Old Lady Stairs :(
 

Athena always likes to start her night next to me in bed (she usually moves to the floor later in the night). In the last week or so I've noticed she has to back up further and further to be able to get the momentum to leap up, and even then sometimes she starts and just puts her front paws up before changing her mind and dropping down again. I never make a big fuss over her; I tell her in a happy voice "you can do it!" because it seems important to her pride to be able to jump onto the bed (she looks humiliated and turns apologetically to me when she has to stop and put only her front paws up). Last night I tried to help her by grabbing her collar mid-jump and pulling her up. She made it...

But she yelped.

She wouldn't look at me, and she put her ears back in fear and distress; I almost burst out sobbing. I comforted her and gave her a massage, but Athena knows that she is aging. The conventional wisdom is that dogs are blissfully unaware of their fading vigor, but I disagree. With certain dogs--proud, vain, youthful-acting dogs like Athena, they know.

So today I ordered some old lady dog stairs that will make it so she doesn't have to jump into bed anymore. Athena will likely find a way to fall off the stairs, or do something similarly clumsy, but I'll let you all know how they work.

Does anyone else have dog stairs? Have they improved your dog's comfort?

Cat

PS: It's "Love Your Pet Day" today. Let's all do that!

PPS: Hamilton is six months old now, and SEVEN POUNDS. Seven. Pounds. I feed him Rottweilers. :eek:

Love my pets everyday!!! But thanks for the riminder.

I am sorry about Athena, how old is she now???

Athena just had her 10th birthday (with a birthday filet and "10" candle, natch) on January 10th. She still acts two, but her body is showing small signs of age.

The stairs are a great idea. I think they know that things are slowing down. Lucky has been w/ us 10 years he was about a year old when we got him. Over the past year sometimes the couch is too much of a jump if he's been playing all day. Im sure Athena will love her stairs.

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. See? This is why I love the GSD fans on this site: they're always willing to give tips and advice.

You might also think about having her tested for Lymes. A friend of mine had a similar thing happen with his Labrador and it turned out to be Lyme disease instead of old age.

Thanks, Lea. Athena has been tested for Lyme and gets the vaccine. Fortunately, at least in Northern VA, my vet has not seen *too* many Lyme cases. Ironically, Athena's friend Kiera (from my book) does have Lyme though :( She has a sensitivity to the flea/tick products so they weren't ever put on her.

Athena and my Kayos are only 10 days a part in age. Kayos turned 10 on Jan 20. She is still pretty active, despite having very severe HD. One hip was repalced almost 6 years ago. She gets HA injections in the other one plus Adequan injections IM montly. I hope she lives forever........ :)

That is odd about your vet not seeing many cases of Lyme - our rescue dogs test positive more often than negative!

Anyway, if you should find that you need a ramp for in and out of the car, give me a shout. Our rescue has a bunch of donated ramps in our storage locker near Dulles Airport and we would be happy to lend you one.

Kathy: The good news is--she will! I've decided already that if humans aren't allowed over the Rainbow Bridge, I'm not going.