My dog is almost 7, and has arthritis. He has pills he has to take, and hes been doing great to where we only have to give him one every 2-3 weeks, even a month. Ever since we have been going to training class for heeling, I've been having to practice at least twice a day. She also wanted me to get his energy out with his tennis ball. I think all of this has made his hips hurt lately. Right now I'm laying next to him petting him with long strokes. He keeps moving, getting up, laying back down, getting back up, etc. I feel so bad for him! I gave him his pill. Is there any massaging I can do to help? I don't want to make it worse. Advice? It tears me up that he's gotten arthritis already, I wish it could have at least come later in his life.

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What meds is he on?
I have a Golden with arthritis in pretty much all his limbs. He already had an FHO surgery done on his left hip a year ago.
He is on Rimadyl twice a day, glucosamine/chondroitin MSM supplement, salmon oil, Adequan injections and adding Tramadol if he has a really hard time.
Currently, he is doing well, despite the cold temps. What helped him tremendously (and a lot of people frown upon that, I used to be one of them) is a magnetic collar. It really made a difference and he has walked a lot better since wearing it and I was able to cut down on pain meds.
If he gets worse again, I will get him cold laser therapy which is offered in a couple clinics in town.
Of course, massaging does also help. I give Toby a massage at times and he loves it.

It is very important for your dog to be the right weight,not overweight, which puts a bigger strain on his joints. I got my dog to lose weight and it also helps with his joints.

If your dog is not on any supplements such as fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM, that would be a good place to start. And of course, getting extra pounds off of him, very important.
Good luck!

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My Toby, my heart dog 3/12/2003 - 3/30/2013, I miss you Toby!


Christa

I second that glucosamine, fish oil and adequan injections. You can easily do the injections yourself at home. My boy has displasia on all 4 legs. I use rimadyl sparingly and tramadol rarely, but look into them. I'm going to try acupuncture next week on my boy. Have you gotten a ramp to help? My poor boy is only 5. It's so hard when you see them limp. I am going to have to switch to keeping him on a leash for walks. Normally we're totally off leash, but he's so sore afterwards he can't jump into the truck. 7 yrs old is too young to be having problems.
Personally I'd avoid the tennis ball. I think they scramble a bit when they are getting the ball and it makes them twist too much. That's just my opinion. I have a friend that uses piles of bumpers (used for hunting) and has trained her boy to get them and bring them back. No throwing on your part and no twisting for the boy. here's an example.

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Lucy 2012
Hunter my rescue boy 2006?
Reilly CGC 2007
Tiger 1999-2012
Pennie 2000-2007

Sorry to hear your boy is in pain. We had a 10 year old girl that had problems with arthritis pain in her hips too. At first, our vet had her on Rimadyl for the pain. It worked pretty well, but we weren't really happy giving her pain meds continuously. We started her glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplements and as others have said, they really helped.

We also had great success with cold laser therapy. We started with twice weekly treatments. After about a months worth of treatments, she was completely off Rimadyl. The vet then moved her to treatments every other week and finally once a month.

No matter which way you go, I wish you and your boy the best.

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We give him Deramaxx. It really helps him a lot. We also do the glucosamine. I'm going to start him on fish oil. We got him to lose ten pounds, this was when we first took him because of his limping and the vet said it would be good if he lost a little weight. He's so much better today. The Deramaxx, rest, and massages really made him perk back up.

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That's a good word to describe it as! I do notice him scrambling for the ball a lot. What I did was just practice the stay command, throw it, then tell him "ok." It's much easier for his joints since he can already see where the ball is and not bolt off like crazy. I really liked the video, I might try that sometime.

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I am giving my golden 500 mg of niacinamide, vitamin E plus selenium capsules, glucosamine msm and condroitin specifically made for dogs as well as fish oil..I'm following the recommendations that were listed on one of the articles in this section at the top regarding hip dysplasia/arthritis i would definitely go there for more information

btw he already seems so much better after 2 weeks of me doing it

hey here is the link

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...-problems.html (Supplements, etc. for Arthritis/Joint Problems)