When we got back to Deer Lake Cabins, Shadow was comfortable just to cowboy up and talk to the horses. He couldn’t get up on the seat of the mule without the ramp, and when he wanted to walk along side of the mule like he did last year, he was so slow that my nickname putt putt from last year, (for driving the mule slow so the dogs could keep up) will have to be changed to NO GO or something like that!
I noticed he was A LOT slower than last year and those who said Shiner was slow didn’t have Shadow to compare her too!
The only thing that was different for Shadow from last year was his medication for joint stiffness and pain. When he first got medication for this he was he was on Rimadyl. 
He took that for two years. It is very expensive so I looked for a cheaper place to purchase it, so I tried an online pet pharmacy. When I got the medication in the mail, I knew from the cotton inside the container that it was NOT the legitimate product. I called the makers of Rimadyl and they confirmed my suspicions. Now I had a bottle of crap and was out nearly $200.00.
So then I decided that we would try a generic brand, Novax 
he was on that for about 6 months. I thought it was working fine. but back home it is hard to gauge his changes. It is not like I have a mule for him to run beside! He seemed to be doing fine on walks the only thing I noticed different was that he wasn’t jumping up on the couch as much for an afternoon nap,
but I thought that was just part of his aging process.
After noticing his “NO GO” status, I decided to stop giving Shadow the Novax for one week and put him back on Rimadyl. I could not believe the difference that made! (Nothing like feeling like the world’s worst pet owner for trying to save a few bucks).
Now that Shadow has been back on Rimadyl, he is running more and playing more. When I take the kids to the park he can’t wait for his turn to go up the ramp and down the slide! 
(Just kidding, Blue is the only dog to go down the slide!) 
Shadow may not go down the slide but he is running with the pack again 
and I can take my name Putt Putt back!
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Adventures of Shadow the RVing Dog.