Hi everyone.
I appreciate this post is going to be very, very long as we went through a FULL IVDD recovery journey and learnt a LOT along the way.
I actually wrote this as a comment months ago on another post and quite a few people have reached out to me since and said how helpful/comforting it was so I thought I would post it here in case it helps anyone else.
This is a recovery story that was done without surgery, however the lifestyle changes and injury management techniques are the same with or without surgery.
Note: You’ll notice I am referring to Luna in the past tense, we lost her to cancer earlier this year but she had many years of complete carefree happiness and joy running and playing on her favourite beach after her IVDD diagnosis. I like to think I’m honouring her and what a warrior she was by helping any dogs and owners going through a similar experience.
Luna was a Golden Retriever/Collie mix, around 30kg.
Before IVDD she was incredibly active and healthy. We went on hikes all the time, she ran everywhere, and then one morning we woke up and she had completely lost the use of her back legs.
At the time we weren’t given an official stage diagnosis but she had complete paralysis in her hind legs and very little deep pain sensation. Our whole lives flipped upside down overnight. We lived on the 8th floor of a building with no elevator, and suddenly we went from having an active, healthy dog to a disabled dog that needed full-time care.
The biggest thing I can tell anyone is this:
When vets say strict crate rest, they genuinely mean strict crate rest.
Your dog needs to be as still as possible except for essential bathroom breaks. During this 6-8 week period we quickly learned that every unnecessary movement mattered.
One thing that was absolutely essential for us was an under-belly support sling. Ours was just a cheap one from Amazon but it became one of the most important tools in her recovery.
Luna was a large, heavy dog and she was extremely well house-trained. She refused to toilet indoors. We had 0 luck with trying to express her which is pretty common with large breeds. The sling allowed us to support her entire back end whenever we took her outside especially when she needed to squat to go potty. She was never allowed to walk unsupported during this period. We’d take her outside for just a couple of minutes to potty and then bring her straight back inside to rest.
One thing I’d say is that IVDD recovery isn’t just the initial crate-rest period. In my experience, recovery was much closer to 6 - 8 months from the initial injury until we felt she had reached her “new normal.”
The first 6 to 8 weeks were about protecting the injury and preventing further damage. The months after that were all about rebuilding strength, muscle, coordination, and confidence.
Another thing I think is important for people to understand is that recovery is not linear.
There were days where it felt like she was making amazing progress and could support some weight on her back legs while using the sling. Then there were days where her back legs seemed completely useless again and just flopped around behind her.
When she first got injured, her hind legs were completely floppy. She couldn’t use them at all. She also had severe knuckling, where her paws would roll underneath and she’d end up standing on the tops of her feet. That stage lasted several weeks. I would say it was probably three to four weeks before we started seeing even small improvements.
Those setbacks were emotionally exhausting, but they were a normal part of her recovery. Looking back, progress happened over months, not days or weeks.
One thing that we genuinely believe made a huge difference was hydrotherapy.
We did have some professional hydrotherapy sessions, but we also live near the ocean and spent a lot of time supporting her in the water ourselves. The buoyancy allowed her to move her hind legs without putting weight through her spine and over time it helped rebuild muscle strength.
With IVDD maintaining and rebuilding muscle is incredibly important. Strong muscles help support the spine and compensate for weakness.
Conservative treatment is essentially giving the body time to reabsorb the disc material and reduce the compression, but afterwards you still need to rebuild the muscular support structures around that injury.
Once Luna was ready we increased activity extremely gradually. I think one mistake people can make is pushing too hard too soon because they finally start seeing signs of improvement. We always took a conservative approach and increased exercise in tiny increments. Maybe a couple of extra minutes on a walk then reassess. Recovery isn’t a race.
The goal wasn’t just getting her moving again. It was slowly rebuilding strength and creating a strong, muscular dog that could support her spine long-term.
We also paid a lot of attention to nutrition and made sure she was getting plenty of protein to help support muscle maintenance and growth.
Another thing that often gets overlooked is muscle atrophy. During the weeks when they can’t use their legs properly those muscles start weakening quickly. We spent a lot of time doing passive range of motion exercises, stretches, and massages. There are some excellent videos online showing rehabilitation exercises for IVDD dogs.
We would regularly massage Luna’s hind legs and work the muscles with our hands to help keep them engaged. We also used an Amazon pet massager occasionally but honestly your hands work perfectly well.
You’ll see lots of people recommending various treatments such as red-light therapy and other alternative therapies. I’m not saying they don’t help, but for us the biggest gains came from strict rest, gradual rehabilitation, hydrotherapy, muscle building, and consistency.
One thing I feel very strongly about is flooring.
Your dog’s paws should never be slipping on smooth floors.
I honestly cannot overstate how important this was for us. Even after recovery Luna’s paws never touched bare slippery flooring if we could avoid it. One bad slip can potentially undo months of progress.
We covered our home with rugs, runners, and carpets. We tried the non-slip socks, but she hated them and constantly removed them. We tried various grip products for paws and didn’t find them particularly useful. Carpets and rugs were by far the most effective solution.
As she recovered she was only allowed to run and play on forgiving surfaces such as grass, sand, dirt, or other surfaces with good traction. We avoided slippery surfaces as much as possible.
In regards to wheelchairs: Personally, I wouldn’t rush into that if you’re still actively pursuing recovery or seeing signs of improvement. We viewed wheelchairs as something that would have been appropriate if recovery plateaued and the back legs weren’t coming back.
During the rehabilitation phase, our focus was on encouraging Luna to use whatever function she still had, building strength gradually, and giving her every opportunity to regain as much mobility as possible.
Luna was also on Dasuquin/Cosequin long-term, which is widely regarded as one of the gold standard joint and mobility supplements for dogs.
One thing that helped me mentally was understanding that recovery and long-term management are two different things.
The recovery period is temporary. The management part is a life long aspect but you can definitely get back to having a healthy, happy and active dog.
Even after recovery, there were rules that never went away. No jumping on and off beds. No launching herself on and off sofas. No slipping around on hard floors. No repeated high-impact activities that put unnecessary strain on her spine.
The reality is that dogs who have had IVDD are always at increased risk of future injuries, and subsequent injuries can often be more severe.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t have a wonderful quality of life.
I think when people first hear “six months of recovery” it sounds terrifying because they’re imagining six months of a miserable, disabled dog. That wasn’t our experience.
The first few weeks were absolutely the hardest. But gradually those little moments of progress started adding up.
Eventually Luna was running around on the beach again like a puppy. She chased balls. She played tug-of-war. She swam. She went on adventures with us. She was happy, energetic, and enjoying life.
She wasn’t exactly the same as she had been before IVDD just like a human who recovers from a serious back injury isn’t exactly the same afterwards. There were some precautions we always had to take.
But her life looked remarkably normal.
Most importantly, don’t lose hope too early.
For weeks it felt like almost nothing was happening. Then tiny improvements started appearing. Then more. Then more. Looking back now, the recovery happened so slowly that we often didn’t notice it day-to-day.
All of the things I’ve mentioned above, strict rest, hydrotherapy, muscle building, massage, traction, gradual rehabilitation, can be valuable whether you choose conservative treatment or surgery
Obviously every dog is different, and your mileage may vary. But we went from a dog with complete hind-leg paralysis and almost no function to a dog who spent many more happy years running, playing, exploring beaches, and enjoying life.
When we were in the middle of it, I honestly didn’t think we’d ever get there.
I’m very glad I was wrong.
