Hound dog
Nana's are Beautiful
No fancy vet. In fact, no vet period. No Occupational Therapist (OT)'s or PTs. lol
A few months ago this poor old boy (14) could ever so barely make it across the patio, at a snail's pace.....literally. I was worried. Age caught up to Rowdy all at once. Last fall he was as he always has been. Ok so maybe not puppy like but normal. Then this spring I noticed he was not moving. And I mean NOT moving......as in barely getting up long enough to eat some food and do his business. He would not get up and move around on his own unless given no choice.
So we started working with him. A walk every single day. First just as far down the alley as he could make it, which was about halfway and back and he'd collapse on the patio unable to make it back into the kennel without resting. Then he made it the length of the alley and back. Then around the block. Then two. Travis kept him at that for quite a while as his pace was still terribly slow and it seemed to tire him.
Travis and I discussed the putting him down thing. My fear is that if I could not get his movement level up before winter, the cold would stop him moving completely and he'd likely freeze to death. Hellova way to go in my opinion. Not to mention there would be a burial issue because I could not do it in frozen ground, my yard is tough enough due to it once being a parking lot type deal. But we kept working with him. I wanted to give him the summer and fall because he was willing to try his best and he continues to grin at me.
The other day Travis decided to let him go where he wanted. He took the normal "small" walk the dogs take, about a mile!! After a couple of days doing it, we added Maggie in because she needs a longer walk and it gives him incentive to move a little faster. Oh, he did wonderfully! Ok, he's still slow, but Maggie picked up his pace quite a lot and he was just beaming! Maggie was thrilled to death to walk with Rowdy and walking her the 2 miles with Molly first kept her from going too fast for him.
I've also noticed that when he's in the yard he tends to get up and roam around again, which he would not do in the beginning. He gets up and greets the girls when they come outside too.
So I'm holding on my decision for now. I did tell Travis though, now that cold weather is moving in we'll have to up his walks to twice a day to make certain he is up and moving and stays that way. If I see issues, well then.......we know the option. But so far it looks like he should do ok over the winter unless it's a really bad one.
I'm so happy with his progress because he really had me worried for quite a long while.
A few months ago this poor old boy (14) could ever so barely make it across the patio, at a snail's pace.....literally. I was worried. Age caught up to Rowdy all at once. Last fall he was as he always has been. Ok so maybe not puppy like but normal. Then this spring I noticed he was not moving. And I mean NOT moving......as in barely getting up long enough to eat some food and do his business. He would not get up and move around on his own unless given no choice.
So we started working with him. A walk every single day. First just as far down the alley as he could make it, which was about halfway and back and he'd collapse on the patio unable to make it back into the kennel without resting. Then he made it the length of the alley and back. Then around the block. Then two. Travis kept him at that for quite a while as his pace was still terribly slow and it seemed to tire him.
Travis and I discussed the putting him down thing. My fear is that if I could not get his movement level up before winter, the cold would stop him moving completely and he'd likely freeze to death. Hellova way to go in my opinion. Not to mention there would be a burial issue because I could not do it in frozen ground, my yard is tough enough due to it once being a parking lot type deal. But we kept working with him. I wanted to give him the summer and fall because he was willing to try his best and he continues to grin at me.
The other day Travis decided to let him go where he wanted. He took the normal "small" walk the dogs take, about a mile!! After a couple of days doing it, we added Maggie in because she needs a longer walk and it gives him incentive to move a little faster. Oh, he did wonderfully! Ok, he's still slow, but Maggie picked up his pace quite a lot and he was just beaming! Maggie was thrilled to death to walk with Rowdy and walking her the 2 miles with Molly first kept her from going too fast for him.
I've also noticed that when he's in the yard he tends to get up and roam around again, which he would not do in the beginning. He gets up and greets the girls when they come outside too.
So I'm holding on my decision for now. I did tell Travis though, now that cold weather is moving in we'll have to up his walks to twice a day to make certain he is up and moving and stays that way. If I see issues, well then.......we know the option. But so far it looks like he should do ok over the winter unless it's a really bad one.
I'm so happy with his progress because he really had me worried for quite a long while.