Our Middle Aged Boxer...

 

      Lucy on one of our many hikes. 

Well, Lucy is now 9 years old and she is starting to show signs of being middle aged. While she still has a lot of heart, she is starting to slow down just a bit. I think this is mostly because of joint discomfort in her hips. 

In an effort to allow her more mobility and relieve joint pain, we've been very careful in helping her maintain a healthy weight. She is now down to a healthier 65 lbs. versus the 78 lbs. that she was at. In addition to weight management, we've put her on a glucosamine supplement. Before we started on the supplement, she would sometimes drag her rear back right leg. This got our immediate attention. The glucosamine seems to have helped her regain quite a bit of flexibility. 

We've also placed her on a daily doggy aspirin routine. She gets a dose of 160 mg. aspirin twice a day. One tablet in the morning and one before she goes to bed at night. This too seems to help her flexibility. I say doggie aspirin because it comes from the Vet and tastes like liver. Yes, I tried one! Not bad!!! Even the glucosamine has a nice taste - if you are a dog! 

Since we live in fairly hilly terrain, we are very careful in where we take her on our hikes together. We stop a little more often than we use to in order for her to cool down and take a break. I learned this the hard way one day when we over did it just a bit and Lucy insisted that we either stop or I carry her home. I did a bit of both. I think she got overly excited in the first part of walk and over did it on a rather warm day. That leads me to another topic...

Boxers aren't equipped with the best cooling system. Due to their shorter snouts they can overheat in a hurry if you aren't careful. We tend to pick cooler times of the day to hike with Lucy. The cooler the better. You can see in the picture we also keep a coat handy for comfort on the cooler mornings and evenings. 

If you would like more information on the supplement and aspirin, drop me a note and I'll be happy share where you can find what we are giving Lucy. Until next time, cioa!