Helping Arthritic Dogs Walk Better!

Dolly's leg wrapped

Our 15 year old Weimaraner, Dolly, has some pretty advanced arthritis in her legs and hips, but she still can walk up a flight of stairs on her own (because I keep her muscles working with walks).   However, her front right paw is bent from the arthritis, so she found it too painful to walk.  Here's what I did to help out.
   First, I've wrapped self adhesive bandages around her ankles. In the beginning, that helped, because ankles tend to be the weakest part of the legs.

Dolly walking around the neighborhood wearing her bandage

  When the ankle support didn't work anymore (because Dolly refused to walk past the front yard), I decided she needed a half leg wrap. Once I did that, she had enough support to walk again, and she really, really wanted to walk!
   Once that was wrapped more, Dolly has been walking around the block again, twice a day. We had thought she no longer wanted to walk anymore until I re-wrapped it.
  ANOTHER TIP- if your dog has arthritis in their legs and you take a walk, keep them on the grass all the time. Walking on the grass is softer than the pavement, and causes less discomfort during walks.
  PAIN MEDICINE- Dolly is also on Galliprant, a pain medication, taken once every 24 hours to help control the pain levels.