My old man GSD has a bum back leg. Vet thinks it is most likely a combination of age and a probable spinal cord lesion of some sort, (he tends to list to the left overall). Currently managing his pain with Rimadyl and gabapentin 2x/day, and he is on a maintenance dose of Dasuquin chews. He still wants to be super active, but he pays the price the day after a long walk or a visit to the barn. He has a hard time getting up and getting through the dog door.
Im wondering if a Back on Track blanket might help him feel better. Anyone have a positive or negative experience to share?
My 14 year old with disc disease seems to like hers. It’s not miracle cure, but she seems less stiff and is happy to wear it. My poodle also wears a sheet to the barn because mom has a clearance problem- I bought 4 dog blankets at half price
We have the therapeutic blanket but it’s way too big for my old GSD and she didn’t like the thing w/ straps BUT she
LOVES the square 20X20 pad draped over her when she sleeps. I need to get another pad as we have to share it.
those square pads are so handy for human aches and pains and they really work.
My older dog, she’ll be 14 in February, LIVES for hers. And I definitely see a difference. She also likes it when I pull the back pad out that I got for my horse (he never saw it. She needs it more) and put it on her bed or on her spot on my bed. I also use the gloves and socks and love them.
I bought the sweater for myself as my lower back and my neck tends to bother me from work. I don’t think it does anything. I wouldn’t even say it feels warmer then any other shirt of similar weight. I felt much better with a bigger sweater and heating pad.
That was my trial run before I bought anything for the horses, needless to say I didn’t buy them anything.
A blanket of some sort may help to keep muscles and ligaments warm, but you can probably save your money on the Back on Track.
I have to say, I don’t think it works on every body. I’ve used various products on horses over the years to varying success. But, I know for me, I feel a difference in my feet and hands (the gloves are WAY warmer than similar weight gloves), and, when I have the pad on my bed for my girl, if I have my feet under it, they get really hot. A big reason I use them both for my dog and my horse is for the added warmth. They are both part reptile and HATE the cold. My horse has a nice BOT quarter sheet and it has eliminated needing to warm him up with two on colder days. My dog likes to sleep in her blanket on cold nights and I will say that when she wears it on long car rides, she gets out of the car less creaky. BUT, I have not seen results like that on everyone, and I’ve also seen nearly miraculous results on others.
Do the adequan. It worked absolute miracles for my aging Doberman. I also have a back on track sheet, tried lots of other therapies and the adequan is absolutely the best option out there. It’s not cheap but it works.
I’m a fan of the BoT stuff - have a bunch of it for myself and feel like it helps me. I’ve got several of the “mini-blankets” that get tossed into the dog crates at trials when it’s cold - the girls seem to like them, as they don’t push them out of the way. I don’t have the BoT dog blankets though - I got the Schneider’s Lux dog blankets instead - about half the price of the BoT ones, but without all the straps and cords and zippers and painfully specific sizing. Sizes are much more limited, but if you’re remotely handy with a needle and thread, you can easily “tailor” them for a better fit. Number One Dog wears hers in the car to and from agility trials and all day at the trials when it’s cold. (Number Two Dog doesn’t have one yet, but will probably get one in the near future.)
I bought myself one of the mini blankets and constantly found the dog on it, so I bought him his own. They are well-priced, so a fairly economical way to try out BOT.
