Hi All,

Just a brief recap- if you guys remember, my pup, Matrix had a leg injury when he was at the Breeders for socializing. Vet had given him CEPHALEXIN for three weeks. This is his second week off medication. He is doing very well.
We have started him on long walks instead of hard running. Though he runs and plays in the park for about 10 minutes and then I take him for about 2 miles walk in the morning and then try about 2 miles in the evening. On a daily basis he does 3 miles of walk and last weekend he did about 4 miles. He gets tired with 4 miles walk but 2.5-3.00 miles just makes him little relaxed.

1. Is 4 miles everyday too harsh for him? I want his legs to get little stronger before he can have any ppd training.

1a. Does walking a dog build his muscle? (I am factoring out the diet part here)

Also, due to this injury, we had to change his diet to 30-50% RAW and the rest dry- home cooked food.(only for now) He lost his definition. NO, he is not fat but lost some definition here and there.

2. What is recommend?

He loves fruits and the other day he got his teeth into a whole cantalope and ate the whole thing in one sitting?

3. Is natural sugar bad for the dogs? I know about the process sugar.


Thanks,

Rashmi

I don't know what age your dog is, but can give you example of my pup.
We had very bad case of pano that lasted for almost two months non-stop on just one leg. I had to keep him in minimum activity because he woud run himself against all the pain. Dog was saving his foot and it became weaker than other ones. Now that pain has passed, his foot fleshed out and now you would not even know that he was so lame.
I don't know what that medication is, but if it is painkiller i would not put that much pressure on him. Anyway i would spare him untill pain passes.

My boy is 18 months old and does a jogging paced 4 miles in the morning most days without much problem. He's never had any medical problems though, I would wait until your boy is 100% - but yes walking builds muscle, as will any exercise.

Thanks Mike.

My pup is 9 months old. I don't think he is in pain as he has not limped even once.
Thanks,

Rashmi

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Thanks Mike...My pup is 9 months old. I don't think he is in pain as he has not limped even once. ..Thanks, Rashmi

I'm glad the pup got over that infection so well! CEPHALEXIN is an antibiotic, and it sounds like it worked just as it's meant to.

I feed fruit. I believe dogs have evolved eating fruit, since they are omnivorous scavengers; in the wild, I believe they would eat fallen fruit.

Just like people, they can get diarrhea from too much fruit at once, but that's easy to fix by cutting it back to a piece or two a day.

Grapes (and raisins) are toxic to dogs, and the pits of stone fruits are, too. Also, apple seeds contain the same toxin as those pits, but they are much smaller; I think a dog would have to eat a lot of apples to be affected. Just MHO, though; others may certainly prefer to be 100% cautious. Before I found out about grapes and raisins, I did feed a few of them to my dogs with no ill effects, but I don't now.

I agree with Mike about walking being a good way to build muscle back after an injury/illness. Swimming, too, if it were a different time of year!

I just Googled "dogs, recuperating, exercise," and the results I read said walking on leash and hydrotherapy.........and just watch for signs of discomfort (limping, favoring). So it sounds like you are doing fine! (I'm sure you have checked with the vet.) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Also, when I walk my dog and he is too tired to go on, he will literally go lay down under a tree in the shade. Figure out what signs your dog gives you that he's had enough, figure out at what point he exhibits these signs, take into account the temperature and weather conditions, naturally if it's hot in the middle of the day he's gonna wear out quicker, then next time cut it back so u give him enough exercise without reaching this point of exhaustion. I always carry water with me when he's going on a long walk. He's alot more active in the winter with the reduced heat in Florida, and when riding on a bike people think its really cute when they see him drinking outta my spare water bottle, i just squirt it into his mouth n he laps it up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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...when they see him drinking outta my spare water bottle, i just squirt it into his mouth n he laps it up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hey, Mike, aside from all the excellent points in your post, I can't believe I never thought of this! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I carry the water, of course, but it's the screw-top kind --- also a collapsible bowl, which is not very handy (wastes water unless you want to funnel it back into the bottle from the bowl.....).

Now I'm going to get that squirty kind of bottle instead!! Duh.

Connie,

Thanks a lot. I guess I said it too fast. Friday my pup showed some limping and it became worst on Sunday. Today he was fine. Took him out at 6:00am in the morning for an hour or so...he jumped around and then he walked almost a mile without any limping. Have a Vet's appointment tomorrow but both the vet and the breeeder said that it could be just growing pains....His mother had gone thru growing pains also around this age.

Rashmi

Rasmi, I hope your boy comes out ok. I know this was a freak injury and I hope he makes a full recovery.

Thanks Will.

I hope so too.

I guess I should be little more patient. Leg injury takes time to heal.

Rashmi