Wesley & Macho's Journal

My dog struggled to stand up every morning. I thought it was normal. For a year, I was wrong.

November 12, 2024 at 9:17 am EDT

"Powder? Really? I almost didn't try it. But watching her struggle to stand up every morning broke my heart. Week 2, she got up like nothing was wrong. I still can't believe it."

— Lisa R., Dog Mom to Rosie

The signs I ignored for a year

I always wanted a dog, until my parents and I decided to adopt one. I was always very active doing things like walking and hiking together with my mom, and Macho always came along faithfully.

At some point I noticed that Macho was having more and more trouble getting out of his bed after we had done a long walk of about an hour. I kept mentioning this to my mom, but she said it wasn't that bad and that it can be tough for such a little guy. Macho was about 6-7 months old at the time.

At some point this got worse and we decided to make the walks shorter to see if that would help. Instead of an hour, the walks became 30 minutes, and in the beginning this pretty much solved the problem. It was much less noticeable how difficult it was for him to get up, but this only lasted for about 1-2 months.

Again I raised the alarm and again nobody really listened. The half hour became 15 minutes and from then on things only went downhill.

The difficulty getting up got worse, but I also noticed that he could never jump on the couch. He would just stand there with his front paws against it and wait until I lifted him up. The same thing happened with the bed (he doesn't sleep in bed anymore haha, but in the beginning I just thought it was cozy).

He also always sat on his side and I actually thought it was a cute way of sitting and didn't think anything of it. When he would sit with his butt just above the ground, basically in the starting blocks to stand up again, I would always say: "good sit"; and then he would sit on his side. This was actually another sign that he was clearly struggling with something.

I remember it very well, at some point I was outside walking alone and I couldn't get him to come home with me. At first I thought he just wanted to keep walking, but then it became clear. I looked more closely at how he was walking behind me, and he suddenly started limping. This was in December, it was pretty cold at the time.

I came home and told my mom that he was also limping, she said it was probably because of the cold and that it was affecting his muscles. It sounded plausible when she said it, but I still kept watching.

Months went by again and everything stayed the same; the difficulty getting up, the crooked sitting, the stiffness after getting up (he also always had to stretch after getting up, this came later) and the limping which he now did not only after getting up but also during walks.

That's when I knew: this is pain

Like most dogs I think, he always came to sit under the table, and at some point he lashed out; not biting but a really angry growl that surprised us all. The weeks after that it didn't really happen again until one time he came to lie at my feet by the couch, I got a little too close to his back legs and he snapped again.

That's when I thought; okay this must really hurt because otherwise he wouldn't act like this.

By now, from the first time I noticed something, we were about a year further. After that second snap I knew for sure - this is pain. That same evening I started Googling.

When I typed in the question: "my dog has trouble getting up and limps after getting up, what is it?" I immediately got lots of websites writing about this: "your dog is limping, what now? Your dog is probably in pain" "arthritis in dogs" "Everything about arthritis in dogs".

It quickly became clear to me that something serious was going on and that I had been right all along.

After reading for about an hour, I had a real moment of realization; I had literally let my dog walk around in pain for a year. He had given me all the signals and yet I chose time and time again to do nothing about it. Not even a quick Google search to see if it could have been something.

This was truly a moment that still makes me sad and that I still deeply regret. Besides wanting to be the best parent for my dog and clearly failing at that, my dog had been in pain for a year, a whole year. So much pain that he even snapped hard while he's the sweetest dog on earth who gets along with every person and every dog.

If I could turn back time, I would have done it 100 times over at any cost.

Title

The first solution that didn't work

The moment I knew what was going on, I had to take action immediately. But this search took a lot longer than expected.

First I came across glucosamine treats (chews), this seemed like the best solution at first. It was also the product I could get delivered fastest so I decided to get them.

Macho loves all treats and all food but this was extremely difficult. Since he was crazy about cheese I decided to hide the treats in cheese, often after spitting it out twice the treat would finally go down.

When I gave him the treat on the second morning, Macho already had severe diarrhea while he normally never had this. This got so bad at some point that I decided to stop with the treats and look more closely at what was in them.

I basically looked up all the ingredients on Google and found out that these treats almost always contain glucosamine syrup. With arthritis this turned out to be the last thing you'd want to give your dog. Because it contains so much sugar, it promotes inflammation and just like with humans, you also gain weight from it. If he got any heavier, his joints would only suffer more.

I had to find another solution as quickly as possible, because Macho literally hadn't gotten any better, in fact now he also had diarrhea.

The night I didn't go to sleep

I literally spent that entire morning and afternoon searching and couldn't find a solution.

When I was lying in bed and Macho was lying at my feet and snapped again, I immediately got up and literally said out loud; I'm not going to sleep until I find something.

This became an all-nighter. At some point I saw a YouTube video from a woman who had experienced the same thing and recommended using green lipped mussel powder.

I was skeptical but desperate so I researched it more. The last thing I wanted was to give another supplement that would make him even sicker than he already was.

What immediately reassured me was that it's a natural product, also in powder form and therefore not made with glucosamine syrup.

And when I dug deeper, I discovered why it works so well: Green Lipped Mussel naturally contains glucosamine and chondroitin, but also ETA - a rare form of Omega-3 that you almost can't find anywhere else. Much more powerful than regular Omega-3s when it comes to reducing inflammation. Exactly what's needed for arthritis.

