Worried about Nikon *video added*

You might consider a product from DogLeggs.com to deal with the toe-dragging (if not correctable).  They make therapeutic and rehabilitive products, plus they do custom work if necessary. 

Example:  http://www.dogleggs.com/files/neopaws.cfm

Vet testimonials for their products:  http://www.dogleggs.com/files/testimonial.cfm

 Lies first and foremost I hope it is something simple that does not impact all the things you both love to do!

I was terrified last year when I saw similar issues with Bugsy and was 100% sure it was going to be HD.  It wasn't - his hips (not OFA obviously) were deemed excellent. It was the CCL ligament and he also showed initial signs of the spondlyitis/spondlyosis (can't recall which but the one that is essentially the very beginnings of arthritis at the base of his tail).  Our surgeon said that was common in large dogs and generally not intrusive until the dog was older.

FWIW the xrays included knees/hips/ and lower back.  You really must get good xrays and I will say that in our case Bugsy was completely out of it for hours afterward.  Even a slightly off xray can show his hips to be bad or great and be completely wrong.

Have you measured the circumference of his thighs in the same location on each?  That will let you know if there is less muscle development on the left side.

When he gaits/trots is he kind of slanted?  Bugsy's trot is very smooth but is on a slant, hard to describe but essentially his shoulders are right of his hips.  This is likely a back issue but he has always been slanted like that. I would love to take him to a chiropractor and see if it straightened him out LOL

Bugsy's walk has always looked awkward and his gait/trot/run super smooth so I am not sure that indicates anything.  He also before and after the knee surgery has occasionally scraped a nail.  It isn't bad but it does happen.

Just posting this to share what I have learned in the last year - try to not jump to conclusions, make sure the x-rays are good and consider seeing a PT for him.  One of the exercises we were given post -op are called Cavaletti's which is walking over hock high hurdles.  They explained that many dogs are just lazy and don't pick their feet up.  I was watching B walk yesterday and thought to myself we need to do those again.  Try setting that up and working him over those and see if it makes a difference.  If it is just being lazy and not a medical issue he should do it without any issue and then carry it into his normal walk

Once again - good luck - I was a wreck last year and that is for a neutered non-working mutt I can only imagine how you feel with Nikon

I also have to add that I hope it is nothing serious. I knew Lex's gait was just off last year when I got him x-rayed. It was subtle, and some didn't notice it, but I did. I can definitely see Nikon's gait is slightly off. Let us know how it goes.

Not to be too goofy here but I have two HD dogs and the thing is, perfect positioning or not, you can tell mine have it. They've had maybe 3-5 x-rays over their life spans and you can tell. Their balls are square.

Nikon's 7-months look GOOD and though I understand what you are looking for with the OFA ones (and I understand the pressure of getting the right one submitted, especially now that he's at the perfect age), I think you'll see HD regardless. If it's very slight, then no, of course you won't--but if it's becoming more obvious, I think you will.

Also, a good ortho surgeon can notice things about gait like nobody's business. I love my current ortho vet/surgeon. He was spot-on with my female and (thank heavens) spot on with my male, too. Everyone said my male had SO many joint issues but my ortho surgeon was able to really check him out manually and look at x-rays and take some of his own that when I left that day, I felt a lot better about his quality of life.

If it's bad news, it'll stick around. It always does, whether we want it to or not! (sigh)

Best of luck to you both.

Not goofy at all.  I'm not really concerned about positioning.  I mean I am, but I know what I am looking for, both in the positioning (what the OFA will accept) and what HD looks like.  If the rads are crap I will know it an order the vet to do it again, or I will refuse to pay and go somewhere else.  You make perfect sense.  They do not need to be perfect for HD to be ruled in/out, just in this case I'll be more picky because I want to submit to OFA while I'm at it.

Just to clarify, the gait is fine.  Maybe I'm being too technical but a gait is a specific type of movement.  It's the walk that shows the awkward movement and toenail drag.  The gait is balanced, not crooked like Karen is asking (yep, I know what you mean), no evidence of a limp.  The walking is the *only* movement where I see anything wrong.  My TD thinks I'm paranoid, but there again he only sees my dog heeling, running, and tracking which are different movements than walking.

I hope starting with the x-rays is a good first step.  I won't go to a chiro or jump into acupuncture just yet because if there is a definite injury or skeletal problem I want to diagnose and treat it as appropriately as possible and not just assume he needs to be "adjusted".  If it is neurological, a lot of treatments would be a waste of time anyway.

I'm going to throw out an admittedly off the wall possibility for you to consider if you don't find any orthopedic or neurological explanation for the hitch in Nikon's walk. Many years ago I had a collie with a toenail drag, and like Nikon, I could see just a tad of an "offness" at a walk, but not at other gaits. He was OFA excellent, and an x-ray of his spine didn't show any problems. Since it didn't seem to be interfering with his quality of life at all, and he was perfectly capable of the level of competition I was interested in (tracking, AKC obedience, AHBA herding) I didn't pursue a diagnosis any further. About 2 years after I first noticed the toe dragging he began to experience a series of health problems - occasional genuine lameness, recurring diarrhea, hypothyroidism, occasional very high fever. He was finally diagnosed with systemic lupus, put on a low dose of prednisone, and that along with soloxine for the hypothyroidism provided him with a pretty decent quality of life. The symptoms for systemic lupus are pretty vague and variable among dogs (and humans), but nagging intermittent joint issues are one of those vague and variable symptoms. I certainly wouldn't jump on this as something that Nikon is likely to have. But lupus is not rare in GSDs, and I just throw it out there as a remote possibility to keep in mind if he eventually begins to show other hard to pin down symptoms. Like everyone else, I hope this isn't something serious. And honestly, I've seen a lot of dogs with odd little glitches at some gaits, that never had any explanation, never got worse, and never interfered in any discernable way with how the dog performed. And this includes some pretty high level herding and agility dogs. So, I totally understand your concern, but I also think there is an excellent chance that this is just some little quirk that won't amount to anything.