We were kind of expecting one of our dogs to develop hip problems in later life. Over the last few days he’s been limping around on 3 legs. So yesterday he went to the vets and was x-rayed. His hip joints are pretty abnormal and we’ve been warned to expect it’s a long term thing. Vet thinks the limp is just some associated tissue damage. He’s only 6 - and he’s such a lively (manic!) dog. Were hoping his current discomfort will clear with restricted activity (anyone ever tried keeping a 7-stone Chesapeake bay retriever calm!), and then he’s joining Mr HbyH on the cod liver oil.
I’m sure there are lots of folks out there with dogs with similar problems - any advice?
Helen, Our dog had arthritis and we were told to ensure that he had plenty of bedding to keep him warm and to protect his sore joints. He was to be kept as dry as possible and out of draughty areas. Gentle (not vigorous) exercise and to keep his weight down. He was also helped by regular injections of Cartrophen - it really did help ease his lameness. Good luck with trying to calm down an active dog!
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Walk him on the lead and no go fetch games.
I would make sure he doesn’t climb stairs so you might want to get a stair gate.
We had a mad collie who would do somersaults off the front door ie run down the stairs along the hallway to somersault off the front door. We had to put in a stair gates to stop her playing this game. She used to go to agility classes but had to stop due to joint problems. She even used to go up onto her hind legs and walk whenever we went walkies and she saw people she liked. We couldn’t let her off the lead if we walked through one park as she would jump over the fence into the playground and play on the equipment ie walking along the planks, running up the slide and sliding down the other side, snaking in and out of the swings. I think she thought it was just another agility course.
We had to change all our walks because at first she didn’t know it was hurting her she didn’t have any pain I guess. Just later she would be sniff and slow about an hour later.
Eventually she learnt she couldn’t do things and we had to keep her away from the activities she had enjoyed doing. Although at first it was lots of walks not too long a distance on the flat on the lead we did about 4-5 per day. So she wasn’t bored, got her gentle exercise and had plenty to see and lots of fussing from all her friends. We spent a tone of cash on toys for her to play with so she had activities that she could do without impacking on her joint problem. Collies are really working dogs very active and very intelligent so they get easily bored.
Of course there was the medication the vet suggested which did help.
It is hard I know when you have a very active dog and then they have joint problems.
I hope you can find things for your dog to do that are fun for him that doesn’t make his hip joints worse.
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Hi I have two springers spaniels with mobility problems, at the moment both kept pain free from the use of metacam. (which I buy online at 16.99 instead of vets prices of over £110) the tips I have been given are 1 keep the weight down, 2. good quality food with glycosamine (sp) 3 exercise but not jumping or high impact so swimming, running on grass are all good for my dogs. 4. tire them mentally as well as physically (kongs, ice lollies and find it games) and our local groomers has a hydrotherapy pool which is warm water that massages gently. Oh and we have harnesses to lift them over stiles so that they dont jump but they are really heavy as I presume your dog is. Rachel
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We use Pedigree Joint Care (available in pet shops) sticks on our Collie who is 8 and they seem to keep his aches and pains at bay.
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Hi My old lurcher had problems, we gave him homeopathic Rhus Tox, which seemed to help keep him comfortable and mobile.
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oh helen * sadface *
you know the situation i’m in with the rickety anakin collie… so huge sympathies, especially trying to keep the poor boy quiet!
like the others have said - get a stair gate and keep his weight steady.
anakin’s been on cod liver oil & glucosamine for years now
and has a repeat prescription for carprieve (which is like ibuprofen for dogs. we were warned this could cause kidney problems with continuous long term use, but she was 13 or 14 at the time so we decided to risk it)
hydrotherapy is really good exercise, and you should be able to get a referral from your vet.
there are also those special “shoes” that help with hip dysplasia & arthritis… haven’t tried them though (anakin can’t walk very far now so we just open the front door and let her wander, following behind with a poo bag & a sling 
)
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Have you tried the salmon oil rather than the cod liver - its meant to be a higher concentrate? but not sure
Everything mentioned above!
We also gave our last dog Metacam, which gave him a new lease of life for a number of years. When that stopped working, we switched to Previcox and that also worked for a couple of years. When he was very old, we got a dog pushchair so that he could walk as much as he wanted, then ride the rest of the way.
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a dog pushchair! i wish i’d thought of THAT sooner, @LoveButtons!
@HandbagsbyHelen one more thing i thought of… laminate or shiny tiled floors puts more stress on them. we’ve covered our house (and garden lol) with horrible cheap carpet squares and bobbly rubber mats for anakin to grip better. (looks super attractive and they act like velco 
)
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I’m in a similar boat having recently discovered my not quite two year old labrador has Elbow Dysplasia and arthritis in his elbow joints. Unfortunately both kinds of pain killing anti inflammatory drugs we’ve tried so far have caused him to be really ill with sickness and diahorrea so we are currently just managing things by restricting exercise and glucosamine tablets. The next step is to send his xrays off to a specialist vet to see whether surgery is an option or if it’s already too late to even go there. His initial limp which led to the diagnosis cleared up in about 2 weeks with rest and medication and fingers crossed he hasn’t had any long term limps since (just the occasional lameness if we’ve overdone his walk).
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I don’t know if this is of any help but giving turmeric is supposed to work wonders. We found out about it when searching for a solution for our horse who was getting a little stiff during the colder mouths. I think people have really cottoned on to turmeric in the last few months - there’s a face book page with lots of information in the links that may be of interest. https://www.facebook.com/groups/415313751866609/?fref=ts
We certainly noticed a difference when using it for our horse. Most of the f/b postings are about horses, but occasionally people will post about themselves or dogs and there’s a section in the links about dosage etc. for dogs.
Hope it helps. Elaine
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Hi Fiona
Here’s a picture of Henry in his pushchair. I think the weight limit was 20Kg, but there may be ones that can take a heavier dog.
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What a cute photo, makes me want to smile and cry at the same time…
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Love the flapping ears in the pram photo, here’s ours
Boysee in his outward hound rucksack
Jess and Boysee cycling
Charlie dachshund on the hills
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Lovely pictures of the little ones enjoying their days out!
Henry looks very sad in that photo, but he was more usually smiling and happy, such as in the one below.
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oh julia
<3
like @littleRamstudio, i am torn between smiles 'n tears looking at your gorgeous boy. what a sweet, sweet face.
*** edited to add
i can’t see the flickr photo - i think because i didn’t sign up for a yahoo account when they switched recently 
also, tried to get a picture of anakin in her carry handles (sling) but she wasn’t having it - here she is looking worried about that. on the hideous carpet patchwork i’ve made so she can walk on the tiled floors…
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What a lovely girl Anakin is! I do love the character that old age brings in a dog’s face 
I’m not sure why that photo didn’t load here (maybe too big). I’ll have another go!
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Wow, sounds like a challenge to keep that dog calm.
Cool idea! Can just see Mr hbyh with the dog in a pushchair. Appreciate everyone’s advice. Makes something a bit scary seem more normal and copeable…