Dog slowing down
Discussion
Starting to notice my dog flaking out earlier on long walks. He is full of energy to start with and then starts to lag behind to the extent that I have to keep stopping and to wait for him. Yesterday we walked about 1.5 miles to town (which he coped fine with), had a quick pint (me, the dog just had a rest), and then walked back. By the time we got home he seemed totally knackered.
He's coming up to 8 years old now, and up until last summer he could manage about 5 miles before slowing down like this. To be fair, he only gets a long walk into town a couple of times per week, the rest of the time is regular short walks of half a mile or so. So it could just be his fitness, but he doesn't seem to be out of breath/panting excessively.
I think it may be his joints (rear hips), especially as he often seems quite stiff the day after a good walk. He has had minor problems with them in the past - he was a bit overweight, and simply losing some weight (34kg down to 26kg) made the world of difference. He's half staffie, half ridgeback (build of a staffie, size of a ridgeback), so is quite a thick set dog, and I guess joint problems were always a likelihood.
Is this just to be expected for a dog of this stature at this age, or should we be looking to try to improve things/slow down the rate of deterioration?
His diet is probably not the best and maybe the first thing to make changes to. He mainly has Dr John Gold Medal with some of our leftovers added. Doesn't have any oil supplements or anything like that. Are there any dry foods pitched at easing joint problems? Or should we keep the Dr John and add supplements/medicated treats? I think I'd prefer to try this first as he has a terribly sensitive gut and we found his present food suits his digestion well!
He's coming up to 8 years old now, and up until last summer he could manage about 5 miles before slowing down like this. To be fair, he only gets a long walk into town a couple of times per week, the rest of the time is regular short walks of half a mile or so. So it could just be his fitness, but he doesn't seem to be out of breath/panting excessively.
I think it may be his joints (rear hips), especially as he often seems quite stiff the day after a good walk. He has had minor problems with them in the past - he was a bit overweight, and simply losing some weight (34kg down to 26kg) made the world of difference. He's half staffie, half ridgeback (build of a staffie, size of a ridgeback), so is quite a thick set dog, and I guess joint problems were always a likelihood.
Is this just to be expected for a dog of this stature at this age, or should we be looking to try to improve things/slow down the rate of deterioration?
His diet is probably not the best and maybe the first thing to make changes to. He mainly has Dr John Gold Medal with some of our leftovers added. Doesn't have any oil supplements or anything like that. Are there any dry foods pitched at easing joint problems? Or should we keep the Dr John and add supplements/medicated treats? I think I'd prefer to try this first as he has a terribly sensitive gut and we found his present food suits his digestion well!
My Springer's ~11 now - he's a rescue so I don't know for sure - and has had a couple of aches in his joints in the recent past and had generally slowed down a bit. Having done some research on here and the net I started him on a supplement called Yumove, cod liver oil, and vit E to keep his level up as apparently CLO can deplete it.
He's been like a different dog since then, more energetic and hasn't had any problems at all with his joints even through the winter.
See these other threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=921...
He's been like a different dog since then, more energetic and hasn't had any problems at all with his joints even through the winter.
See these other threads http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=921...
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