vet, or new parent with aging dog angst?

[lilypi]

Over the last couple of weeks, hubs and i have noticed that Maddox is a little slower to climb up or off of the couch/our bed. on one occasion, he missed while jumping on to the bed (which is super high, fwiw) and hubby caught him and boosted him up. when exiting the couch, he will put his front paws down then sloooooly drag his hind legs toward the edge, stretch, then get off. his energy/appetite/personality all seem the same, but i can't help but worry. he's 5 and a half, and has a totally clear bill of health...although he's only been with us since july, we kept the same vet and his old family gave us all of his vet records. am i just experiencing the beginning of him showing signs of no longer being young? i've never had a dog older than three before, so i recognize that i might just be nuts.

[Sophiesmama]

Sophie does the two legs off the couch, back legs on the couch stretch! She does it often! I have even seen her sit with her butt on the couch and her front legs on the floor! (I really need to get a picture of that) If his vet gave you a clean bill of health, I wouldn't worry too much. Have you thought of giving him glucosimine? We had our dog on it the last few years of her life, and it helped keep her joints limber. If Maddox has good energy and is eating well, I would just keep a watch for anything else unusual. You can always call a vet if anything else crops up. We sure do worry about our furkids, don't we?

[tammyhuffman]

Five just seems young to me, have his hip and elbows been checked/ X-rayed? Either way, Congrats on your new addition and may your family have many years with Maddox. Thank you for giving this baby a forever home.

[kassabella]

Tessa is 5 and she puts her feet on the floor then slowly her back end. Often leaves her back end on the couch for ages. She also misses when she jumps onto the bed. We put it down to being a bit clumsy.

Now Erns is different. He had joint problems and the first thing we noticed is his bunny hop run. As he became older he had more and more trouble sitting and then getting up. He could never put his legs on the floor then slowly lower his back end.

Maddox may just be relaxing and enoying being with you.If you are worried i would see a vet.


eta. Here is a pic of Tess relaxing.
Is this what you meant your dog does.

[BauersMom]

Bauer (almost 4) has always exited the couch the way you describe. He puts his front legs down first, then walks them away from the couch until just the toes of his back paws are still on the couch, stretches, then drops his back legs down. I think it's cute.

5 is still young, if the vet gave him a clean bill of health I would trust it.

[Mark_J]

The climbing down off the couch may be normal and no cause for concern at all. At 5-1/2 years he should still be in prime shape quite able to leap over anything 1-1/2 times his own height, getting slower climbing up on the couch and missing the bed might raise an eyebrow if it happens consistently. how much exercise does he get on a daily basis? How's his weight?

[Baloo317]

Baloo does the stretch-your-way-off-the-couch thing on occasion so I wouldn't worry too much about that. How is he when he gets up from laying on the floor? Does he seem to avoid jumping/stairs, anything like that? The bunny hop run is a true tell-tale sign of hip problems, Chris is there a youtube link that shows it, do you know? Once you've seen it you'll know exactly what I mean, it's unmistakeable.

Baloo is almost five and shows no signs of slowing down whatsoever, ha.

[lilypi]

you have all made this angsty parent feel better! his running form is perfect, and he still flys around. the only thing that seems to slow him down is the cold weather, he stops fetch after half an hour at this point with temps in the single digits. That picture of Tess is exactly what he does. i think that maybe we're seeing more of this relaxing behavior because he has REALLY settled in with us...he knows we are his forever parents. he even kicked me out of bed yesterday!!! i'm not going to worry much about him missing the bed once or twice...it's really high off the ground, and the more i think about it, chances are that his feet slipped on something on the floor...we are far from meticulous house keepers. i haven't noticed any hesitation with jumping on to things, so i think i was being a crazy worrier.

as for joint supplements, he eats large breed blue buffalo (yeah yeah yeah, medium v large, he's HUGE), which has glucosamine and condroitin (sp?) in it. would you suggest additional supplementation? He's 80lbs, but pretty tall and muscular, so his weight is perfect for his frame. he gets a lot of exercise...a good hour of running daily. i would kill for his metabolism...this beast eats six cups of high quality food a day, plus treats, and has a waistline to die for. here's the best shot i have of his frame for reference:

[kaisdad]

6 cups a day? That's twice what mine eat.

[Baloo317]

That does seem like a lot of food, wow!! Blue Buffalo has quite a bit of grain I think, might be worth it to go grain-free, you'd be able to feed a LOT less.

Baloo is 60 pounds, on grain-free food and eats 2 heaping cups per day.