Cooper and his two Sammy friends were doing their wild chase games in my neighbors back yard last night. All the sudden as they were running across the deck, Cooper started to yelp loudly, and told the other dogs to get away. She got up and was limping. When we held her and got a chance to look her right hind foot it looked like Spocks "Live Long and Prosper" V with the two outside toes pointing more outward. We think maybe the yelping was the result of actually having her toe caught for a moment, but we aren't sure. Laura held her and I picked up her foot thinking she had broken or dislocated a toe by catching it in the gap between the deck boards. Cooper let me feel her foot with no problem I could not feel any sign of a break and she did not act like it was tender. When I felt and massaged the toe they went back into a normal position, and she did not seem to favor her foot at all. After all the dogs had rested a bit she was back in the chase again like nothing had happened. This morning she still acts completely normal. I've never seen a dog injure its paw like this, or recover so quickly and apparently completely. Has anyone else seen anything like this?
Poor girl! I wonder if it was a temporary muscle spasm that tightened up a bunch of muscles etc. That can make toes took like that in humans and it's really painful.
I had not thought of that. Other than the initial shock it seems to be a non event. I was very pleased that she let me handle her foot. She would be fine with that normally (as long as I didn't have clippers) but I don't know how she would be if it actually hurt.
My neighbours lab was running around with Harley last year and done a similar thing. He carried on as normal after a few seconds and it doesn't seem to of had any lasting affect on him! Hopefully it was just a niggle
Oh, I get cramp in my toes sometimes and they go into really weird shapes. I hadn't considered this might happen to dogs, too. It's intensely painful for a couple of minutes but once it's passes (helped by massage), it's as if it never happened.
Yeah, I get it too. That's why I thought of it It really hurts!!! But as Fiona says, once you can make the muscles/tendons/whatever relax the pain goes away immediately.
