Toy Poodle Changeed Behaviour

Question
Our 6 year old used to be very energetic: chasing balls etc.(perhaps in retrospect inappropriate):occasionally in the past her back right knee would "pop out": reset by stretching": in the last fortnight after two incidents one in the street and the  other on the step leading to the house (both requiring the leg to be stretched to reset) her (the Poodle's) attitude has changed: she now wishes to be carried instead of walking: left on the ground she will not walk and will not go up the step.
Logically it is understood that she is frightened: to correct the knee may require invasive surgery - last resort: tied her with anti inflammatory (arthritis) drug but it caused upset stomach and have ceased using this drug: she is slowly coming back to eating I hope.
Advice please as to how to treat this knee joint - walks, exercise, hydrotherapy and more importantly how to treat the psychological conation of not walking etc.
Any advice gratefully accepted.  

Answer
Hi Tivy;
Don't blame her for not wanting to walk on it.
I am sure it hurts like blue blazes.
I would seriously consider the surgery, if the Veterinarian feels it would correct the promlem.
I am sure the resetting hurts very much.
Try other inflamatory drugs.
There are many available, and surely there would be one she could take.
I have Arthritis too, and I know what it feels like.
I have Osteo and Rheumatoid. Not sure which is the most painful.
I have, in my life had one broken bone, and several joint sprains. They are soooo painful, but Arthritis hurts more.
I give my dogs massages for pain of Arthritis, post surgry etc. It helps them have mobility with fewer meds.
It is not hard to learn to do the massages, and it does relieve the pain.
there are other exercises that help with fears, aggression or anything else connected with nervousness.
If your Veterinarian feels that surgery would not be best, ask if he knows of or could devise a splint, or some kind of apparatus that you could put on her leg before taking her for a walk, that would hold the joint so it doesn't slip out of place.
If there were a splint or something that held the leg, I am sure she would rather walk with a stiff leg than take a chance of that knee out.
At her age, she is getting old, so her enegy would slow down some for that, but I am sue the anticipated pain does a lot more of it.
Go to this site and read about the massages, and you can order a video from there to learn how to do the massages.
Massaging an animal is quite different than massaging a human,becase the muscle structure is different, and the massages have to be done in a certain way for each massage.
The one video will teach you how to do all these massages.

   www.lindatellington-jones.com

Charlotte