Dog lame ... briefly

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brightmount

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Wierd, I took my Yorkie for a walk yesterday, along with my Springer, and he charged off as he does on his long lead until he got to the end, then he did a bit of a flip and yelped and seemed to have hurt his back leg. I got down and gave his legs a gentle probe up and down but couldn't find an obvious source of pain, so I picked him up and carried him back to the car and we went home.

When I got home, he was right as rain, running up and down the stairs with no problem.

Then later when he jumped down from the settee he was on three legs again ... for a few minutes, and then he was OK, though at times I think he looks a bit lame but it's hard to tell.

He was a rescue pup and during his 6 months at the sanctuary he had a leg injury and was on crate rest for 6 weeks, but they didn't think it would recur, and we have had him 7 months now and he is a lively little chap who tears around with no problem at all.

I'm not taking him for walks for a few days at least, even though he seems fine again right now, but any thoughts?
 
Slipping Patella maybe? Small/toy dogs are prone to this....see post below on 'Three legged terrier hop'.

It varies in severity, but is worth getting your vet to check if painful, as can be operated on (mild cases normally just left). It is important to keep the dogs weight in check and in some cases a glucosamine supplement can help.

 

My dog went lame this week. At first it was only slight, he is very clumsy and rather large and runs around like a loony on his walks, so I just thought he'd "tweaked" himself a little. He stiffened up a little more as the day went on. By the evening he was quite bad, he got onto his sofa and wouldn't move - not go out for a wee or even get up for his tea
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. It was late by this time and we decided to leave him till the morning and see how he was then. I felt awful when I came downstrairs in the morning and he was still on his sofa and didn't get up to greet us or ask for breakfast. Felt a really bad mum for not taking him to the vets. He looked so sorry for himself - bless him.

Carefully, we lifted him into the car (not easy - he is 8 stone), drove to the vets and carefully lift him out again. At this point he spots a collie being led into the surgery - suddenly walking improves ten fold
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The vet could find nothing wrong and suspected that he had pulled a muscle. Gave him an anti-inflammatory, paid the bill and left. Two minutes after leaving the surgery he stands on his bad leg to cock the other and pee!!

Ok, so I thought "crikey these drugs seem to work quickly, bet he'll stiffen up again when they wear off". I was told not to do too much exercise for a week - no bl**dy chance. Within 5 mins of being home he's taking a flying leap onto his sofa from 4 foot away
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He well and truly played the sympathy card and I fell for it hook, line and sinker!! Cost me £50 too
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I think like us, they can often overdo things and make muscles ache etc. I wouldn't worry too much, keep a close eye and if it happens again I would get the vet to check him out.
 
Thanks! The little guy is acting fairly normally, but one sign he isn't 100% is that he isn't pelting down the garden any more to bark at the imaginary fox every time the back door opens. He doesn't really want to go outside at all. I'll keep him as quiet as possible for a few more days and see how it goes.

I'll see what I can find out about that patella thing, thanks.
 
I'm not quite sure if I've understood your post correctly but did he reach the end of the lead and then flip on his back? If this was the case its possible he has pulled something in his back or neck. As he is still not himself it might be worth getting a vet to check him.
 
Full marks piebaldsparkle! I took my dog to the vets this morning as he put his leg out again, and I said, "I think he has a luxating patella"! The vet displaced it manually and said on a scale of 1-4, he is a 4, and she will look into whether he should have an operation, and gave him some anti-inflammatories. I also got him some canine cortaflex yesterday as a luxating patella causes arthritis later on in life. She said thanks for making her job easier, so I took all the credit lol!

Thanks again, this forum came up trumps, gold stars all round
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