Dog legs lameness/issues

emma21

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Bruno the Bracco Italiano is perfect :) so dopey and chilled out.

But has spent today at specialist because after long walks he limps sometimes (different leg each time though...) the vet asked me to walk him and said Bruno is actually lame on all 4 legs... Not sure how that works but he is. So went in and he felt all legs and is flummoxed because there's no swelling or pain. He thought it would be some kind if arthritis but no swelling...Going back tomorrow for X-rays :( he was a lovely vet and loved Bruno.

Does anyone know what it could be? Bruno is 1 on Saturday!

Pic of the confusing puppy..!!!
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Dobiegirl

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Diesel my 3yr old Dobermann was lame behind a while back and now he is lame in front. The vet thinks its his shoulder and he is now on rest and meds to see if this helps. She has said she is keeping OCD in mind given his lameness before but I think he is such a ****(the dog) he is always hooning around and he loves chasing swallows. If he is still lame on thursday we have to take him back and then I imagine he will have xrays etc to either confirm OCD or rule it out.
 

CorvusCorax

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Query panosteitis or 'growing pains' and how long are long walks? I wouldn't overexercise a growing, large breed pup x

Proper x-rays should either identify or eliminate hip or elbow issues.
 

gunnergundog

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Ditto pano......x-rays would determine if this or not too as the medular cavity narrows....it is also a shifting lameness so can move from one leg to another. It's a complete bas***d too and one of my HPRs was hit with it intermittently up until the age of three.

It's multi-factorial so many things can contribute....over exerciese, genetics, vaccinations, feed. I don't think anyone knows for sure as it is one of those things that a dog eventually grows out of so not much research seems to have been done into it.

I read up on it mainly on GSD sites.
 

emma21

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Thank you, vet said about pano but there is no pain in legs so he doesn't think it is anymore. He said he's not sure without X-rays but said I haven't over walked him etc and probably not growing pains as no pain.

His longs walk are longest 4 miles very rarely, usually 2-3 miles of chilled out strolling.
Vet was very perplexed!
 

ladyt25

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Does he hoon about a bit? I ask because our GSD x went very lame infront albeit intemittently a few years back (she was older than yours though) and it did seem tobe just the one front leg. Vets couldn't find anything and we were going to go down the x-ray route in case was anything sinister. However, we had our McTimoney guy have a look at her first and he diagnosed an issue with her lower back. He worked on it (she yelped a bit) but, within 48 hrs she was sound anddidn't go lame again. She had been going lame for several months and we just kept thinking she was just pulling something.

If you do have x-rays and they are inconclusive I would maybe try have a physio look and see if the problem's actually originating elsewhere but just showing itself as a lameness.

Hope all goes ok.
 

s4sugar

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Thank you, vet said about pano but there is no pain in legs so he doesn't think it is anymore. He said he's not sure without X-rays but said I haven't over walked him etc and probably not growing pains as no pain.

His longs walk are longest 4 miles very rarely, usually 2-3 miles of chilled out strolling.
Vet was very perplexed!

That is at least double recommended exercise....... and how long have you been doing this much?

What are you feeding?
 

emma21

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Ladyt25- he does Hoon a bit not much though. Vet checked his back and neck for pain but I will suggest it if X-rays show nothing!

S4sugar- why is it? I stuck to the 5 minute rule; he's a year old so can walk for about an hour that's how long these walks take? He's fed arden grange large puppy/junior.
 

emma21

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I was told by the specialist vet I saw when he was a puppy that that rule was 5 mins per month at once. He said my walking was fine and I had to push him abut to grow the muscle.
 

CorvusCorax

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Personally I err on the side of caution with young dogs, my vets (local and 'specialist') have told me some 'interesting' things about GSDs, exercise and leg conformation which I would not rely on....there is plenty of time to build muscle after 12 months.

Things like free running on grass, light swimming/paddling in water, light hill work, sand work, (not too much road work/hard surfaces) build muscle. Too much work in youth combined with high protein dry food *can* lead to growth/bone issues but wait until you see the x-rays and take it from there x
 

noodle_

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hope your vet finds and answer btu i must say - listen to your gut instinct

mine was lame on both front legs - THEN she waslame on the back too!! I assured the vet i can tell her without and x-ray she had hip displasia (classic signs, hopping etc)

She has dodgy wrists (agility)! AND hip displasia (whch has gone worse over the past couple of weeks).


get x-rays/scans before worrying - hydrotherapy is also brilliant!!! im booking mine in again and taking her - else her life will be cut shorter as i do believe in quality of life instead of dragging it out.

