649: Caring for Senior Pets and Serving Senior People with Angela Dinsmoor

How do we better serve aging pets and their senior owners? Angela Dinsmoor, gerontologist and founder of Grey Whiskers, joins the show to share how her background in human aging informs her unique approach to senior dog care. From adapting grooming practices to handling emotionally complex client conversations, Angela outlines the deep overlap between pet and human aging. She discusses the importance of mental enrichment, emotional sensitivity, and communication with senior clients. This episode sheds light on a growing, underserved part of the pet care industry—and how we can all do better.

Main topics:

• Communicating with senior pet owners
• Grooming adaptations for aging dogs
• Emotional needs of elderly clients
• Quality of life assessments
• Pet care industry gaps for senior pets

Main takeaway: Senior dogs, and their owners, are falling through the cracks in the pet care industry, and we need to have a solution for them.

Senior pets have unique needs—physically, emotionally, and behaviorally—but most grooming, pet sitting, and even veterinary services aren't designed with them in mind. Angela Dinsmoor saw this gap firsthand after adopting her first older dog and realized the system wasn't built to support their aging bodies or their people. From dementia to arthritis to simple anxiety around being handled, these pets deserve specialized care.

About our guest: I'm Angela Dinsmoor, and I've spent over 20 years in the pet industry-teaching, grooming, and supporting families and professionals alike. But over time, one truth became impossible to ignore: we don't talk enough about senior dogs. They're aging. Their needs are changing. And yet even the most experienced groomers and pet pros often aren't trained to care for them properly. That's why I created Grey Whiskers, a purpose-driven platform built around education, empathy, and specialized care for our oldest companions.

Grey Whiskers stands on four senior paws:

🐾 In-home grooming is designed specifically for senior dogs

🐾 The Senior Dog Digest, a trusted newsletter for pet parents and pet professionals

🐾 The first Senior Dog Grooming Certification in the industry

🐾 And a growing community built to celebrate and support pet professionals, aging pets and their owners, not sideline them

This is a conversation about care, dignity, and the deep bond we share with our animals, especially as they grow older. If your audience loves dogs, works in pet care, or simply wants to better support their aging best friend, I'd be honored to share what I've learned. It's not a sad story; it's a hopeful one. And it's time we start telling it.

Links:

angela@greywhiskers.dog - Email

https://www.greywhiskers.dog/ - Website

https://www.greywhiskersdigest.dog/ - Newsletter

https://www.linkedin.com/company/greywhiskersseniordogs - LinkedIn

808-457-2169 - Phone

https://www.instagram.com/greywhiskerspet/#

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeladinsmoor/

https://www.facebook.com/greywhiskerspet

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Full show notes and transcript

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pet Sitter Confessional, its hosts, or sponsors. We interview individuals based on their experience and expertise within the pet care industry. Any statements made outside of this platform, or unrelated to the topic discussed, are solely the responsibility of the guest.

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