequent stops along the way. It might be a good idea to introduce the diapers a few days before the trip so he’s used to them.
If you’re staying in motels along the way, make sure you have a plan to prevent accidents on carpets - maybe the dogs sleep in the bathroom?
Old dogs require a bit more patience and compassion, but they are still wonderful companions and they will let you know when they’re ready to go.
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I, also believe your dear dog should accompany you to your new home ~ for everyone’s benefit ~ Jingles & AO ~ Safe travels ~
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I don’t think any of us know enough about the dog to make this decision. Personally, I’d take him with me as long as he still seems happy with life.
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I can’t offer you a suggestion one way or another. I don’t know enough about your situation or your dog to give meaningful advice. I think you have to examine your own life and what your life may be like in the upcoming weeks, and weigh it against how your dog may or may not handle these changes.
I can share that I was recently involved in putting a former dog of mine down. She was a foster fail that I loved for six years. My sister fell in love with her and asked if she could have her. This dog really wanted to be an only dog, and I had three others. It was a hard decision, but I gave her to my sister so she could live her best life even if I wasn’t in it as much as I wanted to be. She was my sister’s dog for nearly six years.
She had some old complaints, including IVDD that had been treated and managed - she had a rough start in life, and who knows what happened to her in the days before I found her. But as she got older, her back started to bother her again and it got to the point where she was visibly uncomfortable and her QOL was slowly deteriorating. My sister asked me about putting her to sleep - which was kind, but in my eyes it was her dog and she didn’t need to ask me anything.
Originally, I wanted to offer to take her back and give her a few final years or months. But I started looking at pictures of her when she was young, and it took me by surprise how aged she seemed now. I realized that I would be being selfish to take her back and uproot her life, just to kick the can down the road a little longer. This dog had a wonderful life. I loved her, my SO loved her, and my sister loved her even more.
So a few weeks ago I went to her final appointment. I showed up with two Sausage Egg & Cheeses from Dunkins, her favorite treat from when I had her. She ate them in the parking lot, sat calmly for her appointment, and I watched her go. She was a good dog. Did I feel guilty, driving away after the appointment wondering if I should have done something? Of course I did. I cried the whole drive home. Could she have lived a year or so more? Maybe. But I don’t think that being heavily medicated to eek out a few more months would have been worth it for her. I think after everything she endured in life, she deserved a dignified end even if it wasn’t a perfect one.
My friend’s mother just lost senior dog to a cardiac event caused by cancer erupting on his spleen and causing him to bleed out (ddx’d by necropsy). Hearing about how awful his end was made me grateful that we gave Genova a peaceful end, even if it seemed early. As they get older their continued health is no guarantee, and we can lose them any minute to painful events out of our control like cancer or seizures that make their ends ugly and full of pain.
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I think this is the thing with aging dogs, other animals, people, etc. … their world of comfort and satisfaction becomes smaller and smaller.
They can reach a point where, despite infirmaties and physical changes, they are comfortable at home, in their usual routine. Completely happy to live the same day over and over, as it were. In the land of Groundhog Day.
But the world doesn’t stop for them.
They may not be so happy to make changes, to adapt to something new. Sometimes it’s a change in their living cirumstances. Sometimes it’s a change in their health and mobility. They may be mentally and emotionally stressed about it. And they may not be as physically comfortable any more.
That’s what I’m alert for in my 13 yo dog. Right now he’s completely satisfied with his uneventful daily life. I’m staying alert for changes that make him no longer happy with more and more of his daily life.
Earlier in life he was Adventure Dog. As said above, there are photos and video of him having the best time romping and meeting people and dogs in all kinds of places and circumstances.
But he no longer wants to be Adventure Dog. As I found out last year, when he came with me to a horse event that he has attended many times before with great zest. This time it was the same event, but he was constantly stressed, unsatisfied, making himself uncomfortable. Nothing I did made it ok for him (normally he’s a stoic non-complainer, more interested in the action than any discomfort). Honestly, he wanted to go home - he wanted to be home. I finally made a bed for him in the car and that’s where he ended up spending the day napping – his choice, he could have gotten out if he wished. Even 1 year before, this dog voluntarily staying nested in the car would have been unthinkable. Back then (at the more youthful age of 11), if staying confined at this event had been forced on him, he would have barked all day until someone tired of it enough to take him with them, which would have delighted him.
So this dog and I are both adapting to his changes. Changes that are giving him an ever narrower range of comfort. I’m going with his happiness level, and that is a constantly smaller world for him.
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I was in your exact position five years ago. Our dog wasn’t deaf or blind, but those conditions don’t really bother a dog.
We decided to bring our old man along. I have a minivan. I folded the back seats down and padded the whole back area with a foam mattress topper. Then sheets/blankets on top. He was comfortable, had plenty of room to stand up/turn around, and we obviously doted on him the whole way. He had a good year in our new home.
I’m usually one to advocate for humane euthanasia when a dog is suffering, but your dog doesn’t seem to be suffering really (except for the arthritis…you have to judge how bad that is). I would bring him along. Speaking from experience.
One thing to think about: does your new home have a lot of stairs? That could be a deciding factor.
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No, no stairs. If I do bring him it’s going to be a problem getting him in and out of the car. He can’t jump anymore and hates being picked up, plus he’s a big 75-80 lb lab/GSD. I talked to my best friend and she agreed to take him if I don’t bring him along. She’s a dog lover and really likes him and the feelings are mutual. He’d have a great home with her.
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That sounds like a good solution, but taking in a geriatric dog is no joke. Is she okay covering his veterinary expenses? I’m betting he could really benefit from some NSAIDs to help with the arthritis pain. Or some people swear by CBDs for that. Anyways, not my business, just serving up food for thought.
Also, don’t forget there are great car ramps if you need help getting him in your car. Chewy has a bunch of them.
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He’s on cosequin for his arthritis. I’ll check out the ramps.
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Cosequin is like the very basic level of treating arthritis. There are better supplements, adequan and actual pain meds that many many dogs live on for years. Honestly this sounds a tad more about convenience than keeping your old dog happy through the end of their life, happy your friend is stepping up versus euthanasia. For me I’d give my right hand to keep my dog as long as they can happily live and a move would just be something I’d have to figure out. I actually purchased a ranch house 4 years ago because my dog was diagnosed with ivdd and I know I’m on borrowed time and stairs are really detrimental to her health. My realtor thought I was nuts but I refused to see anything that was 2 stories.
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