He would still get some pretty good resistance exercise in the water if he has his feet on the bottom. A lake with a gradual slope and him traveling parallel to the shore might work. The more relaxed water experiences he has the better he will get.

I have read in a couple of sources that eating cartledge can help joints. Raw tracheas would give a good dose. Oma's pride has them.

They do make lifejacket vests for dogs to use in water therapy. It offers good support and he can still move his legs and work those muscles.

It would be so great if your trainer can help him learn to tolerate the swimming pool. If he's willing to stand on the step I'll bet with lots of praise, positive reinforcement, and taking it slow he could work his way into the pool. And using a favorite toy as a lure/reward is not a bad idea, IMO.

Wow, I am sorry about the hip dysphasia diagnoses, but at least there is a medical reason to explain some of his aggressive behavior. The good news is that there are steps you can take to help ease the pain in his hips. Sarah already mentioned the adaquan, which would be my first choice considering how warn his hip socket already are and the amount of pain he is experiencing.

My 23 month old rott also has mild hip dysphasia, and was diagnosed around 7 months of age. So far I have been treating him with oral supplements and he is doing really well on them. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain and has great mobility. I don’t have access to a place for him to swim but I do walk him and let him do some running around on our property. Should there come a time when the oral supplement aren’t doing enough for him then I too will start him on the adaquan therapy before I would chose hip replacement surgery.

Good Luck,

Vet-Stem is the company doing the new stem cell treatments in dogs and horses, they cultivate the cells from the dogs own fat.
IT looks to have pretty promising results even though it is still experimental. There is a place on the website to find vets participating in the studies and treatment.

Nico partially separated her pelvis about 4 years ago at a dock dogs competition, she slipped on the wet runway.
I was horrified, i was worried she would be either be lame and in pain or need surgery that cost more than my car.

We did acupuncture several times, which she seemed to really enjoy and would totally relax into it, a chiropractic adjustment and massage combined with low activity for several months.
We then resumed swimming on lead so she didnt over do it.
She had a couple shots of something as well, Im assuming it was the Adequan because i know it wasnt pain medicine or steroids.
We also did lots of glucosamine/chondroiten, Ester C, the Omega 3 to help with inflammation and baby aspirin when she was gimpy.
She did slow down quite a bit after it but has stayed pretty darn active for a senior dog with a fairly major hip injury.

I know that an injury isnt the same as HD but the alternative methods really did make a huge difference pretty quickly in her mobility and her comfort level.

Another thing is a therapy pool/underwater treadmill. More beneficial than actually swimming, and it may not freak him out so badly. As I tell everyone, Adequan is the best. Combining it with ester C is the absolute best. Good luck, and I'm glad we went off the behavioral beaten path and focused on a medical reason. Knowing is half the battle!

I am really hoping that the medical reason is the ONLY reason for this behavior. He's been getting very scary lately. If pain medication doesn't start calming him down I may have to give him up after all. He keeps attacking Vidar and then will turn and snap at me when I try to pull him off of Vidar. He has also had some outbursts of general aggression with me. He's always been the sort of dog that likes to snuggle and be hugged and loves to have his face next to mine and stroked. Lately he has been growling and snapping at me when I try to do this even when I'm doing it lightly with no chance of accidentally hurting him. I'm starting to become afraid of touching him.

My vet said that aspirin is probably not the best choice since it can cause upset stomach. He instead suggested Rimadyl. I read that this can cause liver problems though, so I'm not inclined to use it. I'm considering the adequan, because everyone speaks so highly of it, but my vet does not carry or administer that particular medication so I will have to find another vet who does. Are there any side effects with adequan therapy that I should know about? Is it a pill or a shot? How often should he be getting it? I'm also planning to give him vitamins C, E and selenium because I heard those were good vitamin therapies. So "Ester C" helps with inflammation? Is that a pill I can get? Do I have to get all these vitamins from the vet or can I just go to the local pharmacy and get the human variety. If so... what dosage does a dog his size need? I got him weighed and he is only around 85 lbs., which is less than I had thought. I guess his ideal weight is probably about 70 lbs. so that he will have less weight to carry on his hips.

I bought Garm a life jacket yesterday and my friends told me we could use their pool once it stops raining here. Our trainer suggested that we take Vidar swimming in front of Garm and just let him watch the first couple of times so that he can see that Vidar is having fun and is not going to drown. He said that many times that is all it takes to get dogs over the fear. We'll have to wait for the weather to get warmer before we can go swimming anyway. It's the rainy season and in California that means it's COLD.

Good choice on not using the Rimadyl. Have you researched Duramaxx (sp?)

This is what I use if I need to.

Also, have you had his teeth checked lately? Infections can happen without you even being aware of them, so if it is pain, it might be coming from a bad tooth as well.

Your vet CAN order Adequan and should do so if you ask. If he won't then he's being cheap.

Adequan therapy begins with a loading dose of 2 injections/week for 4 weeks. Then you give it as needed. In my case, I prefer to give it once a month.

Your vet (or vet tech) can teach you how to give an IM injection (if you are comfortable doing so) then write you a prescription for Adequan, which you can purchase online for less than what your vet will charge you. :wink:

Ester-C can be purchased wherever you can find it...I get mine at Costco. Does not need a prescription or a vet.

I give 2 500mg Ester-C tablets in the morning and another 2 in the evening...2000mg each day, right in the food.

Wanted to add:

Ask your vet if you can do a trial of Adequan. Novartis should supply the medication free, and will probably jump at the chance since your vet does not stock it. All the vet has to do is call Novartis and speak to the rep. If he won't call then you can call Novartis and get the ball rolling. I did this with my dog.

 Quote: juliana mckenzie

I'm considering the adequan, because everyone speaks so highly of it, but my vet does not carry or administer that particular medication so I will have to find another vet who does. Are there any side effects with adequan therapy that I should know about? Is it a pill or a shot? How often should he be getting it? I'm also planning to give him vitamins C, E and selenium because I heard those were good vitamin therapies. So "Ester C" helps with inflammation? Is that a pill I can get? Do I have to get all these vitamins from the vet or can I just go to the local pharmacy and get the human variety. If so... what dosage does a dog his size need?

Not to be short, but do a google search for "leerburg adequan" or "leerburg ester c" if you don't want to use the site search function. There is so much written about these things on here from the last few years. I could tell you a lot, and still it wouldn't compare to the existing threads.

BUT-Adequan is also available for horses, which is what I use. I avoid the whole vet rx nightmare by getting it from horse people, and then dialing down the dosage. A teeny portion of dogs in a study had short-lived diarrhea, and the shot burns when you give it. It's simply polysulfated glucosaminoglycan...no harmful drug side-effects like Rimadyl, and it actually addresses the PROBLEM-not the symptoms alone. You can get Ester C anywhere-Walgreen's, Wal-Mart, etc. I give 1000mg for normal big dogs, and up to 1500-2000mg if a dog has symptoms. http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0039.htm

I am very sorry he has HD; however, I am glad it's not a temp. problem alone. Your description of him from puppyhood just did not fit in with a "fearbiter," at least to me. So glad you kept an open mind and gave him the benefit of the doubt.