Hi Doc;
I don't think you have had surgery for her LP, correct? But sand is actually a good exercise medium, it particularly will strengthen the ankle and all the foot joints.
How-ever you can check over the phone with your vet about any and all the exercises or change of pace activities you can do with your gal.
1. Limit jumping especially to hard surfaces!!! Keep her in trim shape which it sounds like you do.
2. Try to vary your exercise routine. Or intersperse ball chasing with another game on the beach, like find that toy, or bury a toy, or a few obedience tricks/ skills, more on exercise variety a little bit later
3. Get her warmed up first before ball chasing, and try to throw ball in a straight line.
4. What is hard on the knee joints is a fast paced twisting or turning action.
5. Also there is some research(of which I am trying to find the actual research article) that associates low thyroid and structural ligamentous weakness. You need more than the standard T4 result from the complete blood panel. You need to do an expanded T4 panel. Have no idea of the costs in England for this. If you go to this website
www.offa.org and look up thyroid testing they will show what you need to do to clear a dog of thyroid associated disorders.
I am only suggesting this to a) make sure your gal does not have incipient or early thyroid problems and b) if she has historically low thyroid levels, I might treat a little more conservatively her exercise activities.
Good exercise is just like for humans, vary your activities, in sports it is called cross training.
1. Swimming is in my mind the number 1 activity that is hugely safe for joints, and also can help with cardiovascular fitness:
Translated for dogs: Find out if you have available to you either a doggie indoor swimming pool, or a animal rehab center that has underwater treadmill. Consider at least once a week a swimming activity.
In the summertime walk her on lead through the edge of the ocean so that the waves come up above her knees but way below her chest. She can even chase a ball through the water if you can throw it in a relatively straight line. I am a quite conservative gal, and always start off the swimming water work with life jackets on all my dogs. Get a long cloth lead line and it will give her 15 feet or so of room to run in.
The coldness of the water is very theurapeutic for those knees. I healed up a nasty hock joint injury with my large dog, by walking him on lead through the very cold Lake Ontario water in April/May one year.
Another alternative get in the bathtub with her, place a non slip bath mat that covers the whole bottom of the tub, have the water coolish, have her walk with you from end to end. Once she gets used to this, then you can stand outside the tub and walk her back n forth. Then gradually deepen the water until she needs to swim in the tub!
continued on next post