i've heard of dog gone pain.

i plan to keep teagan on her raw diet but i'm going to be more careful about whole bones, for a little bit anyways, and see if i notice any difference. my guess is the vet is being overcautious in this regard though.

i did get her supplement for the joints (glucosamine, ester-c, and something else i'm blanking on at the moment) and i'm really hoping that, w/weight loss and joint-positive exercise will make a big difference for her.

i really hope the urinary weirdness is related to this, and not some other unfound issue.

I am just going to relate this story to you for ideas, I know the symtoms are not the same....

One of my fellow search dogs is a male neutered golden, he was 3.5 years old at the time of the story.

Out of nowhere for about 3 months the dog started to have accidents at rest. Pee while laying down and relaxing/sleeping.

I guess this is not uncommon with female spayed dogs, but is not so common with boy dogs.

They did the regular checks for infections and nothing was found.

The vet wanted to put the dog on some medication that strenghtens the urinary muscles for life.

In a last ditch chance they took the dog to a doggie chiropractor that was reccommended by someone else. I was not privy to her (chiro) exact words, but she felt that there was some nerve impingement and weakness in the back end, and she gave the dog an "adjustment".

The dog was cured in a single session. Don't ask me how...

This dog is raw fed btw.

When you are out of options sometimes it is worth looking into alternatives. Dogs are not succeptable to the palcebo effect so you should be able to tell if your "alternative practitioner" is worth it by if the dog is improving or not.

Hope you both get some releif soon.

thanks jennifer! i'm actually thinking of trying acupuncture, and then maybe chiro. i took my disabled bunny to a chiropractor for a while.

it is more common for spayed females to develop incontinence problems. i don't know why, my guess is hormonal, but i was doing some research last week and it kept coming up.

she's not peeing tonnes now - she's back to holding it. peed after work yesterday - 19 hours. did not pee last night or this morning. and i saw her drinking the regular water, so....

i'd also like to see her poop today, she didn't yesterday.

the other thing that now worries me - last night we were playing fetch in the hallway - she was happy and bouncy - but whenever she ran after the rubber bone, she bunny hopped.

i did a very short test outside last night, where we did a little jog, and she did not bunny hop.

is the bunny hopping just something she's doing then? or is this another (bad) sign of hip dysplasia? the floor in the hall is those crappy linoleum (sp?) tiles, maybe she has a harder time getting a grip? could that mean one thing one way or the other w/her hips?

edit: connie, the bone meal is solid gold steamed bone meal. and the active ingredients in her joint supplement are glucosamine, MSM, and ester-C.

I keep thinking about your past threads on the exercising you were doing with her to build her up. For a dog with normal hips it would have been great for her, but if she does indeed have hip dysphasia then the jogging and carrying a pack could have definitely aggravated her hips. I think if she is in pain that would explain why she is avoiding peeing until she can’t hold it any longer. If you think about it, squatting down to pee puts a strain on the hips to hold her position and then bring her back up to stand.

Having a dog with mild hip dysphasia, I tend to focus on that so I could be wrong. But I think you should concentrate on pain control and rest for her with only some short walks. I know you just started her on aspirin and a joint supplement but these things need time to take effect. I haven’t used aspirin for pain control on my dog, so I do wonder if it is strong enough to ease her pain or if you should go with something a little stronger for a short while. If she continues to go so long without peeing, you may want to consider that since her holding it so long could create other problems. JMHO

Good Luck

thanks peggy.

i'd only run her past 5k once (nothing like the runs i do w/luc), but yes, i'm concerned it might have bothered her hips as well. and she carried not much more than 5lbs in her pack, not significant, but again - if she's prone it might have aggravated her.

i really hope i didn't aggravate to the point she can't return to how she was before, though she's never matched luc in terms of frequency of going to the washroom, so now i wonder if this wasn't bothering her from the first of me adopting her. i honestly just thought her wanting to sit etc during exercise was b/c she was overweight and lazy. sometimes on runs she would go quite fast (i'd be getting tempo runs w/her), and she's very strong.

right now i'm sticking to walking her - anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes - is the 45 minutes too long?

i want her to get the exercise since i think it will strengthen the muscles around her hips, and that should help (at least, that's my understanding) but also that she really does need to lose weight - that's the main reason why i ran w/her before, since the runs i did with her were just junk runs, b/c she is overweight. and if she's dysplasic, than it's even more important she lose the weight. i've got her down 4lbs in 6 weeks, but i'd like her to ideally be losing more around 1lb/week.

