We had Abbey boarded with our vet while we went on spring break vacation. Normally we'd leave her with a neighbor, but we felt better having her stay at the vet where she can be watched by her favorite technician and their schedule will help her be on schedule, and her lack of eating will be monitored. The positive thing is she actually ate while we were gone! We asked that she be evaluated as she recently started licking at her right front leg and her right hip area. I thought she was hurting. They did X-rays on her which showed she definitely has arthritis on her back and her leg, and she has confirmed hip dysplasia with NO cushioning . But she is so playful and loves her walks so we are doing something right so far with her still playing and not limping. The last 2 separate snow days we had she did not slow down, but did sleep hard. Vet did not recommend a change in her prescription medicine or the supplements but gave us recommendations when she does have a bad day. I'm hopeful with a few extra days of TLC to help the hotspots forming that these will go away. It's bad on her left side but it's our fault we let that spot get bad. With my oldest being 6 yrs old he can be an extra pair of hands around the house and help take care of things and make it easier to ensure top care for Abbey. She's been such a great dog keeping my kids safe I want to repay her by keeping her comfortable and happy.

Good dog Abbey!

It's hard for the humans. It's hard to watch the decline. I wish the news were better, I wish more of them lived to be pain free in their old age. May Abbey be joyful, may her pain be managed, may you have many more years with her.

I feel the same way. I had no idea how much pain she really is in. She's still so playful and the pain isn't slowing her down but WOW. I watched her land on her right paw weird. It was like she didn't even notice her paw was knuckled. When I picked up her front leg to see how it Is and compared her front left to her front right leg, her left paw was tensing up, she licked at my hand a lot. Her right paw was relaxed and she could care less what I was doing. We'll be giving her extra care as recommended by the vet for a few days and see how that goes. If the knuckling continues I may check with the vet to find out if we need to fit her with a special boot or something.

I have some really good orthopedic shoes that Eli never wore. I got them from Canada so I ordered several sizes not sure which would work. If your interested please pm me and we can go over sizes.

It sounds like she still enjoying life. I know what you mean by wanting to pay her back for a lifetime of dedication. Seniors are just the best and I still miss taking care of my boy Eli.

Thank you! I will let you know. I am in Tennessee so I'm not sure where you're at. Having them mailed might cost a lot of money to buy from you if they don't fit certain specifications of standard sizes. I will still check with you if that time comes. I haven't seen her knuckle her paw again but I also haven't been good about observing her while exercising her... life just keeps happening so I was more focused on making sure she had time to exercise at her pace while I got things done. The "hide the toy" game has been an awesome method of exercising Abbey because she NEVER uses her nose to find her toy

I wasn't thinking of charging you for the shoes. I'm in CA so its a ways to TN. Glad to hear she doesn't need them now.

Awww poor thing! But it sounds like you are on top of it and helping her feel better.

What is her medication regimen and also which supplements is she on and how much?

She's on Deramax. She was on Doggie Daillies daily then the vet said this is too diluted, so we switched to a different glucosamine supplement that also has turmeric.

My experience is that often higher doses of a product help, as well as combination products. Many glucosamine products do not have a good mix of ingredients, and they are often at low doses, so they are ineffective.