Video: Red is in great shape, fast, limber, well-muscled, with a very strong heart. He has been diagnosed with arthritis, which is quite common in border collies as they grow older – he is nine. The bodies of working dogs and their joints take a terrific beating if they work regularly, and Red works two or three times a day.

This is not, in my mind, a crisis or a drama, there is no need to feel badly for Red, who is fit and happy and healthy and who will be working for a long time.  There is no need for sympathy or commiserations. It is just life, but I want to be pro-active,  he is  taking some good stuff for his joints and has a highly-recommended food.

The vet (and some orthopedists as well) recommend that he gets some good strong running exercise once or twice a day apart from his regular work to keep his joints limber and his muscles strong. It’s easy enough, since he loves to do his outruns anywhere. It’s a five-to-ten minute workout, it will help keep Red  healthy and loose.

Herding work is tough on a dog’s joints, there are sudden stops, swerves, twists and turns. The outrun running allows him t cut loose and run in a straight line.

So today, I started a new morning regimen – Fate loves to run also – and it gets the two of them launched and loose in the morning. Come and see the beauty of two working dogs going what they love to do.