# Hind leg weakness



## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I went through this with Duke for a few years before he passed. I was lucky my vet had a rehab center with an underwater treadmill. I would take Duke and he loved it. He did love to swim, so I only had the expense of it in the winter time. I also did laser treatments, but I'm not sure they really helped. In the end I decided he was happy and it was just part of his aging. It never got so bad that he couldn't get up, or walk. He did have difficulty with stairs for the last year or so of his life. He also had one really bad front elbow, so that didn't help. Duke had good hips, it was just muscle wasting. If I could make her swim I would. It was the absolute best thing for Duke. If she doesn't like swimming maybe look for an underwater treadmill. It was about the same cost as renting a pool for an hour for me to do the treadmill and a laser treatment for Duke a couple times a week.

Watching them age is the hardest part for me. Best of luck, wish I had more to offer.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I went through this with Duke for a few years before he passed. I was lucky my vet had a rehab center with an underwater treadmill. I would take Duke and he loved it. He did love to swim, so I only had the expense of it in the winter time. I also did laser treatments, but I'm not sure they really helped. In the end I decided he was happy and it was just part of his aging. It never got so bad that he couldn't get up, or walk. He did have difficulty with stairs for the last year or so of his life. He also had one really bad front elbow, so that didn't help. Duke had good hips, it was just muscle wasting. If I could make her swim I would. It was the absolute best thing for Duke. If she doesn't like swimming maybe look for an underwater treadmill. It was about the same cost as renting a pool for an hour for me to do the treadmill and a laser treatment for Duke a couple times a week.
> 
> Watching them age is the hardest part for me. Best of luck, wish I had more to offer.


Thank you. I have had no luck locating a water treadmill anywhere near us. It's sad how hard it is to find canine rehab!


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

Kaizer has muscle wasting from prednisone. I have a rehab vet that practices part-time out of my training place, she gave me a bunch of exercises to try. She said it was important I keep him moving too, so she said short (like 5-10 minutes), leashed walks would be beneficial 

I am unsure if the protocol for normal, age-related muscle wasting is different than muscle wasting from medication, but I imagine the idea is the same. Strengthen whatever’s left


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Hildae said:


> Thank you. I have had no luck locating a water treadmill anywhere near us. It's sad how hard it is to find canine rehab!


As long as the weather stays warm, could you get an inflatable kiddie pool and fill it with enough water to provide resistance as she walks?

There may also be a canine rehabber who could suggest some at-home exercises to rebuild the muscle mass (maybe even via Zoom or phone call).

For straight arthritis issues, I found both acupuncture and chiropractic of great help. I also found a lot of good suggestions at the "arthritis" page of the Dog Aware site.



Robot or human?


<< No idea why this link says "Robot or human?" but I double checked that the link takes you to a listing for the sort of inflatable pool I'm talking about...


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Set up a doggy gym in your home. We have an old poodle (12 years old) with a prolapsed disk that has caused some rear-end weakness. He hates water - can't swim and won't go into a treadmill. So we set up a gym at home for him, with Fitpaws inflatables, cavaletti and cones. He loves his exercises! Stand/sit exercises on the inflatables, balancing on the smaller cushions, crawling under the cavaletti bars or walking backwards over them, figure-of-8 work around the cones, stretching, etc. It's made a huge difference to his quality of life and has helped rebuild the muscles in the rear limb that suffered nerve damage as a result of the disk. These days, watching him chase squirrels in the garden and trot alongside us on leashed walks, you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with him. We worked with a canine physiotherapist (specially trained vet tech) to select the right exercises, and we've continued the exercise regime at home since then.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

The one place near us that does PT for dogs "isn't taking new clients at this time" which to me says if they are so busy then someone should be opening up another nearby. I'm still calling around trying to get something.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

does she have lar par? Rear weakness goes hand in hand w laryngeal paralysis.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Prism Goldens said:


> does she have lar par? Rear weakness goes hand in hand w laryngeal paralysis.


Duke did have Laryngeal paralysis, which can be treated. Duke had other complications, so we couldn't, but it's worth looking into if she's otherwise healthy.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

If the dog lives long enough... rear end weakness does happen.  

I have no real belief that they can build up muscles at that point so I admittedly would not put a dog through extra exercise in that effort. Maybe see a chiropractor in case the rear end weakness is related to arthritis and the dog needs more regular adjustments. 

I do not even like putting the dog on pain meds because there's side effects. If the dog is really struggling, I would. But with these dogs they will be going along and just suddenly have the rear drop out on them. And they may start to hold back on comfort things they used to do - like climb on the couch, bed, etc. Or they don't crawl under the bed to sleep, because they can't crawl... 

Main things I did when I went through this - I pampered them extra and did not let them go up stairs without me right behind them to help them if needed. And they typically would rely on me to lift them up onto the couch or bed when they wanted to snuggle. <= Only thing I'd do differently today is the chiropractic adjustments which I didn't know about way back then.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

My last girl Tawny got rear leg weakness and loss of muscle. The vet (very rural type) said there's not much to do for it that it's just an old dog thing. She had some pain meds to take. She would be eating and just drop to the floor. She refused to eat lying down and didn't have any signs of laryngeal problems. She continued to slowly worsen for 9 months to a year and one morning she could not get up or walk when I lifted her so we let her go. I could tell by the look in her eyes she was just done. 😥 Sweetest dog ever. She was around 12 years 10 months old. I'm sorry your girl is going through this.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Megora said:


> I have no real belief that they can build up muscles at that point so I admittedly would not put a dog through extra exercise in that effort.


