7 Responses for "How to Make a Slowly Aging Dog Exercise?"

1. rajendra p December 22nd, 2009 at 4:53 pm 1

   you can take her for small walk everyday.

2. Elisa A December 22nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm 2

   Take her for a walk!

3. luvmy3 December 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm 3

   Have you tried taking her for daily walks? I would give lots of toys and show lots of good attention and praise when she does exercise that way she knows she doing something good.

4. Colleen O December 22nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm 4

   Take her for short walks throughout the day. Also to ease her pain give her 1/2 baby aspirin at night. She will sleep better without pain and be a bit more active during the day. Also if she has her own bed you might get her a small heating pad and tuck it under the bed’s cover

5. julie j December 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm 5

   well im just wondering if your dog likes the beach .i take my dog there often .if she does then u could take her down there for a dip you could carry her in .this is really good as the water supports there weight and so causes no discomfort all the while giving some form of excersize .

6. ynot_chas December 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm 6

   Get her some vitamins for older dogs and MSM . Now MSM you can get from any health food store its cheaper there, talk with your vet about dose. after she starts taking the MSM you will see a big change in her.

7. Nancy M December 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 pm 7

   Uh, obviously no one here that suggested ‘walking’ has ever had hip dysplasia! haha If there is any possible way, find a swimming pool or maybe a hot tub – hydrotherapeutic exercising is a great way for her to exercise without putting more strain on her already degenerated and painful joints. She shouldn’t be climbing stairs since it obviously hurts her to do so – hip dysplasia is progressive so if she was diagnosed with radiography at two or so (or younger) and you haven’t seen xrays of her recently, you might be horrified to see how degenerated that joint can become – even good joints get painful on dogs (and people) as they age but bad ones get awful! They also put strains on other joints that will end up degenerating as well (elbows, patellas, etc.). She is hurting – see about talking with your vet about the situation – if the joints are really bad, they might require surgical intervention – talk with the vet too about possible analgesics and/or anti-inflammatory meds that could help relieve some of her pain. I know one GSD owner whose dog had HD and she also had him on glucosamine chondroiton and it seemed to help a whole lot – not sure of the dose but again, discussing this with your vet might be helpful for dosing and such. Good luck and hope you find or get a pool of some sort for her – it takes the weight off the joints and not only is good exercise but actually helps with pain relief.