stiff border collie

springgrass

springgrass

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hiya, i dont usually post in this section but i was hoping for some advice (pre vet visit later)
I have woken up this morning to find my border collie very stiff behind. He is also carrying himself 'funny', looks like he is carrying his back end underneath him, kind of like a hyena :(. I took him to the garden for a wee, he eventually came after some persuasion, but didn't attempt to wee, just lay down in the rain. I thought i would need to carry him in but he eventually got up with some help.

He has twice tried to do his big yoga stretch across his back, where he elongates and dips his back with one back leg raised, but he hasnt managed it.

He doesn't seem to be in mass amounts of pain, more uncomfortable.
I have massaged his hips and back legs and cant find any obvious sore spots.

He's 9 or 10 (rescue dog, we got him 5 years ago when he was thought to be 4 or 5)

I'm worried about arthritus...he does a lot of running after balls (typical collie)

Has anyone experienced this or similar? Any advice appreciated.
thanks for your time
 
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Hopefully he's just tweaked something, but it might not do any harm to pop him into the vets to be on the safe side, especially as he doesn't want to walk. I think I would in your position, anyway. He might need some metacam to make him more comfortable.

See what the vet says, but ball chasing can be very physically demanding as they tend to twist and turn very sharply - we don't do too much of it with our dog, and you might need to ration it a bit more too.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping hes just twisted awkwardly the poor chap. Def taking him to the vet when husband returns with the car.
Its hard to think of him as 'getting on a bit', but rationing the intense ball sessions wont be a bad idea either...he'll have to learn to sniff about like normal dogs do on walks!! ;)
 
springgrass said:
Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping hes just twisted awkwardly the poor chap. Def taking him to the vet when husband returns with the car.
Its hard to think of him as 'getting on a bit', but rationing the intense ball sessions wont be a bad idea either...he'll have to learn to sniff about like normal dogs do on walks!! ;)
Click to expand...

One of our collies is 14 this year and she is fit as a fiddle still, but she will get stiff if overdoes it. Mostly, we can still throw balls for the others and she will not chase the ball as such, but kind of stay back and have a good, but not crazy run after it and she no longer tries to actually get to it so to speak so there's no twisting, sharp turns or sudden movements as such. Every now and then though, she has days when she is just "on it" and wants to grab everything and run like a loon. We have now stopped her doing that. She has brain damage so occasionally just has crazy days and what we have noticed is that if we don't stop her on those days, she is extremely stiff in the few days following.

Getting on in age doesn't mean they can't still have fun and be bit and run around, but if Hollie was still obsessed with chasing the ball down like she does on her crazy days, we would stop with the ball as her head doesn't realise her body can't cope with it anymore.

I do think that a trip to the vet is a good idea, just to be on the safe side but hopefully he has just tweaked something and just needs rest.

Good luck xx
 
probably a tweak too....

our springer x collie (looks like a collie and acts like one)!, is a ball muppet - she would rather drop down dead than give up the tennis ball so does end up stiff behind occasionally if she over does it....

vets is a good option - im sure its nothing :)
 
thanks guys, he seems to have made a miraculous recovery! jumped up and dashed to the door as soon as he heard my husband pulling up. Hoping he was just a bit stiff from tweaking something then laying down on it to sleep. will keep a close eye on him. Thinking of changing his diet to something more geared towards helping his joints, just in case.
 
Maybe it was a nerve thing, they can disappear as quickly as they appear...whatever though, glad he is back to his normal bouncy self :)
 
I have great faith in turmeric. Check out turmeric users group on FB. It has really helped my aging JRT. Started it myself as I am so impressed. Hope he improves soon
 
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