I would have agreed with you on this until about a year ago. When our poodle's back injury caused nerve damage and muscle loss, he was nearly 11 years old. As part of his rehab we took weekly group exercise sessions with a trained physiotherapist, for about four months. There were five dogs in our group, and the other four were senior dogs, including a couple of 12-year-old Australian shepherds that had started to lose muscle tone. The difference in the mobility of those dogs after the four months was impressive. They were much more sprightly, were able to get up and lie down more easily, could manage the stairs and so on. The dogs all loved the classes. Our poodle lit up every time we went to the training room, and to this day (he will be 12 next week) he still loves his at-home sessions. So this type of exercise, fairly gentle and targeted specifically to the rear end muscles, can actually help old dogs with age-related muscle loss.

Edited to add: I wouldn't do this type of exercise with a dog that is on pain medication.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Prism Goldens said:


> does she have lar par? Rear weakness goes hand in hand w laryngeal paralysis.


Not that I am aware of. She has no symptoms.


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## sam34 (9 mo ago)

If you don't already have the dog on glucosamine, I would give it a try. It has helped all our older dogs that developed arthritis. That won't work any magic for the muscle loss, though. Seems to be a pretty common issue with larger dogs once they lose mobility in the rear hips.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

ceegee said:


> I would have agreed with you on this until about a year ago. When our poodle's back injury caused nerve damage and muscle loss, he was nearly 11 years old. As part of his rehab we took weekly group exercise sessions with a trained physiotherapist, for about four months. There were five dogs in our group, and the other four were senior dogs, including a couple of 12-year-old Australian shepherds that had started to lose muscle tone. The difference in the mobility of those dogs after the four months was impressive. They were much more sprightly, were able to get up and lie down more easily, could manage the stairs and so on. The dogs all loved the classes. Our poodle lit up every time we went to the training room, and to this day (he will be 12 next week) he still loves his at-home sessions. So this type of exercise, fairly gentle and targeted specifically to the rear end muscles, can actually help old dogs with age-related muscle loss.
> 
> Edited to add: I wouldn't do this type of exercise with a dog that is on pain medication.


I've been thinking about this and I believe that by the time my 2 babies are 8+ years old, I will be bringing them to the usual rehab vet/chiropractor to ensure I never see them limp a day in their lives. Hopefully that will be enough to prevent the usual muscle wasting which leads to this rear end weakness. 

With my Jacks who died when he was nearly 11 - he never had muscle wasting. But I also had taken him to routine chiro visits since he was age 5 when he had gotten tumbled in the "dip" out by our street. Hip dysplasia and everything, he stayed sound and muscled his entire life. Lot of swimming, daily 2+ mile walks, the whole thing as well besides the practical chiropractor visits. 

Gut feeling is that the massage therapy and probable adjustments with your dog made him sound and able to resume full activity. That's absolutely something I'm fully in line with. But I unfortunately have no personal experience of a dog being brought back to full activity once the wasting has happen and the dog's rear is dropping on him.


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Have you tried joint supplements (assuming her bloodwork is all good and kidney function is normal nothing that will stress them out), glucosamine or curcumin are good options.
some rehab places also offer cold laser therapy. an option you can consider aside from exercises to build and strengthen muscle.


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## brianne (Feb 18, 2012)

My Chumlee is now 17.25 years old and has some rear leg weakness. When it became more pronounced about 18 - 22 months ago, we began increasing his walking schedule. We were noticing that he was spending lots of time sleeping and staying in the same spot for long periods of time. Instead of 1 walk a day at age 15 1/2, we began walking him 3 times a day. Short walks, not marathons, but increasing the amount of time that he was actually up and on his feet. This has shown noticeable improvement for him. 

I also hide small treats (3 calories each) around the house and this also encourages him to get up and walk around when we aren't home. And to keep our walks interesting I have been known to run up ahead and plant a treat or two for him to discover. Or sometimes I borrow the neighbor's dog and walk her along our favorite route before we go so he has new and interesting smells to discover. As I'm typing this I'm realizing that this sounds a little nutty, but, hey, anything for my Chum! 🥰 

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

She does get glucosamine every day.


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## tikiandme (May 16, 2010)

My dog gets a good massage every evening and he has a half hour swim at an indoor pool twice a week. My vet is astonished at his conditioning and muscle tone. If you can't get him to swim, maybe try setting up something where he could go wading. That, and what others have said about an exercise program and chiro is also something to consider. Also, Dasuquin with MSM is a good supplement.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

It's a bit of a drive but we finally found a vet with an underwater treadmill and we've got an appointment to go!


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## tikiandme (May 16, 2010)

Hildae said:


> It's a bit of a drive but we finally found a vet with an underwater treadmill and we've got an appointment to go!


I hope they can help.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Hildae said:


> It's a bit of a drive but we finally found a vet with an underwater treadmill and we've got an appointment to go!


They probably have something there, but I found a suction cup dog toy, I think it was for grooming. I smeared peanut butter on it and froze it for Duke to make him happy the first few times I went. He was so focused on licking it that he didn't worry at all about the sound of the water filling the treadmill, or when it started moving. It seemed to help. Good luck!


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## goldy1 (Aug 5, 2012)

@Hildae I totally get it. I've been in a similar situation with my senior dogs over the years. I can't add anything to the suggestions you've received from members.
Clean Run is sponsoring a free webinar - could be just a sales pitch - but "maybe" there will be some useful info shared that you can use.
Here is the link:








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Check out this Fortetropin: An Advanced Nutrition Product to Address Muscle Loss & Muscle Injury in Agility Dogs at Cleanrun.com!




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