[nadineh]

I'm struggling to walk my dog in the rain or snow or lately when it's just cold. She has a warm coat and she seems happy to come out of the apartment with me but then we're outside the building, she pees on a stretch of grass in front of the building and immediately turns around to go back in. If I want to walk she completely blocks and leans against the leash and absolutely refuses to walk any further. I tried to just wait her out with a tight leash and looking in the other direction and not giving her any attention. Is that the way to go? It hasn't worked very well so far but I might have not been consistent enough and gave up a few times.
She has ED so I don't want to hurt her when she's blocking and I feel bad because she looks sooo sad and uncomfortable when I do this.. is she playing me..? I need to walk her to build muscles because of the ED but I don't want it to be a fight everyday.. any tipps?

 

[nadineh]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Yes, sorry ED=elbow dysplasia 😊

I take her to physio therapy every two weeks and she'll get gold implants soon (acupuncture) and I think it helps a lot but the therapist told me daily walks at least twice a day for at least 30mins are very important to build a d maintain muscles so I feel bad when I can't stick to it.. 😔

Today she was outside maybe 10mins total because it was snowing a bit. She probably isn't used to it as she grew up in Greece. But I thought with the coat and all she would get used to it.. 😪 It also complicates things because she won't even come to the busstop with me to come to the office with me.

Maybe I can just stay in the immediate vicinity of the building and try to play with her there when it rains so she feels better and forgets about the weather..?

Thanks!

 

[nadineh]

I have both, but she isn't comfortable with the long sleeved one because she doesn't like to be handled like that when I'm putting it on. She lets me do it but again looks super uncomfortable so I haven't pushed it. But yes, I have to remember that she probably hurts in wet weather and try again with the long sleeved coat. 😊

 

[nadineh]

Hmm no, I haven't started with pain meds yet, I'm trying to avoid it as long as possible to have something to fall back on when she gets older - she's only 3.5y now and she only limps for a few minutes after lying for a long time or playing rough with other dogs so I don't believe she's in much chronic pain yet. She gets supplements that are supposed to reduce inflammation though.
But the therapist also mentioned incence pills that should help with pain but still plant based so I might try if that makes a difference. 🤔

 

[nadineh]

I also just tried the long coat again and was reminded once more what difference your own attitude makes! Ths first time I was always thinking 'she's gonna hate this' and of course she did! This time I was much more relaxed and upbeat and she didn't care much at all! Might have bought her the wrong size though😅 thanks for your help and inputs!

 

[nadineh]

Ours too dislikes bad weather. Fortunately we have a covered patio, so there is someplace she can go outside, to do what she needs to, but its brief, at best. As she has aged, I pretty much let her decide how much of a walk she is up to each day. Some days, its a good mile, sometimes more, other days its only a few doors up or down the street. Ours is very senior (fourteen years) so I don't push her to walk when she does not feel up to it. She has had varying degrees or arthritis, for years, and some days, I know she just didn't and doesn't feel up to a lot of waking. I always take her outside, but there are IMO more important things than pushing her to walk when she is in pain.

I absolutely agree, if she was in pain, I would never force her to walk. My Dad has a 13 yo with hip dysplasia and bad arthritis pretty much everywhere now and on a good day she can go one to two hours still but he lets her decide when to go home and at what pace but she still enjoys walks. He also has some down days when they stay home and just go in the garden so she has plenty of recovery time.

With my dog I have the feeling that it's not pain that keeps her inside but just not wanting to get wet. I don't think she is in much pain but just not used to the cold weather. But because it's important for her health that she gets daily excercise, I'm looking for ways to make her more comfortable with the wet weather even if she might never really enjoy it. That's also fine, I just want to keep her healthy for as long as possible. 🙂

 

[nadineh]

CBD oil might work better than incense pills. Would doing a healing game for 30 or talking about canine body conditioning [indoors] be on the table?

Oh does the CBD also help with pain? I thought it was more a relaxing remedy.

Sorry I'm not familiar with the rest, what are healing games and canine body conditioning? 🙂

 

[nadineh]

How would that help the dog?

You might want to check this user, it sounds like an AI/Chatbot answer, other answers from this user include phrases like "I'm sorry, but as a language model, I'm not able to provide you with professional veterinary advice or guidance on making such a difficult and personal decision".