Hello Tracie. My question is health related: what are the best ways to help dogs deal with chronic pain? Hunter, our two-year-old Labrador retriever, has hip/stifle issues, but due to allergies that are life-threatening, surgery is not an option. What do owners do when vet medicine is either a poor choice or no choice?

From: Anne Marie, in Oakland, NJ

Dear Anne Marie,

A few suggestions for you and Hunter.

Consider acupuncture. It could help, if you are fortunate enough to have a veterinary acupuncture therapist around. If you can find an alternative, maybe a holistic kind of vet, you may find relief. (In my book THE DOG BIBLE, there’s a listing of how to find them.)

Platinum Performance is one of the most incredible supplements for joint pain I’ve found; it’s literally a life-saver. I had my Rottweiler, Yogi Bear, on it, who had no hip sockets -- a total birth defect -- and I was not willing to put a very young dog through a double hip replacement. But with two scoops of Platinum Performance, morning and night, the horrible pain he had been suffering stopped. Do you have my book, THE DOG BIBLE? I wrote all about the product; that’s how they came to be sponsors of the radio show.

In the alternative, I’ve found most other supplements to be useless on any dog, and wildly expensive.

Try to figure out which movements (i.e., running too much, sharp turns, getting in and out of cars, etc.) cause him pain, and limit these motions. I’ve found it really helps!

Best.

Tracie Hotchner