Well, ^ that's close, but not quite.

As we move into the cooler months, our attention turns toward sweaters, boots & "PSL". 

Dogs can benefit from wearing "boots" too!
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Even if you don't live in a place cold enough like this next pic

(But YES, most definitely if you do)

Wearing dog booties is of great benefit for dogs that walk on asphalt and concrete in places like California, Hawaii, Arizona... places that are STILL hot now going into fall and winter. 

The booties help prevent injuries to sensitive paw pads.

They also help prevent your dog tracking in pesticides and other chemicals that are out there in public places, and can be absorbed into your pet's system. (This is becoming a real concern and threat to animal health!)

For rehab purposes, we use booties to help increase the active mobility in the legs. (Or what you see as this cute, "high stepping" action!)

Booties are available on most major websites. 
If YOU have used them before, what are YOUR favorite types or brands? 

And by the way, be prepared when you Google "Booties"... 

That WONDERFUL "e" word, right? 

Dogs put the majority of their body's weight on their "hands" or front legs. They tend to be more "front loaded" or "front wheel drive" as we've discussed before and in our exercise e-book. 

The majority of their activities ALSO encourage this "front" posturing (similar to what we do at our desks, computer, watching TV, driving) so they end up with stronger muscles than in their back legs. 

Problem is, most of the debilitating and costly injuries (in terms of pain and finances) tend to be in the back -think hips and knees. 

A carefully curated program of exercises will help tremendously much like the elevated standing exercise he's doing in the above pic. 

MORE TIPS:
Always use a chest harness
Use pieces of their regular food instead of treats or cookies

Little things go a long way!

Here's a little re-cap of the Instagram post: 

* Elbows are the most under-diagnosed joints with arthritis (in pets, not people)
* Pets are living longer!
* Their aging process is accelerated (i.e., 1 human year = 7 dog years)
* They WILL experience arthritis (degenerative joint disease) as a process of...LIVING
* Most pets (dogs AND cats) are overweight
* They put most of their bodyweight unto their front limbs (i.e., they are front wheel drive, or front loaded)

Therefore if you go back and look at this picture above, it makes sense! 

We "animals" have VERY similar MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEMS. 
These are TWO areas in which we differ: 1) Rate of aging and 2) They walk on their "Hands", hence all the elbow issues. 

The elbow is a hinge joint and made to bend and flex with a little bit of rotating happening at the forearm bones below. Think of your door hinge. Or your knee. 
So, like that!

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Knowing these #facts posted above, you may find it interesting to know that in a recent study (Dempsey et al, 2019) there was no long-term difference in success between arthroscopic surgery and conservative management. 

Here's the key: MANAGEMENT

Lifelong management. 

Your pet will have degenerative wear and tear of their joints if they're lucky to live a nice long life. 
But WE can make the difference in their health and quality of life by doing a few simple things to "manage" them. 

It's entirely up to us- not them. 

What are YOU doing to help your pet's health?
I would love to hear what you have found to be helpful or even not helpful. 

And of course, you know where to find me if you're not sure and maybe want to learn a few things to incorporate in their program. 

Since I recently shared on social media that I was aware of a new meta-analysis on pulsed electromagnetic therapy, I thought I'd provide the link to last year's (brief, easy read) post for quick access. 

READ about PEMF here!