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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Things HAD been going too well :P Stairs are a No Go

    I should have known, i'd been coasting mostly non stressed with Rock and seeing improvement. I got too optimistic

    I mentionned in another post his shoulder was off. He was more timid on stairs (going down). He had his treatment on Friday and things seemed good. I probably over did it on the walks and stairs. We took things easier on Satuday but on our third pee break of the day he wouldn't go down. He went down the turn then backed up. I tried to coax him, encourage him. Took a break. anyway long story short a big fat no on stairs. Got him down (semi-forcefully). Took a chance in hopes he wuld be ok after a night's rest we went up to bed (he was fine going up - two flights).

    Anyway this morning was a disaster. I had to carry him down, which I can absolutely do safely with his harness. But that destroyed any chances of working his courage back up. I am now at a loss.

    We're taking it easy for the week walk-wise. I will massage his shoulder like the vet said and will call tomorrow to see if I can give him temporary pain meds to help work his confidence again. but pretty sure my vet isn't in on Mondays

    I live in a walk up. I can work around and sleep downstairs and spend time here but the kitchen is upstairs and lots of the normal "house stuff" will need to be up there. So it means he will be alone quite a bit more.

    So - how do I go about testing to see if we can recover from this and do stairs again before giving up altogether? I don't wnat to push and ruin his confidence MORE. But I don't wnat ot wait until it's been too long since he's down stairs and he "can't" anymore. he hasn't been up again today and I think I could try again tomorrow after work. or is that still too soon. I don't want to wait TOO long where he can't do stairs at all. and if we can work his confidence where he lets me "carry him" that works but i don't see how to get there. At this point the little bit of pain has killed his confidence so it's two fold.
    Last edited by Tanya; 09-11-2017 at 09:03 AM.

  2. #2
    Best Friend Retriever
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    Poor guy, and poor you.....I hate to think that you will have to carry him up & down stairs on any frequent basis.....I guess if it were me I'd be trying the vet's for meds & then try each day & see if he feels like doing the stairs on his own before I'd try lifting him......I can't remember if he is on any meds for arthritis? My Molly is on Galliprant because she can't have Rimadyl due to her rising ALT levels. The Galliprant is really helping her so far. She is too heavy for me to lift with her harness, but dh has had to lift her into & out of the motorhome because the automatic stairs quit working. She doesn't really like being lifted though, & thinks she can jump, so that made it harder for him because she has her legs all kicking, etc. But now he made her a set of shallow steps to go in & out & she goes right up & down, looking quite happy & proud of herself! She was given Gabapentin when she was having more trouble, also, but hasn't needed that for quite awhile now.

    Is there any way a ramp might be easier for him to go up & down?

  3. #3
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
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    Yukon wears the harness solely for the purpose of me helping him "downstairs". I try and get him to go upstairs on his own with me monitoring so it works his back end. Downstairs is a disaster waiting to happen if it's more than a few steps, I don't even risk it, even if his front end is better.

    Good thoughts with you and Rock
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    My vet is off today, so I won't get any help there on pain meds until tomorrow morning (after I am at work - and not sure how fast I could even get my hands on them anyway). How long is the longest you'd let him rest before trying again? It's a balance between letting him rest (physically and mentally) and not waiting so long he "can't" do them.

    Quote Originally Posted by outrag View Post
    Yukon wears the harness solely for the purpose of me helping him "downstairs". I try and get him to go upstairs on his own with me monitoring so it works his back end. Downstairs is a disaster waiting to happen if it's more than a few steps, I don't even risk it, even if his front end is better.

    Good thoughts with you and Rock
    how do you help him? how much do you hold up? off the ground or just enough to keep weight off? part of the issue is getting rocky to trust me in this aspect.
    he lets me walk beside holding the back end up a touch but not the front




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    Last edited by Tanya; 09-11-2017 at 07:36 AM.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Oh poor Rocky. Do you know what's going on with his shoulder? Is it arthritis or something else? And is Rocky on some type of pain medication? Maybe he is reluctant to go downstairs because he's in pain.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  6. #6
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    how do you help him? how much do you hold up? off the ground or just enough to keep weight off? part of the issue is getting rocky to trust me in this aspect.
    he lets me walk beside holding the back end up a touch but not the front

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I'm not carrying Yukon, only taking the weight off going downstairs by using the front end of the help-em-up harness. It's very easy and prevents him from taking a nasty spill. I do have to lift him in and out of my vehicle, but in all other cases he's walking. When he gets to the point where he can't go "upstairs" , I'm not sure if he'll let me use the back end of the harness to assist.
    Griffin growing up!

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    Yukon My Wonderful Yellow Lab 11/20/06 - 03/12/19 Will cherish the memories!!!!
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  7. #7
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    So the shoulder seems to be muscle based? like you touch it and it is "jumpy". The vet felt around there I could confirm with him. I assume there may be some arthritis maybe as well. Just based on him being an old lab :P

    I should have worked when he felt better to let me help lift the weight off the shoulders. He would freeze up more when I tried...he isn't sure how to lean into it yet I don't think.

  8. #8
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    I'm at a loss, Tanya....but sending tons of good thoughts that you and Rocky will be able to work around this.

    This is the kind of thing that makes dogs like Chihuahuas as popular as they are, I think.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    I'm at a loss, Tanya....but sending tons of good thoughts that you and Rocky will be able to work around this.

    This is the kind of thing that makes dogs like Chihuahuas as popular as they are, I think.
    Yes and this is why I want a smaller dog next time. 50-60pd tops. even if it is a lab. I want to be able to carry them. Funny - I was all "I love big dogs' but after the reality of owning and paying for a "larger" dog (rock is actually only 80 or so pounds) and having had Penny (40-45pds) I now want "medium". A bit cheaper and there is a lot to be said about being able to carry a dog if needed (though I don't think i'll be in this house when my next dog is a senior - but honestly I was lucky Rocky didn't have a shoulder in jury or knee injury or anything and that he's made it this far).

  10. #10
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Yes small dogs are more convenient, but I still love big dogs more
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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