Question:
My 7yr old golden retreiver(male) has started limping on his rear right leg after exercising. He as well paces and has a hard time getting comfortable before extreme weather changes. His yearly check-ups show no arthritis. Help!

Answer:
It could be arthritis but the vet didn't detect it.

Try adding some supplements to your dogs diet which reduce inflammation and are known to be beneficial for aging dogs especially.

Glucosamine, Vitamin E, Shark Cartilidge, Fish oils

Answer:
Thanks for the info. I've had some advice on giving suplements, especially shark's cartiledge. However, what dose do you recommend? My golden retreiver is overweight (95lbs). Vet says he should be at about 80-85lbs. We have him on calorie reduced food and walk him every night. Any info would be great.

Answer:
A friend of mine bought an orthopedic dogbed for his golden with arthritis. Said it really helped her a lot by cushioning her while sleeping.

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You really need to get the excess weight off your dog! This is very bad for his joints.

I had an old overweight dog with arthritis. We put him on a diet and gave him Glucosamine with Chondroitin and the improvement was dramatic.

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Ditto what LR said. The extra weight is shortening your Goldens life. A Goldens life span is age 10-12 as it is, and overweight ones less.

How much do you feed your dog? What about treats? You have to figure in treats to their food quota for the day. They are calories also.

My suggestion would be to cut back on the food and treats. Calorie-reduced food does help also.

Also, I would not just walk your dog, I would find a place to take it off-leash for a great run. This really keeps them in shape.

My recent addition, 7-yr old Ricki, is 10-15 lbs overweight. We have cut off 6 lbs already by taking her to off-leash with my other 2 Goldens and she runs and runs. Just walking around the block does not burn enough fat.

Do you have a picture of your boy?

Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

Answer:
My sister has a 12 year old lab who has had two or three operations on her back legs (not sure what the problem was, but common to labs). As the surgeon warned, neither were entirely successful and I think she is now on anti-inflammatories full-time, mainly for arthritis. She's a little gimpy and has a hard time getting up on beds. (They now sleep on a mattress on the floor, so she can continue to sleep with them. Awwww..) Anyway, she's been living at the beach for the past two weeks. They don't walk her huge distances but have found that sessions of throwing a stick in the water for her to retrieve has made a big difference to her flexibility, she moves better, seems to have less pain. Hydrotherapy! If you have access to water, give it a try. Helps get the weight off too.

Answer:
Originally Posted by badger
My sister has a 12 year old lab who has had two or three operations on her back legs (not sure what the problem was, but common to labs). As the surgeon warned, neither were entirely successful and I think she is now on anti-inflammatories full-time, mainly for arthritis. She's a little gimpy and has a hard time getting up on beds. (They now sleep on a mattress on the floor, so she can continue to sleep with them. Awwww..) Anyway, she's been living at the beach for the past two weeks. They don't walk her huge distances but have found that sessions of throwing a stick in the water for her to retrieve has made a big difference to her flexibility, she moves better, seems to have less pain. Hydrotherapy! If you have access to water, give it a try. Helps get the weight off too.


I agree with you 100%! Water is very, very therapeutic, not only for dogs, but people. Great suggestion.

Heather

Answer:
To those of you who asked, my "Oscar" gets vegetables as treats. His favourite is romaine lettuce and carrots. He gets milk bones only as a rare treat (once per week). He eats two cups per day (As recommended by his vet). We do not let him go for strenuous activity because he starts to limp excessively after runs or "free leash" walks. We go for brisk walks at night and he has a 100x100 foot fenced yard to play in during the day. We are just in our second month of dieting and I have not had him weighed. My general concern is the limping. He has been tested for thyroid problems. We don't generally take him swimming because our lake has bad algae and last year he ended up with a serious ear infection and a skin disorder that took two months and lots of money to treat because of it. I wonder if anyone can suggest a dosage for supplements for shark cartiledge, etc. for him? Thanks for the advice.

Answer:
Until you find out what is causing the limping it's hard to recommend anything. It could be anything from a pulled muscle to cancer.

I think I would get x-rays if there is no improvement.

Answer:
Originally Posted by rosied
To those of you who asked, my "Oscar" gets vegetables as treats. His favourite is romaine lettuce and carrots. He gets milk bones only as a rare treat (once per week). He eats two cups per day (As recommended by his vet). We do not let him go for strenuous activity because he starts to limp excessively after runs or "free leash" walks. We go for brisk walks at night and he has a 100x100 foot fenced yard to play in during the day. We are just in our second month of dieting and I have not had him weighed. My general concern is the limping. He has been tested for thyroid problems. We don't generally take him swimming because our lake has bad algae and last year he ended up with a serious ear infection and a skin disorder that took two months and lots of money to treat because of it. I wonder if anyone can suggest a dosage for supplements for shark cartiledge, etc. for him? Thanks for the advice.


You are doing everything right, so the next step is like LR said, a trip to the vet. You don't want to see your pup in pain.

Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

Answer:
Originally Posted by rosied
Thanks for the info. I've had some advice on giving suplements, especially shark's cartiledge. However, what dose do you recommend? My golden retreiver is overweight (95lbs). Vet says he should be at about 80-85lbs. We have him on calorie reduced food and walk him every night. Any info would be great.

There is a suppliment out there called Next Level. It's actually made for horses but they now also make a dog form as well - I've only ever used the Horse type (easier to find) but they are the same, just different flavors - so just go with the cheaper one. Here's the site: http://www.sure-nutrition.com/nldog.html It bascially has almost everything Luba mentioned.

I was talking to my mother about this today and she had asked her vet how much Glucosamine she should be feeding (as her dog was starting to get stiff again - she's on Liga Joint) The vet said that a 50lb dog (her dog) should be getting 1500mg per day - the average people pill is only 500mg per day. The Next Level suppliment above will give the recommended levels of Glucosamine - probably about 2000 - 2300mg for your dog.

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