Caring for our senior dog - Dog harness to the rescue!

Our dog Doodle is having a tough time with her right rear leg. We use a harness made by PetZone (PetZone Lift-N-Aid Dog Harness) to help her on her walks. It's funny how people always comment on us when we walk Doodle with the harness. "Arthritis?..." or "Old age?..." or this one "Recovering dog?..." and it's usually accompanied with a look of genuine pity. Sometimes the look on people's faces seem to be one of pained compassion. One time though we had someone tell us that we should put her down... Well, that's just not an option. Unless her quality of life is no longer acceptable. One of the signs that will indicate that she's ready to go will be a severe loss of appetite (see article "Normal Signs of Aging" for more on that topic). At this time though, she still have a great appetite.

All and all, Doodle is doing OK. She could do better, and we're doing everything we can to help her. But as I said earlier, we have to be realistic... In the meanwhile, we're still going on walks. Not always in a straight line, but who cares!

[Related Tags: dog harness, dog arthritis, senior dog]