(shes on cartrofen as metacam started to make her kidneys fail) mines only 5...all this started when she was two.
 

emma21

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Well he had X-rays today and has panosteitis which is probably one of the best outcomes, not great but no ops etc!
Vet said his muscle tone was perfect and he was in excellent shape; said the amount I walk him is very good and suits him down to the ground.
Just got given rimydyl for when it flares up and should be gone by the time he's 18 months/ 2!
Thank you for all your suggestions :)
 

CorvusCorax

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Good news, it is annoying but at least not the worst thing it could have been - my young dog's half brother suffered from it in youth but it has cleared up now - it came from the mother not the father, thankfully!
 

Echo24

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First thought was panosteitis. Classic symptom is intermittent lameness that spreads from one leg to the other as the bones grow. As he's still young and a big dog I'd avoid over exercising. Obviously when he's lame don't walk him but generally it clears up by itself.
 

Athena055

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Hiya,

Sounds like growing pains my lab cross GSD had it in her front right paw when she was about 1 but after a couple of weeks the limb she had just faded and now she is 2 1/2 and she has no problems with itxx
 

gunnergundog

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As I said in my original post pano is multi-factorial: exercise, genetics, vaccine, feed.

GSD breed specific websites were where I started to read up on the disease; it does usually clear up by the age of two, but cases have been reported in dogs up until the age of eight. Mine was clear at three.

Swimming is a good exercise and also regular massage as the dog will start to compensate for the lameness which will stress other parts of the musculo-skeletal body.

It could be interesting to try and find out if any of his litter siblings have/are suffering, but be prepared for negative reactions from your breeder.

The breeder of my dog was very supportive, or at least she was up until the time when the owner of the stud dog started making death threats and goodness knows what else unless we dropped our enquiries........I kid you not.
 

EAST KENT

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Cut out the exercise ,and once he is sound again go right back to baby exercise times,he was being over done on the exercise.I am a great believer in giving 500mg of Vitamin C daily to dogs with growing bones and muscles.
 

emma21

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Have spoken to the breeder and she was lovely about it, really helpful did lots of research for me and asked other Bracco people. I talk to his brother and sister and they are both fine, breeder says rest of litter are fine too... Trust me pick of litter as well...! But the Bracco breeders she spoke to said they are funny because they're legs are so long and they're big dogs.

East Kent- vet said categorically not to cut out exercise or lower it, said that would do more damage. Will look in vit C though, thank you.
 

emma21

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She said not to walk when it's playing up but to carry on as normal the rest of the time?
Oh now I'm worried! Night spent googling here I come! It was the specialist that told me all of this...
 

gunnergundog

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With mine it was Previcox, crate rest and on the lead for toilet breaks to the garden when a flare up occured. Then as the inflammation subsided slowly building up the exercise again over time......starting with on lead and then moving onto free running.

I would ask the vet to clearly spell out how, in his opinion, lowering the exercise level will cause more damage!!! I would be seriously interested to hear his hypothesis as it flies in the face of all the published material that I manged to find over a three year period.

Also, I would recommend keeping your dog on the light side......the less weight they have to carry the better in my view.

Good luck.
 

emma21

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Gunnergundog- he is a very slim build so no problem there.
He is rested and on rymadil? When a flare up but after a day or two it's back to normal so vet said go back to normal...
Hmm it was specialist who said all of this so maybe ill go back to my vet and see what she says. Specialist said it wasn't caused by exercise so not to worry about it and just keep it how it is at the moment which she said was perfect. I'm confused now!
 

gunnergundog

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Who is your specialist? PM me if you prefer.

PS. If you have spent the evening on google as you said earlier, I have no doubt that you are confused as you will have seen how the advice you have been given is contrary to everything else one can read on the subject. As I said before, I would be keen to understand how lowering the level of exercise will increase the damage. Please do ask your specialist or explain if you already know as I am always keen to learn.

Also, be prepared for flare ups to last more than a day or two....IME that is!!
 
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