Dog Arthritis in the Back Legs: Signs, Causes and Support

Arthritis in the back legs: the short answer

Osteoarthritis is a progressive degenerative joint disease that causes pain and loss of mobility, and it is one of the most common chronic conditions dogs get.^1,2

The honest part: the disease itself cannot be cured, though managing it from several angles at once can improve how a dog does.¹ The hopeful part: a lot of that management happens at home, with your vet steering. Most owners we talk to are not looking for a miracle. They want their dog comfortable, upright and still part of the family.

If hips are the suspected source, start with our guide to wheelchair support for dogs with hip dysplasia support, which covers the hip picture in more depth.

Why the back end goes first

Owners often ask why it is always the back legs. A few things stack up.

Dogs with sore hips tend to quietly shift their weight off the painful back end and onto their front limbs, and this has been measured in working dogs with hip arthritis on both sides, leaving them looking front-heavy.³

Knees matter too. Disease of the cruciate ligament, one of the ligaments inside the knee joint, is one of the leading causes of hind limb lameness in dogs and of arthritis in the knee,⁴ and no surgical technique described in the literature prevents arthritis from developing afterwards.⁴

It is increasingly recognised as a whole-body condition, with changes in the body's chemistry and inflammation that reach beyond the affected joint,⁵ and dogs with different forms of osteoarthritis, such as obese versus thin, can show different patterns of gut bacteria and inflammation markers in the blood.⁵

Signs of dog arthritis hind legs trouble, in plain language

Underneath all of that sit chronic pain, reduced mobility and a poorer quality of life.⁶

Chronic pain from canine arthritis is under-detected, under-diagnosed and insufficiently managed, and the early signals that make owners pick up the phone are poorly understood.⁷ Even when signs pile up, owners often delay because of their own confidence in managing it, denial, a wait-and-see attitude, or worry about the cost of the visit.⁷

If you have been telling yourself "he's just getting old", that is worth a second look. Old is not a diagnosis.

When to see the vet, and when it is urgent

Book a regular appointment if your dog is stiff after rest, reluctant on stairs, lagging on walks or has lost interest in things they used to love.

Go straight to a vet, same day, if the back legs suddenly stop working, if your dog cannot stand, if there is dragging that came on quickly, or if they are crying out.

There is a second reason to get a proper diagnosis rather than assuming arthritis in back legs of dog cases are all the same. Other conditions look similar. In one group of large breed dogs with joint disease affecting the small joints of the spine, all of them arrived with progressively weakening back legs and an unsteady, uncoordinated hind end,⁸ because changes in the spine, not the hips, were pressing on the spinal cord.⁸ That is uncommon, but it belongs on the list when a big dog presents this way.⁸ Only your vet can tell these apart.

What your vet may talk about

We do not give treatment advice, and we never name medicines. What we can do is help you follow the conversation.

When a dog is diagnosed with osteoarthritis, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the standard anti-inflammatory pain medicines, have traditionally been the first-line option raised for managing the pain.² It is worth knowing that these medicines control the signs of pain and inflammation but do not change the underlying breakdown of joint tissue, which is why other drug categories aimed at the disease process itself have been developed.⁹

A structured exercise-based rehabilitation program in dogs with degenerative joint disease produced measurable changes in how far the joints could move and in the thickness of the limb muscles.¹⁰ Findings like these support building targeted therapeutic exercise into a broader conservative management plan.¹⁰ One caution: dogs varied considerably in how they responded to the exercise program.¹⁰

A review of seven studies found the current evidence that such injections reduce pain and lameness is weak,⁶ and a larger review concluded that differences between protocols and study quality make it impossible to draw firm conclusions about how well they work.¹

Where a wheelchair fits in

What a rear support cart does is carry the back half of your dog so the legs are not doing the work of holding the body up, which supports mobility on days when walking is hard.

The OldPal Rear Support Dog Wheelchair is built for exactly this: dogs with weak or failing back legs. The padded harness carries weight through the hips and chest rather than the spine, and every strap adjusts. The frame is set so the back legs hang free or lightly brush the ground, and dogs can still squat and go to the bathroom while in the chair. The frame is lightweight aluminium with all-terrain wheels, and each frame adjusts in height within its range.

It comes in five sizes, Mini through XL, covering rear leg heights from 3 to 31 inches. Sizing uses one measurement: rear leg height, taken from the top of the hip straight down to the toe pad, with your dog lying on their side and the leg at its natural bend. Take that measurement, then use the size guide and its fit finder before you order a dog wheelchair for back legs. If you are between sizes or unsure, email a photo and your measurement to help@oldpalpets.com and a person will answer.

Our Fit Guarantee covers the rest: if the size does not fit, send it back and we replace it with the size that does, and return shipping is the only cost. Most orders arrive within 2 to 3 weeks, and we ship to the continental US only.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• shaking back legs in dogs with arthritis, for trembling and tremor in the back end
• weak back legs in dogs with arthritis, for legs that buckle or give out
• dragging back legs in dogs with arthritis, for scuffed nails and dragging paws

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