When I first picked up Koda at 8 weeks he was great. Really playful though and he liked to play rough which I tried to limit as much as possible. When he went in to get his third set of vaccines at 12 weeks, the vet noticed that one of his back legs (I believe he specified cruciate) was stiff. He said he'd check it in a few weeks but wasn't too concerned. When I went back they checked it again but didn't bring up anything about it. a few weeks later Koda had an ear infection that he had to go in for and I asked them about his leg again. A different vet felt it and suggested I get an X-ray when Koda was a year old. During this time I also started to notice that Koda got up very slowly and almost seemed to limp or toddle when he got up. He didn't pick up his leg but it looked weird how he walked. I went back to work and to help tire him out so he wasn't lonely I had a dog walker come and give him a 30 minute sniffing walk. After work I usually drove him to the dog park too to play for about 30 minutes. Well Koda stared limping way longer after that. It took about 10 minutes after waking up to stop limping and he started limping during the day which his trainer pointed out. I took him to the vet again and this time they decided to X-ray immediately due to the continued stiffness and visible limping. The said there was inflammation in one joint likely from an injury back when he was a puppy and prescribed anti-inflammation meds and sedatives for him and also sent his X-rays away to be looked at. They called me yesterday and said the results are back, but that the radiologists said the inflammation was definitely NOT the cause of his limping as it wasn't severe enough to cause limping, especially constant liming. The vet has no idea what it could be an is suggesting I sent him to an orthopedic vet if his leg doesn't get better with a week of medicine and crate-rest. Has anyone every seen something like this? Could it be dysplasia that they just missed? Koda's parents are both health tested for many generations back but I heard it can still happen. It's likely NOT growing pains since it's the same leg and continuous, with it occasionally getting worse with a lot of exercise. I'm really freaking out since Koda is supposed to be my safety hiking/camping buddy as I'm a single female.
I'm sorry your pup is not feeling well. I can't offer much advice . Is it possible he just sprained it by playing too hard? I sure hope he's feeling better soon.
