Loose Hocks in Show Quality GSD - Page 1

Hello
Any suggestions as how to strengthen loose hocks

Exercise.   How old is your dog again, Gautam ?

He is 13 months. Hocks r not so loose. I take him for walks every day for 4 km 2.5 miles. Walking is a mix of grass, mud and tar road. Mostly mud road. Tar road to wear out nails.
When he walks ahead of me his hinds are almost parallel to each other. Little bit of looseness. But at home when he is trotting his hocks are not so parallel. What kind of exercise do u suggest? Is ball retrieving good for developing hind leg muscles?

There are no lakes or rivers near by. However, there is a swimming pool but it is chlorinated. I tried to purchase treadmills but they cost a bomb. I cant afford them. Treadmills have to be imported so lot of headache..

Is there anywhere where you can find loose sand? That makes the muscles work hard, and is still low impact, so easy on the joints.

Going up stairs would be good, too, if you can't find sand, but I would limit how much of that I do, as it is not low impact. At 13 months, your dog's joints are pretty much fully formed, but you still don't want to overdo it.

I know people who let their dogs swim in chlorinated pools, but I don't know what effect that would have on the coat.

I agree with Sunsilver about the sand;   I would also use gentle slopes and hills
while walking with him. Faster movement too can help, so mildly prolonged 'gaiting'
​practise (ie running - you too I'm afraid ! ) and, yes, fetching a ball, should help.
I asked about his age because this is quite a common problem in younger animals;  
at 13 months your boy is still within the range where this could much improve.  
Glad to hear it isn't too bad a problem.  From your description of how he moves
differently at home and when out, I'd also say please don't get too hung up on how 'wide'
he's walking away sometimes ;  this is one of those things which are prone to get
some observers all worked up unnecessarily.  IMO FWIW !


 

I used to manage a boarding facility with a large chlorinated pool used for exercise and therapy. In 5 years we had only one person ever say the chlorine caused an issue with the skin or coat. (And I have reason to believe she may have been more than a bit dishonest about the effect on her dog.)
My boy, Thor.

LOL @ the picture of the dog in the life jacket! Is that a daschund?

Did you do anything special to make the water more suitable for dogs? Or did you use the same standards as for humans using a chlorinated pool?

Swimming would be an ideal exercise, as it's very easy on the joints!

Hiya,my old girl goes to the hydropool every fortnight ,used to be weekly for the last 3 yrs n she hasnt had any skin complaints with the chlorinated water.She has a shampoo n conditioner put on once a mth there ,the other time she just gets rinsed.The hydropool i attend also has a water treadmill.Btw.i,m in the UK.
Carole Spelman.

Sunsilver,
. That is a 105-pound longhaired GSD. :) Thor had hip displacia and epilepsy. He would float around in the pool and actually fall asleep which is why he wore the blue float ring. The water is kept at 86* F and we used low levels of chlorine, less than would be found in human public pools. The water was also filtered through a pump 24/7. He noticably had more spring in his step following his weekly sessions.