AchyPaw Canine Mobility Advice

An important element of what I do is education….or maybe the term should be awareness. Nothing is really rocket science but it is just making the Mums and Dads of the dogs I see, aware of environmental or daily living changes they can make to help the mobility of their pet. 

The classic one is flooring, and I’ve mentioned this one many times. Wooden floors are lovely and easy to keep clean, but little paws, older paws, arthritic legs, find them tricky to keep their footing and sometimes slip and slide. Mats and rugs help enormously. You don’t have to carpet the whole house, but adding ‘islands’ of rugs as places the dogs can use to get up or lie down on, can make such a difference. Doing the homework each dog parent is given – tailored massage routines that can be done daily – help enormously as well as doing the appropriate recommended exercises. 

AchyPaw Mobility Advice

Poppy’s Mum has done EVERYTHING I suggested since my first visit last week. I was met today with “Poppy loves walking over the poles, she really lifts her hind leg to get over them, can you show me again the Incline exercise?” She showed me the little buggy she bought for £15 from the Friday Ad which she uses so that Poppy can be pushed to the park while her other dogs walk along side, and can then get out to play with her brother and sister. This means Poppy doesn’t get tired before she actually reaches the Park and her siblings don’t feel like they are missing out on their exercise. Everyone is happy and it has really benefitted her mobility. Poppy's Mum showed me the 'half steps' I suggested she bought so that Poppy could get in and out of the garden more comfortably.  She is even going to buy some more.  As I sat down on the floor to work with Poppy I had to move away the lavender heat pad that Mum had bought for Poppy to be placed over her hips after a walk to help ease out her muscles (not hot, just gentle warm heat). She has even bought a new bed for Poppy with sides so that she can fit the new memory foam mattress inside and Poppy can sleep on the floor without any draughts aggravating her arthritis. Add to that the daily massage she gives Poppy and I think the entire check list has been checked and some. And that’s just the first week. 

Very heart-warming…well done Poppy’s Mum.