I am trying to find the balance between exercise and rest. What time and distance do you think is moderate. I try and give her 3-4 15 mins walks a day. I also let her walk up some grassy hills to help the legs development. No running but sometimes she will trot.. I just don't want to push it but dont want her to gain weight and lose muscle in that left leg.. any tips? You are always so helpful..

I am trying to find the balance between exercise and rest. What time and distance do you think is moderate. I try and give her 3-4 15 mins walks a day. I also let her walk up some grassy hills to help the legs development. No running but sometimes she will trot.. I just don't want to push it but dont want her to gain weight and lose muscle in that left leg.. any tips? You are always so helpful..

I am dealing with the same thing with lola's left hip. The vet said that her left hip was looser than her right. She limps mainly after sleeping but no acute pain. It gets better with movement and comes and goes. I have her on Joint Max double strength and try to limit all jumping, stairs and put carpet down on my floors.. I am taking her to another vet Weds just so I can get another opinion..

I am dealing with the same thing with lola's left hip. The vet said that her left hip was looser than her right. She limps mainly after sleeping but no acute pain. It gets better with movement and comes and goes. I have her on Joint Max double strength and try to limit all jumping, stairs and put carpet down on my floors.. I am taking her to another vet Weds just so I can get another opinion..

Obviously you need to take your queue from the dog's body responses too...some days she may be too tired to do all of the walks, but moderate exercise is good. You might ask around if there's any water therapy available in your town for dogs...where they walk on a treadmill that is partially submerged, which is supposed to be stimulating but not as strenuous as street or grass walking. I have not used acupuncture but some here have with satisfaction that it has helped their arthritic bulldog so its something to keep in mind for the future? My mind keeps remembering the older hip dysplasia surgery where the top "knob"of the long leg bone was removed when it sat outside the hip socket and/or was rubbing and slipping in/out of the hip socket...and if this was done early enough in the dog's life he would develop stronger hip muscles to compensate for the lost support of that hip joint and the dog had decent movement/walkability. The gait looked a little "off" and I certainly wouldn't encourage lots of stairs or jumping with such a dog, but in day-to-day functioning, the dog did quite well. HTH

Obviously you need to take your queue from the dog's body responses too...some days she may be too tired to do all of the walks, but moderate exercise is good. You might ask around if there's any water therapy available in your town for dogs...where they walk on a treadmill that is partially submerged, which is supposed to be stimulating but not as strenuous as street or grass walking. I have not used acupuncture but some here have with satisfaction that it has helped their arthritic bulldog so its something to keep in mind for the future? My mind keeps remembering the older hip dysplasia surgery where the top "knob"of the long leg bone was removed when it sat outside the hip socket and/or was rubbing and slipping in/out of the hip socket...and if this was done early enough in the dog's life he would develop stronger hip muscles to compensate for the lost support of that hip joint and the dog had decent movement/walkability. The gait looked a little "off" and I certainly wouldn't encourage lots of stairs or jumping with such a dog, but in day-to-day functioning, the dog did quite well. HTH

but they have not be thoroughly x-rayed and evaluated. Moderate exercise, limited jumping or strenuous activity and joint supplements seem to be the way to go...and yes, glad that no surgery was recommended. Of course if it were, we would most likely suggest getting that second opinion!

but they have not be thoroughly x-rayed and evaluated. Moderate exercise, limited jumping or strenuous activity and joint supplements seem to be the way to go...and yes, glad that no surgery was recommended. Of course if it were, we would most likely suggest getting that second opinion!