My boy Lance, a 14 you arthritic german shepherd

[warrior1]

who has to use a ramp to get to the back yard surprised me last night. I was waiting for him to do his business when I heard a squeeekkkk and he moved away from a the ferns with an enormous rat in his mouth. He must bit down pretty hard a couple times before I could get him to drop the rat. No blood, but the rat was clearly messed up. I was quite literally stunned.

I put the rat outside of the fence and check on him/her later then placed it into a couple plastic bags and in the trash.

Lance really surprised me. The old boy still has it.

[alphafemale]

1. wow. Many GUUUGG GaWGIE neck skittez were forth coming I hope?

[warrior1]

2. you betcha

[pipi_k]

3. GO Lance!!!!

You are so lucky to still have him at that age, rat-catching or not.

And yeah...I totally get the ramp thing

[warrior1]

4. He falls all the time.

He doesn't always know where he's back legs are. I've seen him try to skip down the ramp, and his right leg get tangled with the left and then end up in a heap on the ground. But, he's still got a lot a life left in him.

[pipi_k]

5. Have you had

him checked for Degenerative Myelopathy?

The same sort of thing happened to my old girl at the age of 13 and to her brother (owned by my stepdaughter) within months of each other.

Her back legs would get tangled in each other, and her tail would drag behind her.

I had to make a "sling" to support her back legs when we walked her...she could no longer use the ramp to the yard...one day her front legs gave out too. That's when we had to make the hard decision to end her suffering.

This was 2009. Still hurts.

I hope Lance doesn't have anything like DM, and that it's only arthritis. At least there's meds for the stiffness and pain.

[warrior1]

6. I thought he might

have CDRM like you say. But right now because he's been licking his left hip to raw skin and I'm treating it like it's arthritis. Tramadol, ointment, and antibiotics.

Did you're pup lick the hip area?