Hi goldengirl (like your name). I think you hit the nail on the head when you said she has you trained LOL. My opinion is it's habit. Animals are creatures of habit--even if there is an easier way, they want to stick with the familiar. Also there is the attention factor, you probably laugh and cuddle when you heft her up into bed. Oddly my old cats are becoming the same way. Often lately I will hear this rending tear as one of them jumps but doesn't quite get all four on the bed. A 15 pound cat hanging by a few claws has ripped more sheets. I gotta try the stair thing;~)

Maybe she's onto the cookie deal. In our house food is a major motivater. Actually, I think she might be afraid, you mention you think that the steps are narrow, approximately how wide?

We bought a set of steps/ramp for a long gone labrador and he would never use them. I think it was more about the width, at least for our guy. I think that the steps being "open" is another contributing factor.

I have a 12 yr. (November)yellow lab "old gal". She could get onto our old bed, but when we replaced it with the higher version, she just can't. I have 3 labs, and the males, ages 5 & 3, easily jump onto the bed. Problem with putting old gal up is, she would lay on the bed all day and we have things to do, thus she is left to her own devices to get down. Not pretty or safe for that matter.

Two things, great to hear about your dog's exercise regimen. Where does she do it? It sounds like your dog is in much better shape than our old gal. Ours has had advanced hip dysplasia in both hips since she was about 7 -8 years old. She actually has a crunching noise when we have to help her up. First time I heard it, I was totally freaked out. I called the vet thinking it was small fracturing noise. Our vet says it is just the bone on bone thing. We are keeping her comfortable with meds and she's actually doing very well. I don't know of any exercise situations in our area like you describe, but would love her to do that during the winter months. In the summers she swims in the creek adjacent to our home or in the pool. I guess it is a good sign that no matter how bad her hips are feeling, she manages to get herself in and out of the creek which entails getting to it through the marsh grass.

Also, what are Metacam and Adequan?

I love that you have 6 goldens. Can you post a pic? DH family all have goldens. We have the labs. DH would kill me, but I would love another dog. I am already doing the vacuumming twice a day as it is, LOL.

Lastly, do you do a pet holiday card, and if so, how do you get them all to cooperate? I am getting desperate at this point and if it happens that this is old gal's last holiday, I have to have a card.

Nice to meet you:)))

{{!gwi}}

labmomma - The steps are 16.5" wide, link below. They're the best quality (and highest price) I've ever seen, but I didn't think about the width when I ordered. I was thinking more of them being heavy enough to stay put with big dogs.

The PT place is in southern Jersey and run by an orthopedic vet. But there are places popping up all over because the field is growing. He explained that swimming wouldn't hurt, but also wouldn't help her rear as much as the treadmill, since the backend gets used as much as the frontend when walking.

She started failing in the rear last year, mostly because of lost muscle mass. And that's my fault, from not keeping her exercised well enough. So we found the place through a friend (we had just moved to the area) and started at 2x a week, then weekly and now we're down to every two weeks.

Metacam is a non-steriodal like many others available. We've had good luck with it, but do closely monitor her bloodwork. Adequan is an injectable glucosamine derivative (someone jump in please if you know more details) that I remember hearing about for horses many years ago. It's supposedly the only glucosamine type product that's actually been proven to work scientifically (vs. through anecdotal evidence). We're halfway through the series and have already seen improvement. My vet showed me how to do the shots at home.

I have to run out to a meeting, I'll post more later. LOVE your Labs!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pet Steps

We used Metacam for our 14 year old Brittany. It helped her so much that for a year and a half it gave her such improved quality of life. She returned to barking and running the length of the fence. We didn't know she was in such pain. We finally thought that after about 10 years, we had taught her not to bark at everything that went by!

It is a liquid that you squirt in their mouths or on their food.

I had to laugh about your description of your dog with her front legs on the bed and woofing for you to help her up. My 12 yr old collie/shepherd mix has been doing that, (minus the woof), since I got her spayed at less than a year old!

After she was spayed, I helped her up on the bed because of her stitches. Well, she apparently enjoyed that, and has done it ever since. Not every time, in fact most of the time she hops up herself. But plenty of times she does the front legs on the bed, back feet on the floor thing. Only she doesn't woof. She just stands there. For a long time. It is really funny, and she obviously enjoys the whole thing. Finally I give in and get behind her and pick her butt up. She even does this on the couch, which is way lower than my bed.

Yes, she absolutely has me trained ;)

Hi goldengirl! we have 6 large dogs and a foster Husky, so your pack seems normal!

Our dear departed Phantom the WonderLab would also put up his front paws and demand a lift onto the bed. Oh well. He liked the attention and we liked giving ir while he was with us.

GoldenGirl! What a sizeable pack of pups :)

In answer to your question, I have an aged hound-mix, 15, that has problems with any steps. Hoover is in pain with even the 2 steps going in/out of the house. And these are not steep steps. I have to give him a boost when he goes up even a single step...like yours, he will put his front paws on the step and wait for his "boost".

I suspect there is hip pain involved, maybe someone with more canine-anatomy experience will chime in...

But at her age, I wouldn't second guess her motives. Just pull the old gal on up when she asks.

I think it the narrowness of the steps that maybe intimidating.

My cousin had a large long wooden box made and carpeted it for her arthritic Shepherd, he used it regularly to get in bed.