To walk.... or not?

[SiNNiK]

Chance has been having alot of pain in his rear legs intermittently and we've gotten him x-rayed and the vet will be recommending a course of action soon.

when we went to the vet's office the other day, they weighed him at 83 lbs.! he's dropped about 10 pounds in the last 5 to 6 weeks just by not walking him. the vet was not worried, she said she'd like to see him stabalize somewhere and not continue to lose weight, but dang that's a lot of weight to lose.

well he's started acting up and knocked over the trash can in the kitchen. my boy. my good boy. my good boy who would never do anything wrong. he did.

so after a moment of time-out in the corner, i get his leash and collar on, and i was intent on walking all the "bad-doggyness" right out of him. we didn't even make it all the way down the street.

once we set out, it took all of 10 seconds to hit him, he started to do weird things with his hind legs so we slowed down to a crawl. after a few seconds it kinda passed but he was still walking with his ears back, staring straight ahead, really looked like he was in pain.

i don't know what to do, i want him to get all the exercise he needs, but i don't want him to be in any pain. we've been giving him some glucosamine for about 3 weeks, haven't seen any real changes though.

anybody know what to do here? i'm lost.

[Heart_Song]

Maybe you could find other activities that wouldn't stress his legs as much. If he likes to swim and there's somewhere nearby to take him, that would be good. Or maybe an inside game. I knew a Border Collie that couldn't run around much, but he loved for me to roll the ball to him and he would catch it and then push it back to me with his nose.

You could also try a dog sling to help hold up his weight. Here are some example of what they look like.

[SiNNiK]

thanks, we may have to use one of those.

[agilitydog]

What kind of glucosamine are you using? My shepherd showed huge improvement on Knox gelatine that you buy from the grocery store. It is about $6 for 36 packs and you give a pack a day. Simple but she has shown immense improvement. I thought she was gonna have to pts 2 years ago for not walking and now she looks like she has many years left. I have her alot lighter too, less weight on the hips

My shepherd can't do long walks either. I drive her to the park,let her swim and drive her home or we do short walks.

[Heart_Song]

You could also try massage right before and right after any physical activities. I've seen dogs where this did wonders for them.

[Dax]

Swimming might be better exercise for him.

[SiNNiK]

Originally Posted by agilitydog

What kind of glucosamine are you using? My shepherd showed huge improvement on Knox gelatine that you buy from the grocery store. It is about $6 for 36 packs and you give a pack a day. Simple but she has shown immense improvement. I thought she was gonna have to pts 2 years ago for not walking and now she looks like she has many years left. I have her alot lighter too, less weight on the hips

My shepherd can't do long walks either. I drive her to the park,let her swim and drive her home or we do short walks.

as of now, i'm using what worked for you.

and thanks H.S. and Dax, for your replies. i wish i could get Chance to swim, but he uses water for splashing. will definately try the massage idea, i KNOW he'll lo0o0o0o0ve that.