Dyson is now 20 months and is doing tremendous. He's not perfect but we're getting there. Over the last 4-6 weeks I've notice that he has starting limping when we are walking at night. We have to street walk due to it being too dark. The thing is at the weekend when he is off lead in the park and playing with his buddies and running around like a lunatic there is no limp in sight. I've checked his pads and toes an everything looks fine. Has anyone else experienced this problem... :-\
Re: Intermittent limping Well it could be something or it could be nothing. Might be an idea to get him checked over by a vet if it persists or if it comes and goes over a period of a few weeks. Hopefully just a strain but it could possibly be a joint problem starting to show up. My dog, Lady developed an intermittent limp at about that age that turned out to be elbow dysplasia. Hopefully not the case with Dyson.
Re: Intermittent limping It's some thing I would get the vet to look at. It's possible that when he's playing with his mates he's having so much fun he ignores any soreness. Or maybe it just comes and goes, which is certainly possible. Don't start getting worried until you've seen the vet though. We had a 'limping scare' and X-rays and it turned out to be a minor strain.
Re: Intermittent limping Definitely get it checked by a vet, especially as it's been going on for a few weeks. The first thing they will probably advise is a week of rest and then gradually build up the exercise again - if it was a sprain or a pulled muscle this should sort it out. Good luck!
Re: Intermittent limping Had Dyson at vet...possible muscle strain. On anti-inflammatories and tramadol with complete rest for 5 days. Hopefully that will do the trick
Re: Intermittent limping After a week of rest...which was not fun...Dyson ended up having his shoulder and elbow xrayed. Thankfully nothing showed up. So another week of rest,antiinflammatories and painkillers. Wish us luck :
Re: Intermittent limping Wishing you lots of luck!! Glad nothing is wrong with his shoulder and elbow. Hope another week does the trick and that you don't end up too exhausted.
Re: Intermittent limping The x-rays must be a weight off your mind. At least you know what you're dealing with. Hope he feels better soon
Re: Intermittent limping Snowie limped intermittently in his first year. It stopped when he was about 15 months. He first limped on his right front leg. Then it went away and some months later it was the left front leg. That went away, then some months later the right front leg again. I was terrified it might be elbow dysplasia cos his brother had bilateral elbow dysplasia. The vet couldn't say what it was but gave me Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory) the first time I went in plus Mobiflex (chondroitin and glucosamine + green mussel extract). At the second visit, the locum on duty said I should not be giving such a young dog (he was about 6 months) anti-inflammatories and that all there was to do was complete rest. He got complete rest (whew difficult with such a lively boy) until the limp went away and then another 10 days to ensure complete healing. The locum vet said that people think all is okay the day the limp has disappeared, but so soon after it was easy to ruin things with one rowdy play, so rather make sure it is completely healed with another 10 days rest before allowing boisterous play. I was very careful when he was growing, not over exercising, but he was very playful and boisterous, and when he was with other dogs at play, it was difficult to stop him from tearing around while off leash. I read up a lot about limping in puppies, and some suggested growing pains. The vet said she wasn't convinced x-rays would provide any help because some dogs with dysplasia show no pain signs while other dogs with normal joints show pain by limping. So unless his limp became serious, she didn't want to anaesthetise him for the x-ray. Thankfully he has never limped again. But for good measure he gets a sprinkling of Mobiflex on his breakfast every day, about 1/3 teaspoon, not the 1 teaspoon that is prescribed for injuries. Something else I noticed is that the limp always started after a training session with the head halter. In fact, it started when he took a tumble after I was told by the trainer to stand on his 3m leash after he dashed away from a down stay at training, and the sudden jerk when he reached the end of the leash at full speed made him do a somersault (heart stopping). Someone suggested he might have a neck injury that was causing the limp, and as soon as I stopped the head halter, he never limped again. We never checked it clinically so I can't say for sure if it was the head halter, but from observation I am convinced this was the reason cos he would forget he was in a head halter and try to dash to meet a new dog and then have his body yank past his head which was being held stationary by me. Best of luck to you and Dyson!
Re: Intermittent limping Thank you for all the good wishes. Had Dyson out for the first time in 2 weeks...he went nuts especially when he realised he wasn't getting off lead. He still has a slight limp but nothing compared to what it was. Back at vet tomorrow night.Looks like more rest might be needed...
Re: Intermittent limping Poor lad , he must have so enjoyed himself running free , at least there is an improvement, good luck tomorrow .
Re: Intermittent limping The limp is back... :'( absolutely gutted. I am curious about something and maybe someone can help. When Dyson is walking his head bobs down to the left and lifts up abruptly to the right. Is my interpretation correct when I assume that it's his right leg that is causing him the pain..? All thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Intermittent limping Animals lift up the head as the sore leg takes weight, to try to minimise that weight. So you look at which leg is taking weight as the head comes up - that's the sore one. If his head comes up when his right leg goes down then you are correct that his right leg is sore. I'm really sorry to hear that the limp isn't gone... That's not what we were all hoping for! At least you can rule out some things with the x-rays. What are you thinking of doing as your next step?
Re: Intermittent limping Oh dear sorry you are still having issues with Dyson. I hope you can get to the bottom of it soon!
