Nikon's "popping" noise

 Wow, I even have my ipod playing and distinctly heard it. Does it seem to bother him?

tiffy

 Wow, I even have my ipod playing and distinctly heard it. Does it seem to bother him?

Yes and no.  He limps and in general does not have the amount of power or collection or reach in the rear that he should have.  I'm working on a video that shows his various "paces" and how this condition effects his movements.  You can clearly see the limp when he's walking.  We believe that these symptoms are more like neurological symptoms than movement that is restricted b/c of pain.  It's not the same as "favoring" one side.  The vet doesn't believe he "feels" it.  I'm not completely sure.  Right now I'm somewhat limited his activity and training until I come to terms with it (not doing agility or flyball, but I let him dock dive and lure course).  I'm kind of "feeling out" whether he could completely be a house pet kind of dog in order to avoid further injuries that might happen b/c he is more predisposed to some more serious conditions.  We discovered this condition in Sept. but recently the clicking started and the other symptoms became more noticeable so I've been doing more and more research.

We believe the "click" is coming from the areas marked on this film.  The right side is all messed up due to that extra vertebra. When the click started I was terrified that he did something to a knee or elbow (see my previous threads!) but based on the symptoms, how he acts (doesn't ever go lame, still wants to train and work), and his known conditions the vet believes it is due to the odd bone spurs.

Oh wow, that sounds really awful. T-Bone did this for about a few months, but it was definitely coming from the knee and not from the back. Is it coming from his spine? I reduced activity for awhile and forced him to WALK down the steps from our apartment, no running up and down, no crazy jumping into the truck, or down from it, etc. It's completely gone now and he's returned to running on inclines, etc. It has definitely helped that we moved into a house where he hardly ever goes up the stairs. I'm assuming an extra vertebra could cause all kinds of strange and unfortunate issues- honestly if his mental health didn't suffer from lack of working (I know he's much higher drive than my guy) I would make him into a house dog. Perhaps something a little more leisurely- scent work/tracking? Whatever you decide to do I know it will be the best option for mr. Nikon. I hope whatever this is can be solved and he comes right back. Give him a good scratchin' from me.