Once a week, rate seven things about how a dog with osteoarthritis or hip dysplasia is moving — ease after rest, stairs, getting up, walk stamina, even gait, jumping, and overall comfort — on a 0–10 scale. Save the entry, come back next week, and you have a plain, printable log to bring to your dog’s next recheck. This tool records what you notice, in your own words and numbers, for the vet visit. The log lives on this device only.

Quick answer: This is a weekly log for dogs with osteoarthritis or hip dysplasia whose vet recently started or changed a treatment. Rate seven descriptive domains on 0–10, mark the date, and add a note if the treatment changed. The tool saves entries in this browser and prints them for your vet; you and your vet decide what the pattern means.
About this tool: This is a log for your recheck appointment. What the scores mean for your dog is a conversation with your veterinarian.

This tool is for information and record-keeping. It does not replace your veterinarian's instructions, which always take precedence.

Your entries are stored on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere.

This week's log

Ease after rest

How easily your dog moves after a nap or a long lie-down.

Stairs

Willingness and ease using stairs the dog encounters day-to-day.

Getting up

How your dog stands up from lying down.

Walk stamina

How long or far your dog goes on a walk before slowing down or wanting to stop.

Even gait

How evenly your dog moves while walking or trotting.

Jumping

Ability to jump onto furniture or into a car when they want to. Use "Skip this domain" if a ramp means you can't tell.

Overall comfort

How comfortable your dog seemed across the whole day.

Treatment change

If tracking week-to-week feels lonely, other caregivers walking the same recheck cycle are talking through it in the community forum. You are welcome there.

What should I track between arthritis rechecks?

Track what your vet can actually use at the next visit: how easily your dog stands up, whether stairs and jumps look different, whether the gait is even, how far into a walk the slowdown starts, and how comfortable the day looked overall. The seven domains here cover those things in the same order each week. The value is in the record over time — one entry is a data point; a run of them is a trend your vet can read.

What should I track for a dog with hip dysplasia?

For hip dysplasia specifically, caregivers watch four domains most closely: rise from lying, stairs, activity tolerance on a normal walk, and evenness of gait. Those are the things that change first when a hip is worsening or when a treatment is helping. A weekly rhythm is especially useful around a treatment change — a new medication, a physiotherapy course, a weight-loss push — because the log becomes a before-and-after your vet can read at a glance. If the surgical-versus-conservative conversation is on the table, a run of weekly entries turns it from a memory question into something you and your vet can build the decision on together.

How do I know if a joint supplement is helping?

The honest answer is that you don’t, from a single week. You keep a plain weekly log, note the date the treatment or dose changed, and let the record accumulate. Owner impressions in isolation are unreliable; owner impressions written down every week, on the same scales, with treatment changes flagged, are something your veterinarian can work with. Your vet reads the log and decides whether the supplement is doing anything.

How often should I log?

Once a week is a good rhythm for most dogs on a stable treatment plan. If your vet has asked for a different cadence, follow theirs. Try to log on the same day each week and at roughly the same time of day — mornings tend to be stiffer than afternoons for many dogs, and a consistent time makes weeks comparable. The tool does not push a schedule.

Where is my data stored?

In your browser’s local storage on this device only. Entries never leave this device — the tool sends nothing to a server, to us, or to any third party. If you clear browser data, switch browsers, or open the tool on another device, the entries will not follow. Use the export button to download the log as a JSON file, or print the summary, if you want a durable copy.

Can this tool tell me if a treatment is working?

It records what you’re already noticing week by week — how easily your dog moves, how far they can walk, whether they hesitate — and gathers those observations in one place your vet can read at the recheck. The reading of the trend belongs with your veterinarian, who knows your dog and the full clinical picture. Bring the printed log to your recheck and talk through what the weeks show together.