It had even been clinically tested on dogs with joint problems - and the results showed real improvement in how they moved.

I kept searching for negative reviews but couldn't find any. No horror stories. No side effects. Just dog owners saying the same thing: it worked.

The problem however was that I couldn't get it anywhere. The green lipped mussels turned out to only come from New Zealand and that's quite a flight from the USA. So I ordered it from New Zealand and it took about 2 weeks to arrive.

Week 3: He jumped on the couch

When I received the jar, Macho was immediately curious and started sniffing it. I thought; this is quite different from how it went with the treat.

Normally I don't give him food in the afternoon but I immediately prepared a bowl of food with the powder on top and he ate it like he always did. The next morning I gave it again and I was waiting for the moment he had to poop. When he did I was relieved that it was just normal.

I think it was about 7-10 days later that I noticed something was starting to work. When I said "are we going out" which he always responded to enthusiastically, he got out of his bed much faster.

I kept the walk short like I had been doing lately; 15 minutes and then we came back home. From that moment on I basically kept watching daily.

I slowly saw with each passing day that he was consistently getting up better and he walked just a bit smoother. After about 2 to 2.5 weeks I was walking with him and I thought; he's actually just walking normally again.

Because you're so used to him having something, you think with every little misstep that it's still there. But he was really walking much better.

Actually from that moment on things really improved with getting up. It literally got better by the day, getting up kept getting smoother until after about 4 weeks he was just getting up smoothly.

As a precaution I still took it easy with playing with other dogs, I still kept him from that because he often came home in pain after that.

When he ran into his "best girlfriend" during a walk I thought, let's see how it goes, and I did tell her owner that we needed to watch carefully. He ran and he played, I had literally never seen him go at it like that.

When he was done and we walked home, he was exhausted but he was still walking normally. At some point he fell asleep and I went upstairs. Before I came back down, he was already waiting at the door in the living room. He only did this when he was 3-4 months old.

I already saw that the powder was working, but now I really knew it.

And just like that, I told him we were going out and I was still sitting on the couch talking to my mom and he jumps on the couch. And I looked at him and said "Macho, what are you doing?!".

Literally while writing this I get tears in my eyes, I'm so happy that I persevered and didn't listen to others who said I shouldn't do this.

Today he's happier than ever, moves like he should move and he's really himself again like he was when he was little.

Why I'm sharing this story

More and more people I met during walks started noticing and saying; 'What did you do with Macho?' 'He's more playful than ever and looks really good!' - I would then tell them what had happened and how things had gone.

And over time more and more people came to me; 'where did you order this?' To which I said; it's quite a hassle to get it here, I'll order some for you.

And you know how that goes, one person tells another and it keeps going. First for friends. Then for their friends. Then for people I met during walks. At some point I had 20 jars at home and I thought; if nobody can easily get this and nobody really knows what the problem is with their dog - why don't I just make this available?

That's how The Pawrent was born. Not as a business plan or to get rich - but because I didn't want other dogs to go through the same thing as Macho. And didn't want other owners to feel the same regret as I did.

By now I (and of course Macho too) have helped more than 500 dogs walk better again. Literally not a single jar has been returned.

The reason I'm sharing my story is because I want to make other dog owners aware and give them the message I wish I had received back then.

It might seem harmless when he sits crooked, walks a bit harder or gets up with some difficulty, believe me; I understand you think that. This is the biggest mistake I made, and I want to protect you from it too.

Research has shown that 40% of dogs between 8 months and 4 years already show signs of wear (arthritis). Above 8 years this is as much as 80%(!).

So the chance is enormous that if you see these signs in your dog, your dog is suffering from this too.

Title

Don't wait like I did

If any of this sounds like your dog, that's not normal. That's pain. And it doesn't get better on its own.

You still have the choice I didn't take. Don't make the same mistake.

Order today. 90 days, no risk. The only thing you can lose is your dog's pain.

Best, Wesley (and Macho)

Wish I Found This Years Ago

I noticed Daisy limping a little after walks and taking longer to stand up in the mornings. She's 9, so I just assumed it was age. I almost didn't try anything because I thought this was just how it would be from now on. My sister sent me this article and I figured why not. I honestly didn't expect much. But by week 2, she was getting up so much easier. By week 4, the limping after walks completely stopped. And the biggest change? She's just... happier. More excited to see me. More playful. I feel like I have my best friend back. I can't believe I almost accepted that as 'just age.' It wasn't age. It was something I could actually fix.

- Margaret S., Boston (Dog Mom to Daisy)

He's Back To His Spot Every Night Now

Max used to jump on the couch to sit next to me every evening. Then one day he just stopped. He'd walk up to it, look at me, and lay down on the floor instead. That broke my heart more than the limping ever did. He was giving up. I started the powder expecting nothing. I'd already tried three other supplements. Day 10, I'm watching TV and suddenly he's next to me. He jumped up like it was nothing. I just kept petting him and crying. He's back to his spot every night now. That's my boy.

- Michael R., Florida (Dog Dad to Max)

Thought It Was Too Good To Be True

I've spent hundreds on joint supplements over the years. Chews, pills, expensive vet brands. My 12 year old Lab would spit them out or get diarrhea. I was ready to give up. Tried this powder as a last resort. She doesn't even know it's in her food. Three weeks later she jumped on the couch for the first time in a year. I sat there and cried. This stuff actually works.

- Jennifer M., California (Dog Mom to Bella)

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