i'm not sure how to get her to lose the weight at an appropriate pace without her getting too much exercise - i know i could cut her food down hugely, but i guess i'm stuck on it seems unhealthy to lose weight w/out exercise.

it does make total sense to me that discomfort could be affecting how she pees, and poops. i hate that she goes so long without going to the washroom, it freaks me out.

any suggestions you have would be SO appreciated! seeing the bunny hops last night really freaked me out. i know lots of dogs live happy lives w/dysplasia but i'm still worried and upset right now, i hate the thought of her being in discomfort.

do you think the bunny hops could just be that surface of the hallway? neither vet is willing to say 100% she has dysplasia and the bone chip, since the xrays weren't to diagnose dysplasia, but both do see indicators. do dogs w/dysplasia just bunny hop sometimes but not always?

we're going to the dog pool tonight so she can swim and get in some low-impact exercise. i'm planning on taking her at least once a week for a 1/2 hour.

any thoughts you have would be really appreciated.

also, i was going to walk her to the dog pool tonight - about an hour and a half - i'm guessing that's definitely a bad idea?

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

right now i'm sticking to walking her - anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes - is the 45 minutes too long?

If it's a 45 minute leashed power walk on hard surfaces then it may be too much...and certainly right now if she's experiencing discomfort.

I found with my HD dog a slow and progressive build up was the best way to go. When he was diagnosed and, at that point, limping, walks were short and play time was short...10-15 minute sessions that were gradually increased. I always take my cue from him and adjust walks and how we play based on what I see. I prefer shorter, more frequent, exercise periods to very long ones.

 Quote:

i want her to get the exercise since i think it will strengthen the muscles around her hips

Yes, it will. Exercise is a good thing. It was suggested to me that walking uphill is better for hips than downhill. Soft surfaces, not hard. And again, taking your cue from Teagan, stop and rest when she needs to.

 Quote:

do you think the bunny hops could just be that surface of the hallway? neither vet is willing to say 100% she has dysplasia and the bone chip, since the xrays weren't to diagnose dysplasia, but both do see indicators. do dogs w/dysplasia just bunny hop sometimes but not always?

My dog has HD in both hips and he usually bunny hops....but not always. And because it's in both hips his back end will sometimes waddle when he walks (very obvious when you walk behind him)...but not always.

 Quote:

we're going to the dog pool tonight so she can swim and get in some low-impact exercise. i'm planning on taking her at least once a week for a 1/2 hour.

Swimming is the very best exercise of all. I envy you...I wish I had a dog pool nearby.

One other thing to consider is Adequan therapy. It's pricey but it made an enormous difference in my dog.

thanks sarah!

when i walk her, we're not going fast - not meandering, but i'm not pushing speed.

uphill is easier on knees, i would imagine it is as well for the hips. (the problem is you have go to back down eventually )

i haven't noticed her limping during walks. she generally looks fine. she does waddle sometimes, but - i thought that was her needing to lose some weight, though as i think about it it's not like her thighs are brushing together or anything, so that was probably dumb.

i do notice she's more square in the back that luc, if that makes sense. and she has this flat spot that almost looks like a depression sometimes in between her hips. that's a horrible description of it....

i googled aquaduan therapy quickly, i think i spelt it wrong though b/c all i found was on a gross weightlifters forum (veins that pop out give me the heebie jeebies), but it does look like something i should talk to the vet about. she told me it could take about 3-4 weeks for me to notice a change on the joint supplement, and about 6 weeks for it to really start working.

i'm pretty excited about the swimming! there's actually 2 dog pools in toronto.
i think what i'll do is take the subway over w/teagan tonight and then take about 20 minutes (leisurely) to walk down to the pool.

and i feel better that she can improve, pain-wise - it sounds like your dog did!

Jenni Williams told me about Adequan. Apparently, most vets tend to prescribe it once arthritis sets in...not before. And as she commented to me, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I agree.

The only downside to Adequan is that you have to do a loading dose of twice-weekly injections for 4 weeks...then you do it "as needed". I don't have to give True monthly injections but I prefer to.

If you have a good vet they can teach you how to give an IM injection so you can do it at home. Another way to get around the cost is asking to do a "trial" with the Novartis, the manufacturer. If you do a trial you'll might be able to get the medication free, or at a reduced cost.

http://www.adequancanine.us/

thank you sarah! i have to talk to the vet saturday or monday, so i'll bring it up then.

i can give sub-q injections, so i think i'd be comfortable doing IM injections.

also: last night i found a scab on the top of her back right hip. wonder if it's bothering her, so she's bothering at her hip.