The first cold mornings show it: your dog gets up from the bed a little more slowly, moves stiffly to the door, and after five minutes of walking looks completely normal again. Easy to shrug off. But that exact pattern — stiff after rest, better with movement — is the classic opening line of joint pain.
«Slowing down» usually means «it hurts»
Arthritis is one of the most common chronic problems in dogs, and it isn't only a big-old-dog disease: it starts quietly in middle age, often years before anyone uses the word. Dogs don't complain, they compensate — fewer stairs, shorter routes, a different way of sitting.
Early signs worth noticing
- Stiffness in the first minutes after sleeping, worse on cold or damp days.
- Lowering into a lie-down slowly, holding himself, or dropping the last part of the way.
- Hesitating at the stairs, the car boot or the sofa — a beat of calculation before jumping.
- Sitting crooked with one hip out, or hopping with both back legs together at a run.
- Choosing to turn for home earlier on walks, or licking the same joint over and over.
The three things that help most
- Weight. Every extra kilo presses on damaged cartilage with every step, and slimming a heavy dog is usually more visible than any supplement.
- Regular, moderate movement — not weekend marathons. Two or three shorter walks a day beat one long one: a joint is carried by the muscle around it.
- Grip and warmth. Rugs or runners on slippery floors, a thick dry bed away from draughts, and a ramp instead of a jump into the car.
- Where you can, choose soft and varied ground: grass and forest paths are kinder than tarmac for a stiff dog.
When to book the vet
Never reach for the human medicine cabinet: ibuprofen and paracetamol cause serious harm to dogs. Veterinary pain relief is safe, effective and worth starting early — treating pain in its quiet phase keeps the dog moving, and movement is itself part of the treatment. Film thirty seconds of your dog getting up after a nap and take the video with you.
Note the day your dog first refused the stairs, or the walk that got shorter. Those small dated entries are what turn «he's just old» into a diagnosis.
