How hard do you push?

[kimbersmom]

Kimber's 11 and keeps chugging along. She takes half a rimadyl per day and that keeps her mobile. Starting in April, she began having trouble with the three steps leading to our front door. By May, she was refusing to do the stairs at all unless we lifted up her back end for her. I asked her vet about it and the vet said even labs who have not had spinal injuries can have back end weakness by age 11. It was very much an "eh, she's old, this happens" response.

We went on a week's vacation in late May and our neighbors watched Kimber for us. They walk their dogs a lot and we encouraged them to include Kimber. I imagine some kind of Rocky montage, because when we got her back, she ran right up our front steps! Within a day, though, she wanted help.

Thinking she was training *us*, I tried bribing her with cheese and making her go up the stairs. She could do it, but she slips. It scares the bejezus out of her.

For about a month, I've been taking her to swim twice a week. She *loves* it but I don't really see her back end strengthening much. I can also break out the harness with the therabands that makes her work her back legs; she doesn't love that so much.

So...short story long- would you accept that her back end is just weak and aim for maintenance? Or would you ramp up the rehab exercises again, even though they may cause discomfort, in the hopes that the weakness is reversible? At what point do you just say enough?

(PS I'll still take her swimming when possible because of her joy.)

[Scoutpout]

honestly, at 11, i probably would give a good try to get her back end strength built up more. Its not going to get better without your help, and in reality, she could have another 3 or 4 years with you, and as you know, the older they get, the harder it is to improve that kind of thing, never mind the decline that happens with age.

You say she loooooves swimming, can you take her a bit more often? maybe a round of her physio exercises followed by a good swim session, the swim would act as both a reward and a good way for her to exercise a bit more.

only you know her, and can judge how much exactly to try, and when you're trying it, how hard to push her.

[LucyTudeOn4Feet]

Why not find out how much the neighbors were walking her, and follow suit, if it worked so well?

[kimbersmom]

Why not find out how much the neighbors were walking her, and follow suit, if it worked so well?

The husband was off days that week so apparently Kimber was getting mini-walks throughout the day. That would be hard to replicate but even so, it only lasted the one night. I think now it was the adrenaline of our being home that gave her extra oomph.

[Berna]

Cookie is 10 and his right back leg has muscle atrophy after the FHO surgery he had last August. We are trying to build the muscles back, and I can tell you, is it a slow process! He's going to physical therapy since January, and we've started swimming in April. I take him to the fountain on a daily basis, if weather permits, and we are up to half an hour now of walking in the fountain. I also take him swimming in the river when I have a chance. His FHO leg is still half the size of his normal leg. I push, but I also have to be reasonable. Back in January, our walks lasted for 20-30 minutes max. Now they are up to two hours. I know that I can't walk him for as long as I did before the injury (we walked 30+ kilometers back then!).

Maybe a harness could help for the stairs? Definitely continue with the swimming and try to build the muscles back. It's slow, but it's worth it.

[POPTOP]

I saw a lot of difference in Mardi when Archie was around her and when he was not. Sometimes I would take her out by herself and she would seem a lot less mobile; around him, a little more mobile.

Keep up exercise as tolerated even swimming where you can support her if needed, also a life vest. Keeping the joints as pliable as possible really helps. Do range of motion exercises every day while Kimber is lying down, very gently. That way the joints are being moved without weight bearing.

Sending good thoughts.

[Annette47]

One thing that helped a lot with Chloe’s muscle atrophy after her tendon injury was to have her wear one of those arm floats for little kids on her bad leg while she was doing the underwater treadmill as it increased resistance just on that leg. We had to strap it on with vet wrap to keep it from sliding off but it helped. The other thing they suggested was tying a balloon to her leg and having her swim, again, the increased drag forces them to work the muscles more. We never did that because she was pretty much back to normal (her bad leg was 1/2 the size of the other one when we started) by swimming season.

At 11, I would push a bit ... most of mine have made it to 15 or more, so that’s still relatively young to me. Mulder was still competing join Obedience at 11.

[JenC]

Find out what your friends were doing with her....

[Doreen Davis]

I would work on strengthening what you can, our guys went on til 14 and 15. We did opt for a ramp for Ruthie but she had knee and hip issues. I guess the question is do you 'really' know what the issue is at this point? Has someone looked at her recently and diagnosed the issue. So is it pain that makes her avoid the ramp or weakness. I thought for years it was just Ruthie's knees but it ended up being her hips too. We made the ramp wide enough so she wasn't 'scared' by it, just a gradual slope that everyone (two legged and 4 legged learned to use.

[Sue-Ram]

Ram also has muscle atrophy still in his surgery leg. Due to his age I don't expect it to ever be the way it was prior to surgery. He always leads with his good leg when using the stairs or dancing. I have noticed the heat we have this summer seems to bother him more than it has in the past so we haven't been for a regular walk in awhile. I do push him when I take him swimming because it is non weight bearing, we usually go 3-4 times a week and he's always pooped out when we get home.