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Originally Posted by JagerLiLi  That is ridiculous to say!! Im glad you put it in that text! A high school football player has a trainer, and a coach that has the decision whether or not he can play due to an injury. A proud "high school athelete" like a dog will try to do as much as possible without their overall present and future health in mind. If your dog has muscle, joint, hip, heart problems... then your animal should be "limited" to what he or she can do. Keep your animal's health in mind not their pride. Rott's have hearts the size of texas... they will overdue it if you let them! |
It's amazing how many people think they know whats better for the dog than the dog does.My experience is that a dog will definately let you know when it has difficulty or in pain, and a good exercise regimen training or otherwise will keep the muscle tone to limit the damage and pain of bad hips and elbows. We aren't talking about doing the Iditarod here, nor forced exercise, usually when a dog grows older and activity levels decrease joint problems become more severe due to muscle tissue loss, just as it does in human beings and the same "use it or lose it" principle applies.