Poodle/Bichon Friese mix

Question
Hi!  I have two dogs I want to ask you about:  one is our Poodle/Bichon Frise mix, Fluffy.  We got him from the Humane Society about a year ago, so I have no real information on his history other than that he was neutered and housebroken when we got him.  He was about 11 years old and a bit chubby when we got him, so now he would be about 12 and is still chubby, even though we are careful about feeding him.  He walks with a bit of a waddle, and our vet suspects he has arthritis based on how he walks and the fact that he seems to want to jump up on things but has trouble doing so.  We are wondering how much longer he will be with us, and what special kind of care should he be receiving in his old age?  We do not know if his poodle side is toy, miniature, or what.  He is about the size of a very large cat.  Recently he lost quite a bit of hair on his back end.  The vet could not find any cause, and now the fur seems to be growing back.  Do dogs lose fur as they age?

Our other dog is a Pekingese, Mad-Eye Moody, that we are having housebreaking issues with.  We also got him from the Humane Society with Fluffy.  He was two years old and had been found wandering the streets with a damaged eye.  He was neutered by the Humane Society and his eye had to be removed.  He showed some aggression towards other animals at first, and we were warned that he was not completely housebroken at that point.  Since coming to our home his aggressive behavior has completely cleared up, but we are still having trouble with housebreaking.  If he is allowed to roam free in the house for more than 10-15 minutes, he will pee somewhere.  It does not matter if he just went outside a few minutes before.  He will go anywhere, so it isn't that he is using the same "scented" spots over and over.  He will also still "mark" new things that we bring into the house.  We have tried crate-training him, we have tried regular "potty breaks", treats for going outside, etc., but he has shown no improvement at all.  The vet has found no medical issues, no UTI's or anything of the sort.  Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Answer
Hi Meridth,
Fluffy is getting up in age but could easily have several more happy years with you.  It's hard to estimate something like life span with no real history of his life.  He sounds pretty healthy - so plan for a few more good years.  I have actually met a 17 year old bichon poo! as far as his loosing hair and then it growing back - older dogs do tend to have there hair thin but it rarely comes back in. There must have been something going on.
Mad-eye Moody sounds so cute. Love the name.  I would read back thru the posts about house breaking and do the jingle bell method that I tell everyone about -it works and it will work for him as well.

Good Luck
Brandie