"Jake" is our much loved 9 year old dog. He came to us through a rescue group: New England Doglift. This terrific organization searches for "highly adoptable" dogs in the kill shelters and brings them to New England where they go through the spay/neuter process first, then are fostered in a home before being adopted out to loving families.

We were lucky enough to find Jake in the home of one of the officers of this organization when he was (supposedly) 14 months of age. Not much was known of his background except that he was given up by a woman who said her boyfrfiend was abusing him.

Jake is half Boxer, half German Shepherd. As you can see by his picture, he has the coloring of the boxer and the shape/coat of the Shepherd. Unfortunately for him, he also has hip dysplasia - very common in Shepherds.

Jake weighed 47 pounds when we adopted him. We thought we were getting a "small to medium" sized dog as that is what we wanted, but we quickly learned that Jake had to be much younger than the 14 months he was supposed to be as he kept growing, and growing, and growing! When he reached 80 pounds, he stopped - thankfully. Jake isn't fat by any means - he is simply a large dog.

I was still working full time when we adopted Jake, so I arranged for him to go to doggy daycare at a beautiful canine facility a mile from our home. They had a webcam so I could check on him throughout the day. He was in doggy heaven. They typically had 40-70 dogs each day and Jake would play all day long. He would come home thoroughly exhausted - and happy. I noticed a couple of times he would be limping a little, but he always worked it out before bedtime so I didn't worry.

The time came when I had to quit my job to take care of my mother and her home. Jake would come with me everywhere I went - leaping up into the back of the SUV I had at the time. Some days, he would just stare up at the back of the truck and then back at me as though to say, "Lift me Mom!" So I would.

I'm a fervent dogwalker, believing that it is important to have this bonding experience as a means of being in control of Jake and also providing him the opportunity to be a dog - smelling all the smells, marking all the trees. Some times, we would come back from a vigorous 2.5 mile walk and he would limp at the end of the walk. Not much, not long, but he would limp.

I decided to have him checked to see if he was just being overworked or if there was a true problem. The Vet X-Rayed him and gave me the news I didn't want to hear. Jake had one of the worst cases of dysplasia in his hips, particularly the right hip, that she had ever seen in such a young dog. At that time, we estimated Jake was all of 2-1/2 years old. She told me that it could only get worse over time and tha we had to do everything we could to slow the progress of the disease.

Here are the steps we immediately took:

* One of the things I forgot to add was that we also bought a feeding station that could be raised up to a higher level for Jake. Not only does this reduce pressure on his joints, I believe it aids in his digestion.

* We bought a ramp so Jake could walk up into the back of our truck rather than jump up into it.

* We no longer allowed Jake to leap UP into the back of the truck. We bought a ramp and taught him to use it

* Jake was also no longer allowed to jump up onto the window seat (his favorite perch) to watch the great outdoors. We literally replaced the front storm door with one that has glass all the way to the bottom. He is just as happy watching "Yard TV" through this door.

* We bought two orthopedic beds for him. One is downstairs when we are all together in the living room, the other is at the foot of our bed. Each bed has 4" thick memory foam covered with blankets.

* Although Jake was not overweight, I adjusted his diet to take off 4 pounds. He is slimmer and the impact this particular change made was dramatic! His diet is supplemented with a Chondroitin/Glucosamine/MSM tablet morning and evening.

* Sadly, we stopped taking Jake to the doggy daycare he loved so much. All of the running and playing was not good for him. The sudden stops, turns, jumps, etc that dogs take when they're playing is a recipe for disaster with hip disease.

* We walk a measured distance each day. (About 2.5 miles). I watch for the slightest sign of limping and slow down. Contrary to what most people think, a measured walk at a proper pace is probably the best thing to combat the progress of arthitic disease.

I should know, I have degenerative spinal disease and since we've been walking daily, my pain is reduced almost to elimination.

Implementing only one of the above changes, or even just two of them, are probably not going to result in change to your dog's comfort level, but when you look for every possibility to reduce the strain on your dog's hips (jumping, heavy playtime with other dogs, being overweight) and provide bedding that buffers the strain on their hips, you can have a happy healthy dog for years to come.

Although there are other dogs in the neighborhood and we often receive invitations for a doggy playdate, I ALWAYS insist they play in the fenced in area we have in our yard. That way, I can control the amount of play and the length of time. I just can't see not letting Jake play with other dogs, I wouldn't be happy without my friends - why would he? So I just control what happens to him.

Jake was 2-1/2 years old when he was diagnosed. He is now 9 years old and showing no signs of the limping or reluctance to get up that he did when his body was being stressed. Although it sounds like a lot of work initially, it really isn't. You simply have to evaluate your dog's day and take measures to cut out those things that could cause undue harm. Take things one step at a time.