We have a 5 year old Chow Golden Lab mix who looks more like a chow. He has a very powerful frame and is muscular. His hind quarters always seemed a little stiff even as a pup. I have noticed recently that when he gets up from a laying position its a little harder for him in the hind region.
Yet he jumps and runs fast and will run for several miles and it does not seem to bother him. Do you think this could be a genetic problem or age setting in?
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We have a 5 year old Chow Golden Lab mix who looks more like a chow. He has a very powerful frame and is muscular. His hind quarters always seemed a little stiff even as a pup. I have noticed recently that when he gets up from a laying position its a little harder for him in the hind region.
Yet he jumps and runs fast and will run for several miles and it does not seem to bother him. Do you think this could be a genetic problem or age setting in?
Hi Arrow,
If it resembles a Chow, they do seem a bit stiff in the rear because their hind legs are short and they have straight hocks. But he shouldn't be having pain, and discomfort or problems getting up from a lying position would indicate that.
My dog, a Standard Schnauzer, was doing the same thing at 4 1/2 years old. She'd run, climb, jump and play rough with my larger male like everything was fine. When she was home or in the car, getting up from a lying position would give her pain. I started to notice that her front and shoulders were strong ike a bear, but the hind end was no where near as muscular as my boy. Is your dog muscular all over evenly, even the hips and hind quarters?
We took her in for Xrays, and the Vet said it was hip dysplasia, not too bad, but more on one side than the other. There was a little arthritis in some areas of the spine, due to the way she had been carrying herself.
He put her on Rymadyl, but I soon switched her to a joint care supplement. She's been doing good on that for a long time, at half the dose.
I don't believe it's age. The charts say a 6 yr. old is 40 in human years. My male is going on 8 yrs., which is 48, and he's just fine, no stiffness or signs of any problem.
__________________ "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
Well I am guessing it is mostly his structure and build. He's a tight guy! and his hind quarters never seemed as fluid as the front... kind of that stiff look that a pit bull has in the back, not loosey goosey hips the way a shepard or springer spaniel has.
The Vet may be able to manipulate the back legs to feel if there may be a problem. Of course, when ours did, she screamed in pain, so we felt we had to get the X-ray to see what was up.
I guess you could just start him on some supplements like Glucosamine Sulfate, MSM, Chondroitin, etc. and see if there's improvement. I'm using the chewable ChondroFlex supplement, and it seems to be helping my furkid.
Dog With Difficulty Getting UP
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