Keeping Your Dog's Joints Healthy

There are all sorts of things that could be affecting your dog’s joints as they get older. If you’ve got a larger breed of dog such as a German Shepherd they may be more susceptible to issues with their joints as they’ve got a little more weight on their bones. If you adopt a dog at a young age you shouldn’t put off thinking about their joint care until they get a bit older as you’ll just be asking for trouble.

Around 1 in 4 dogs actually suffer from arthritis, so it’s more common than you’d think! Here are a few tips on keeping your dog’s joints healthy.

Keep Them Fit & Active

Just like with humans, the more excess weight that you are carrying, the more stress you’re putting on your joints. Taking your dog out on regular walks or giving them the chance to run around will help with lowering the amount of inflammation that’s occurring around their joints.

If you live by the sea you might want to think about taking them down to play at the beach. Swimming in the sea can be a great form of exercise for your dog and takes some of the weight off their inflamed joints.

Natural Supplements 

Where possible, try and avoid loading up your dog on prescription dogs as these can actually work against your dog’s healing process. Instead, try and incorporate some natural supplements to their diet to manage their joint pain and reduce some of the inflammation.

One great natural supplement is Crominex 3+ which has a blend of 3 proven joint support ingredients. It includes chromium which helps to slow down the reduction of calcium, which gives your dog’s bones a little more protection. It also has Indian gooseberry which is a superfruit known to lower the amount of inflammation in the body. Lastly, it has Shilajit, another potent anti-inflammatory ingredient which can also be a nice pain relief for your pup. 

Another option is CBD oil. This is becoming a very popular supplement for dogs amongst owners due to its many health benefits, one of which is helping with pain and inflammation. If you would like to learn more about this, you can visit moderndogmagazine.com for all of the information you could need.

Always follow the directions when giving them natural supplements which are specially formulated for dogs.


Supportive Dog Bed 

Think about the last time you slept in an uncomfortable bed. Did you wake up feeling stiff or sore the next day? The same thing can happen to your dogs, which is why it’s always essential to give them comfortable dog beds to sleep in and rest in during the day. This will give them a supportive place to sleep instead of the hard floorboards or hard ground outside. There are also beds designed specifically for orthopedic issues, such as those from Bobby Bed which use memory foam and have chin rests to help distribute pressure away from the joints.


Consider a New Diet 

Making the change to a new raw diet may help to reduce the amount of inflammation in your dog’s body and in turn give their joints a little boost. If you feed your dog traditional dog biscuits or kibble, advanced glycation end products are released into their body and create inflammation. Focusing on a diet that includes more wholesome and fresh foods can make sure you aren’t feeding them the inflammatory agents in the traditional dog biscuits. Think about adding in foods that are high in antioxidants as this will also help to reduce the oxidative stress in their bodies which leads to inflammation. 

Keeping a close eye on your dog can help you to discover what may be working best for them. As always, start slow and build up to make sure you aren’t causing more harm than good. By following these simple steps you can help your dog who may be more prone to osteoarthritis and help to manage joint issues in their body.