have to be careful with the dremel... use it at low speeds, at high speeds they build up heat FAST.
To the OP:
My lab suffers from arthritis pretty badly too. A BUFFERED aspirin once a day might help a lot (or maybe twice a day when it's really bad). MUST BE BUFFERED, and must be aspirin. Not tylenol, not Advil, not "coated" aspirin. BUFFERED, or his stomach will suffer.
no negative comment on the buffered aspirin, but if you want to do better than that, give your dog a tablet of glucosamina, and a tablet of chondotroina per day. Both are readibly available at most pharmacies. Frequently you can get tablets combining the 2. We had a lab with hipdisplacement, and got him to 14 years without any pain. Then he died of a heart-attack.
He played sports on competition level, loved playing, and loved swimming. He actually looked like a canine version of The Terminator...:laugh:
He was diagnosed at 6 months, was very stiff, and our vet ( a professor at a veteranery university ) told us about this tablets, the swimming, and to keep him moving.
As far as the dogbed goes... yes, you can make it yourself, which is probably the cheapest. The other alternative is to visit the website of petplaza.com.do. It is located in SD, owned by 2 European doglovers, and they will ship all over the island. No idea about how prices compare, but they sell high quality products.
BelgianK
PS... GET A DECENT DOG NAIL CUTTER INSTEAD OF THE DREMEL... if you hit the lifeline in the nail with that dremel, you will be mopping up the blood, and have a dog not wanting to have his nails cut, as that experience was extremely painfull.