Dog Community

Limping

Posted : 11/20/2006 2:59:41 PM

Hi everyone,

My 10 month old GSD mix puppy has started limping the past few days.   I have a vet appt scheduled for Wednesday but I wanted to check here to see if anyone has any suggestions or experiences to share.

The problem is with her left rear leg.   She has been holding up her paw for a few seconds, then she'll be fine, no pain to the touch, running around, etc.   Here is what has happened so far:

The first time my husband noticed her lifting her paw was when she was walking in a weedy area of the lawn and he thought she had stepped on a thorn or something.   She immediately starting walking fine and we checked out her paw and saw nothing.

Fast forward a week or so, playing catch in the house on a rainy night and she slid into the loveseat, she got up and was holding the same paw up. I had visions of emergency vet visits, but she put her leg down and I rubbed it and she was fine.   No yelping or other signs of pain.   We continued to play and she didn't seem to favor that leg.   The next couple of days we noticed it a couple of more times, once I was playing catch with her outside and the second time she had gone for a run in the woods with the neighbors and came back, they were playing and she bounced around and ran into the other dog and then held up her paw.

I am worried that it may be a problem with her hips.   She is 10 months old and weighs about 65 lbs.   She has always sat crooked, like on her hip, not her butt, I'll try to post a picture so you can see what I am.    Each time we have rubbed her leg from her back down to her paw and there is no reaction to make us think there is any pain to the touch.

I have attached two pictures (dog1 is her sitting funny at about 4 months, dog2 is a couple of months ago late sept, early oct)

Eric Mies

Posted : 11/20/2006 3:35:09 PM

RKimball,

I can't offer any suggustions as to the cause or remidy but thouhgt it migh tbe comforting to know someone else is goign through the EXACT same thing...

Presley is also 10 MO and was doing the same thing last week - Except we actually saw her 'injur' it. We were on a off-leash walk and she was beign a crazy dog running around this little creek and slipped on one of the rocks. She didnt yelp or anything but she held her rear left leg up and when I went running over (wiht the same vision of emergancy vet visits - only I had to carry her out of the woods first) she was all happy and I swear she was wondering what I was making the fuss about. Within 2 minutes she was running aorund like nothing ever happened. Periodically over the next few days she would do it again and like you, I would run over, rub the leg and check the paw - nothing. Again, with in minutes, she would be running and playing like nothing happened.

Presley is part bulldog and sits very much like your pup - Bulldogs are known to be prone to hip problems so naturally I was worried - she is at day care today and I asked them to keep an eye on her and if it happens to have one of the vets take a look at her but for now, until I'm told otherwise, I'm going to chaulk it up to pulled muscle or twisted ankle type thing. i think if it was serious, she would be in pain and let me know there is a problem...

seashell

Posted : 11/20/2006 3:37:05 PM

My dog sometimes sits like that too. I don't know why, I wish I could help

RKimball

Posted : 11/20/2006 3:41:41 PM

Do you think I am over reacting by taking her to the vet? I called at first just to talk to the vet or tech and see what they had to say but the reception said "They'll want her to come in" and so I made an appt.

Eric Mies

Posted : 11/20/2006 4:24:01 PM

No, I don't think your over reacting - it's totally up to you.

I decided to wait until there was more cause for concern frankly because my vet is very busy and I knew they would treat it like more of an emergancey and get her in as quickly as possible to see one of the other vet's which is all fine and good, I mean thier perfectly fine/good vet's, but if it takes my vet 2 minutes to decide it's nothing but a strained muscle or something wont charge me anything, the others will....

Vet tech's will always tell you to come in - it's their job and they aren't supposed to offer their opinion since they are not doc's. Look at it this way, if take the cost and time of a quick vet visit to provide peace of mind, it's a small price...

I assure you, if

resely continue's to do it, I'll take her in even if I'm still fiarly certain they will just tell me to stop or minimize the off leash walks and hard excersise for a little while...

Eric Mies

Posted : 11/20/2006 4:28:58 PM

ohhhh, also, your dog has been doing it more/longer so you may want to have it looked at.

Presley did it once 2 out of 3 days - I then stopped the off leash walks for a few days, she hasn't done it since....

pointerspice

Posted : 11/20/2006 5:31:44 PM

Since you guys all have large breed puppies, I assume that you've got a case of Panosteitis. It happens when the dog is essentially growing too fast for its body... Something about the fatty tissue inside the bone being squeezed out (but not disintegrating fast enough) to make way for the adult marrow (I'm not exactly sure if that's right, it's been months since Basil has had it). It can be called wandering lameness because it often switches legs. Basil had no pain to the touch either, but some of them do. If you take the dog into the vet they will either tell you to wait it out (it does go away on its own) or they will prescribe anti-inflammatories, which is what my vet did. Basil was back up within three days and hasn't limped since.

I'm not a vet, but by what you've said it seems fairly likely that this is the issue. Sometimes they can see the swelling on an x-ray, other times not. I do think bringing her to the vet is a very good idea.

Either that or she just likes the attention when she "hurts" herself [

]. (Basil does that sometimes... haha)

nfowler

Posted : 11/20/2006 5:47:16 PM

Don't mean to be the negative one, but it looks like it could be more to me. How often does she sit like that? Can she do a "proper" sit? Which does she choose? When does she go into her sitting-on-one-side sit?

When do you plan on having X-rays done?

Truley

Posted : 11/20/2006 6:05:08 PM

I have a GSD pup and he is 4 months old, I am going to say "growing pains". But I would have it checked out just the same.

Dawn

RKimball

Posted : 11/20/2006 7:19:48 PM

She always sits like that. She always has. I brought it up when we first brought her to the vet at 12 weeks old. They said they wouldn't really be able to tell anything without x-rays and she never seemed to have any problems until now.
She can do a proper sit but only for a minute, then she slides her hip over like in the picture. If she sits on her own it is usually on her side, like in the pictures.
I'm going to ask about xrays when we go to the vet on Wednesday.

RKimball

Posted : 11/20/2006 7:21:19 PM

Thanks for the information. I will definately talk to the vet about that.

nfowler

Posted : 11/20/2006 7:24:00 PM

She's a doll and I only say this because GSDs have a propensity for HD (hip dysplasia) and both of my dogs, Lab mixes, have it and that is how they sit, too.

Doesn't hurt to ask--ask for a laxity test (they can do that by feeling their joints) and then we'll all be hoping for the best for you.

I will hope that it's only growing pains. If it's more than that, please post again or PM me and I can give you further information.

RKimball

Posted : 11/22/2006 6:38:51 PM

Hi everyone.

We just got back from the vet. The vet says she sprained her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). The gave us some anti inflammatory meds and we have to take it easy for 4-6 weeks. Only potty breaks for 2 weeks, I'm going to have one hyper dog! Any ideas for keeping her busy but not running around during that time?

Thanks for all your ideas and information. Does anyone else have any experience with ACL injuries?

Thanks,
Ryan

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/22/2006 6:49:12 PM

Mental exercise is tiring, too. This is a good time to teach her some tasks that are not strenuous. Nose work, give paw, go to place, etc.
www.flyingdogpress.com has an article on teaching "find it".