Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

[SavingGrace]

Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

So we've got a 2 year old CC girl who has mild arthritis in her knees and mild hip dysplasia. My question, how much exercise is too much and how much is not enough? I'm trying to keep her on an exercise regimen but don't want to over-do it with her (mostly worried about her knees). I've got the supplements under control so I don't need any help there, but I know exercise is beneficial, I'm just not sure how much is enough. I can tell when she, herself, has overdone it (with play or being too excited) but I want to make sure I'm giving her the right amount of structured exercise as well (how long to walk her, how often, etc?) that won't overly stress her joints or hips.

Anyone been through this with a CC?

 

[Sadies Mom]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Does she like swimming? Or if you can teach her to swim, that would be great exercise and easy on the joints.

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Swimming is an option - we have a therapy swim place by us. Still, I'm not sure how often this should be done. It's quite expensive. I've heard in other breeds that regular walks can actually help (by strengthening the muscle etc) but I'm not sure if this is the case, or how much I can walk her without causing issues for her later in her life.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Swimming if you can definitly. Do you have a pool, or a lake/pond nearby you can take her to?

Walks on grass instead of pavement.

A light jog might be ok, but I'd avoid RUNNING when possible.

Its probly going to take some trial and error to be honest. You'll have to slowly up the amount of exercise and then watch her closely for signs that its to much. If at any point she's showing signs of limping etc I'd back down a couple steps.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Also, I have arthritis. Keep in mind that every day is different. Some days I can do anything I want with no paint no problem. Others, I can barely hold the dog leashes to take them outside.....so watch her closely, even after you think you know whats a good level for her. If it hurts today its not worth it. BUT, she may also require a warmup period too, where she'll be a bit gimpy at first and then warm up once she's moving. Like I said, trial and error :/

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Thanks ruth, this is helpful. I've been doing shorter walks (not puppy short, but not adult dog long), maybe .5 mile or so each night once it cools off. I let her walk on the grass when she wants and there's a big grass hill near us that I've been walking her up and down (trying to build muscle in the back legs). We go for a lap around our block and then another if she's up to it. Most of the time she's up for a 2nd lap but is heading back in at the end of it. If she seems like she wants to go longer maybe we'll start going longer.

We don't have a pool but the dog park I found that I like does have a pond. The problem is it's not fenced in and lots of people bring their dogs there, which is totally fine, Grace is very social. BUT she just goes into the water up to her belly and stands there. She'll walk around some, but swimming is a new concept to her. Maybe swimming therapy will help with that too.

I was thinking of starting off with 2 half hour sessions a month to see how it goes. I'd like to do more, but it's expensive.

She's always a bit gimpy in the morning and after a day where her dog friends have come over, she's very gimpy. She loosens up as the day gets on but I know she over did it that day. I'm worried she'll pay for over doing it later in her life. Is this true? Or is it more like if you keep exercising and keep her trim it'll be more of the same?

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

I'm also curious - because if you don't exercise her enough, wouldn't that make her arthritis worse?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Yah, there's a middle point, but it can be hard to find cause everyone and every animal is different. You'll have to watch her and decide you can do an extra block today, or do one less block today, based on how she's doing. SOME pain after an activity isn't nessecarly bad, but it can be over done too. Its a judgement call. You have to keep the joint (tendons ligaments and muscles) moving cause they can stiffen and atrophy, but TO much can damage the joint worse.

The other thing to look at, heat is a HUGE pain reliever for arthritis. I know it sounds funny considering how hot the summer's been, but a warm to hot damp towel draped over her hips might help her loosen up faster if she'd tolerate it.

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Is this also part of why my solid black dog loves to lay in the hot sun and would...all day if I let her? Maybe being warm helps loosen her?

It might be a dumb question so sorry

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Some dogs just like heat, but its possible! When my hands first started acting up, before I was diagnosed, I can remember turning on the hot water at the sink to wash my hands.....and wanting to spend the rest of the day there because within seconds of putting my hands under the water they'd stop hurting! The doctor later confirmed that heat does wonders for arthritis pain. Obviously yes, you can over do it, but I can totally believe that the heat from the sun would feel good on her joints.

 

[STEVSH]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

My catahoula has spinal arthritis to the point where she can't feel her back feet most days. We were instructed to take her on short walks (on leash at all times), so we do about a mile and just casually. And the vet said to just "read her" to see where her pain is at that day. We give her an aspirin on the bad days, but I will be moving her to Rimadyl soon. She's 10 and it's been progressing for the past few years at least.
There are bad days where she lays down all day, and then there are days where she goes into the "play position" in the backyard with Topaz and just lunges at her to play really hard. It blows my mind that she can still do that!
And I agree with the heat! Blue lays in the sun all day long and will move with it to stay in it. She HATES water, but that's also because she's only been near Lake Michigan and our cabin's lake water - both freezing cold. And winters here in WI are hard on her too. I'd "retire" her to my parents in San Antonio if I could

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

You might try one of the heated beds for the winter? They're not cheap, at big dog sizes, but for those cold winters they might be worth it.

 

[STEVSH]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

We do have a heating pad actually. I wonder if I should put that under her bed some night. Good idea!

 

[STEVSH]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

And we do have heated floors in the family room downstairs. So she spends most of her winter down there laying on the carpet

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Heh, I don't blame her!

Give the heating pad a try. The beds are nice cause they're pressure activated, when the dog lays on them they turn on, so no need to manually turn them on or off.

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

SteveSH and Ruth your advice is so wonderful!! Our girl also had a spine infection (really the list goes on and on) and she's got some significant bone growth, so I'm always watching her back legs looking for signs from this. We had her on Clavamox for 8 weeks and think we got it, but without the right scans, it's hard to tell. Her white blood cell count is fine, so I assume we're ok - but the bone growth, you'd think would bother her - doesn't seem to phase her at all. I'm not sure when she got the spine infection - it was found in her 2nd surgery. Because of her liver shunt she's been on antibiotics most of her life, so I'm dumbfounded.

She sleeps in our bed mostly, but boy does she like the heat. She's our Marilyn Monroe dog - lol! She will lay right between us and snuggle with whoever is warmer that night. She has a little bed in the living room that she lays on when she's having secret playtime with her toys (jokes on her, we can all see her) so maybe I'll get a heating pad for that bed to help. I like the idea of pressure activated!

 

[ruthcatrin]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Took me forever to remember but heres a insert for any dog bed: Amazon.com: KH Pet Bed Warmer, 13 Watts, Large, 11 By 24 Inches: Pet Supplies

 

[SavingGrace]

Re: Arthritis & Mild Hip Dysplasia - How much exercise is too much? Not enough?

Very nice Ruth! Thank you!! We've got an outlet right by her living room bed, perfect.