Gracie is BROKEN - vet visit now? (miranadobe)

I don't know what to tell you.  I'm a worry wart but I also try and use my best judgement when it comes to this sort of injury.  For me it's the level of lameness and pain and the ability to put weight on the injured leg.  I hope it's nothing serious. 

You know your dog so use your best judgement. 

But, if Willow had the symptoms you've described I'd rest her maybe give her some aspirin and see how she is tomorrow. She probably over did it in the yard today. 

Whatever you decide, hope she's feeling better!

If she's able to get around on it, & she isn't too painful to do normal, day to day, activities, then I'd wait & see. 

Hope that she recovers quickly!

I would wait and see. Keep her quiet - try to encourage her to lay down as much as possible. Keep her crated if need be.

To be honest, if it were MY dog I'd give Hylands Calms **and** some valerian root (literally to make that act as a sedative) tonight, in the morning and tomorrow night (and maybe in the afternoon if she gets antsy).  Keep her off it so it can rest.  I'd probably also give chammomile tea (it's a good nsaid but VERY low dose and won't upset the stomach -- brew it strong (maybe 2 teabags to 12 oz water, and then add the soggy herbs to her food **too** and give her the 12 oz over the course of the next 24 hours and more if you can get it in her by adding to food, etc. -- pour over food, add a little bit of meat juice, etc. - whatever will get it in her).

That's not going to seriously "change" anything but it will make her more comfortable and keep her from worsening it.  Then Monday *AM* you go get x-rays.  There will still be inflammation.

If you can get to a Whole Foods or a health store open on Sunday that carries Heel products, get Traumeel tablets.  Give her one every 3-4 hours (it's a homeopathic and it **rocks** for trauma like this and will go a long way to healing it IF it is simply something small). 

You won't screw up a diagnosis, but you will make her far more comfortable and you'll keep her from injuring it more.  If you don't have Calms or Valerian then give her the 2 mg/lb dose of benedryl every 6-8 hours and yeah, the goal is to keep her snoozing.  Give lots of water tho.  That won't do a thing for inflammation but it will help her relax and not hurt it more.

Aspirin - you can give aspirin to dogs but be careful -- it's HARD on the stomach and can cause stomach bleeding. 5-16 mg/lb orally (that's aspirin, Ascriptin, Bufferin). 

I assume you know but I'm gonna say here because it's a post about "first aid" -- NO acetaminaphen (Tylenol type products) **EVER**.  It's a serious poison to a dog and even one regular Tylenol can *kill* a small dog because it damages the kidneys hard, fast and fatally.  (Like I said, I know you probably know this but any time we talk about pain, we humans have gotten so hard-wired to reach for Tylenol/acetaminaphen and we don't realize how very different it is from aspirin and dog's just can't take Tylenol at all for any reason.)

Ice?  sure if she'll let you.  peppermint or wintergreen essential oils if you have them (that will actually help reduce that inflammation)

When Pirate sprained his 'wrist' he was SCREAMING and obviously in pain, we took him to the vet ASAP. If she's happy enough to eat and chew a bone, I might just keep an eye on her until first thing Monday.

Also, we iced Pirate's foot - I wrapped a ziploc baggie of ice in a kitchen towel and my vet said to do 15 minutes, 3x a day.

 How is she today?

I am NOT an expert, but I did work i a vets surgery for a while and I noticed that if a dog came in with a limp, but was otherwise fairly ok, the vet always said to crate rest for a week and if that didn't do it, or if it worsened, bring them back.  So, to save myself the consultation fee, that's what I do for minor injuries.  That said, if I don't know if it IS minor - if I don't know how it happened or what part is injured, I would take in sooner rather than later!  Not e-vet, but just within a couple of days.  Anything could cause a limp.... could be over doing it, could be a sprain, could be a grass seed worked up into the foot (and they can be N A S T Y! little blighters).....

I hope Gracie feels better.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I haven't been able to log back on to respond, but I could view them on my blackberry.  I took the wait-and-see approach, gave her some anti-inflammatories and high dosed her on some other joint stuff.  Lucky for me, she felt like being quiet the rest of that night and the next day, and allowed me to ice it.  She seems much improved, but I still see a hitch/limp.