Myles (6 months) has a slight limp which I noticed on our morning walk. Seems to be a front leg, but was hard for me to tell which leg. It's definitely more noticeable on our lead walk versus when he is just walking around the house. His behavior is perfectly normal and happy and he doesn't seem to care to take it easy, so it doesn't look like it's bothering him that bad. I felt around and moved different joints and he did not react. But he has that little limp. Obviously I will just keep watching, doesn't seem to be at a level to take him to the vet. But should I be restricting his walks some? We normally do about 30 minutes (lead walk) in the morning and again when I get home from work. (Pet sitter comes twice a day as well and does very short walks with him). Tonight we just did lots of chew toys and I skipped a lengthy walk. Really hoping it's just a soft tissue minor thing. With the weekend I should be able to do more frequent but shorter walks. So just curious what others think (or have experienced) with hopefully minor limping, regarding rest and walks. Thanks in advance!
I've never experienced a limping issue myself but I've read many threads from members that have ..... are you able to,trace it back to an 'event'...was there a particularly enthusiastic leap at anything or hard ,fast run that you could link it to? If you are still seeing it I would definately take Myles off walks and rest him for a couple of days ,keeping him as quiet as you can in the house too,no stairs/steps and jumping on the couch,if it's just a strain or sprain then you should see some improvememt.I have to say though for me,if it's the first episode and you are still seeing it I would be off to the Vet to get a thorough check up.I don't want to frighten you at all but I guess having read all about Chocolate Charlie ,speed is of the essence if it's something serious. Best Wishes Angela
Thanks for the reply Angela. I can't trace it back to an event, but there is always a once a day butt tucking doing laps around the living room event that I always stop once he starts. I am usually afraid he's going to hurt himself trying to run fast in such a small space. It really is a very subtle limp, and showed up less than 24 hrs ago so hasn't been around too long. It's bedtime here in the US so I will see how we look in the morning. My vet is open tomorrow so I can take him in if I need to. Or to your point, maybe I should anyway. Thanks for the confirmation to rest him and limit his activity.
Hopefully if he's had a quieter day today than normal and is settling down for a nights rest now you won't see the limp on the morning.... Let us know how he seems nnite x
Hi Ericka How's Myles today? Hopefully there is no evidence of a limp, if there is a sign of a limp please make an appointment to take him to the vet to have him checked. As one of the forum members with a dog with elbow dysplasia it's best check any limp sooner rather than later. When Juno first limped our vet said to restrict exercise to no more than 15 minutes lead walk and no off lead exercise. no stairs, no jumping, no chasing after balls. Crossing fingers and toes that Myles is better today.
Thanks for checking MaccieD. So the limp is VERY subtle, if I only saw him walk around the house I would not notice it, it's more pronounced on a lead walk. I haven't taken him on a walk today but I do think the limp is still there, although maybe a little better today. So I am going to continue to just rest him (there are no stairs in my house and he's not allowed on furniture so really not jumping). Today has been just a lot of laying around with chew toys. We will see how the weekend goes and if limp is still present I will take him on Monday for sure. I will not mess around with it and make sure to get it looked at. So sorry to hear of Juno's ED, it's good to hear from those of you that have been through things like this to advise when to take very seriously. I will let you know how we do over the next couple days. I'm already missing our walks as he is just bored!
I hope it turns out to be nothing. Keep us posted. For front leg lameness originating in the elbow, watch the head as the dog walks - he'll put his head down as his good leg touches the ground, and lift his head up as the leg that hurts takes his weight (as he tries to put less weight on the leg).
It's interesting that the videos show a dog with the nodding head but Juno didn't exhibit these type symptoms and when discussing with my orthopaedic surgeon he said that young dogs frequently don't exhibit the nodding head. My trainers chocolate lab (Jen) didn't exhibit nodding either, just a limp. Luckily although originally diagnosed as ED from X-rays, a scan yesterday actually showed that Jen doesn't have ED. So if in doubt, check with your vet and let us know how you get on.
I was not suggesting that Ericka should not check with a vet - just to make that perfectly clear. All of the vets I've spoken to, and all of the physios have said that it is absolutely characteristic of ED that the dog has a nodding head - including during a recent extensive exam Charlie's elbows when he went in for his recent op at Cambridge. Dogs with problems in both elbows though obviously may be in equal pain on both sides. Charlie showed the characteristic nodding head, on his left leg - but I could not see it until tutored by the surgeon in what I was looking at, and my "normal" orthopedic vet had not picked it up either. This was sufficient though for everyone to immediately suspect ED and for Charlie to be sent straight away for a CT scan on his elbows. The scan showed some mild changes in the elbow most probably caused by a long term shifting of weight from his back legs to his front (and nothing that would indicate a long term degenerative ED - still a problem in the elbow though which had been highlighted by the nodding head). Thankfully no warranting any further investigation at this stage and certainly not until his back legs are all normal and then we can see how he is walking. Now, we are worrying Ericka - hopefully Myles will be absolutely perfectly fine on Monday and there is no cause for alarm.
Very interesting, I will have to pay attention to this, I can't myself tell which leg so I will look for the head nodding. Ugh, hate this worry. I was hoping I could get a yelp out of him when squeezing around some areas possibly pointing to soft tissue strain rather than anything related to joints. I won't worry yet, hoping it turns out to be nothing. Will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the replies.
There's some good information there from Julie. It would be so much easer if our puppies could only tell us what hurt and when, but then again that's what they are trying to tell us when they limp . Fingers crossed that all is well , and most of all try to relax and not worry (yes I know that's hard but it doesn't actually help Myles ), and that's from the No. 1 Neurotic owner but I am getting better
Thanks everyone. I took a very short video, again a very subtle limp and still hard for me to tell which leg. I do notice the head nodding that Julie speaks of. When I slow down the video on my iPhone it looks like his head goes down when his right leg is forward. I notice it's worse after he steps off a curb. Here's the video if you're interested. Seems likely we will be at vet Monday morning. http://vid203.photobucket.com/album...trim.6BA88499-1520-4E0F-A316-F424615328DB.mp4
The video is short - so it's difficult....but when he turns he has a pronounced limp, it's not subtle. I'd say get that checked by a vet sooner rather than later. I hope it turns out to be nothing at all, and all this worry is for nothing. But I'd go to the vet. Best of luck with it, and I hope all is well.
Yeah I suppose does not look all that subtle in video. Will post back Monday after vet. I'm officially worried now.
Yeah, looks like a left front leg issue. Don't jump to conclusions about the cause though - limbs are complex things and have a lot of moving parts. Hopefully it's just a temporary strain. Fingers crossed that that's all
Erika, try not too worry, and yes I know that is impossible, as there are numerous causes for a limp. Let us know how you get on at the vet and know that we're all here wishing you and Myles well.
