Wwyd? Vet or not?

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Jinx94

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*totally open to and happy with answers of, "fgs, just go to the vet"*

(not at all related to the last health issue I raised about Z, have had no repeated episodes like that!)

Z has been coming running with me, and we've recently stepped up to 10km but had previously been walking that distance or further. 80% of the route is through fields. On Monday, we ran, had a good time, she then slept most of the day until we went to the yard. At the yard, she took a few lame steps within the first 10mins and was then sound. I didn't think much of it and just assumed she was a bit tight after the run and needed to loosen up.

Yesterday out walking with Tris, she took some lame steps on the track (big, sharp stones in places!) but was absolutely fine once on grass. I checked her over when we got home and she'd cooled down completely. There was a marginal amount of heat over the top of her left front paw and I couldn't decide whether there was a miniscule amount of swelling or not.

She's sound today, but I think I can still feel a small amount of heat in the foot and I think I can see a small amount of swelling. I've palpated it pretty thoroughly several times and she's not bothered at all, I can't find any damage to the skin between her toes, pads or anywhere else on the foot.

My thoughts are that it's likely bruising, perhaps concussion from where she launches around on the concrete at the yard like a loon, also quite possibly a bit of strain from running (She's off lead for as much of the route as is safe/sensible).

Game plan is to do on lead exercise only and focus on our obedience work to keep her brain busy over the next week or two, while monitoring the foot. I'm not convinced that this warrants a vet visit, but I also don't want to be that buttface that doesn't get their dog checked out when they should.

Wwyd? Sensible plan of action? Or am I actually being a muppet? Tbf, there is a distinct possibility that I'm gaslighting myself about heat/swelling in the foot!

Pictures of the chaos goblin for tax 🥰
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I wouldn’t go the vet if she’s no longer showing any signs of being in pain.

My dog is a whippet though so he’s a massive drama queen and wouldn’t be stoic if he was in pain. Yours looks a bit tougher than mine! What do you think? Would she hide being in pain or is she a softie?
 
Herewegoagain said:
I wouldn’t go the vet if she’s no longer showing any signs of being in pain.

My dog is a whippet though so he’s a massive drama queen and wouldn’t be stoic if he was in pain. Yours looks a bit tougher than mine! What do you think? Would she hide being in pain or is she a softie?
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She doesn't tend to hide being in pain - it doesn't always register if her blood is up and she does something daft, i.e. snagging her ears on a bramble when she went after a deer, or chipping a tooth when she was overexcited about seeing my parents and ran into a door 🤦‍♀️ but when at rest, she's a little on the pathetic side when she doesn't feel good!

Amymay Again said:
I'd rest her completely and take her to the vet.

Is she running 10, or is it mostly walking?
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I'd say she actually belts around less than when I'm walking the same distance as I'm keeping up and she doesn't have the chance to run laps around me. We've been doing 3-5 miles pretty much daily with a few longer (up to 10 miles) every now and then for the past 8ish months?
 
If it had only been the small, transient lameness, which twice have gone away as quickly as it came, I would've said it sounds possible that it could be like one of those situations were I've taken a pet to the veterinarian, saying I've experienced x problem at home, but the veterinarian can't find anything during the visit, so ends up only being able to send me home with some general recommendations based on my description of the problem. Telling me to return if the problem returns/persists.

But if you can feel a little heat, and see a little swelling, then I presume a veterinarian can too. Ugh, sorry, I'm no help, I don't know, it sounds like you have a sensible plan, but maybe a veterinarian's input could give something.
 
I wouldn't personally rush to the vet.

I would just stick to lead walking for a week or so.

Of course, if the intermittent lameness appears again after you next long run, then I would see a vet.

This could very well just be something of nothing.
 
Thanks all, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one on the fence!

I checked her again just before heading to the yard and couldn't spot the swelling, but I just don't know 🙈

The last thing I took her to the vet for was a couple of 'patches' on her eyes that I found purely by chance, and it took the vet a couple of minutes to find them! You have to be really close with the light in exactly the right place to see them. As it was, he felt they weren't affecting her vision at all, we tried some steroid eye drops and saw no change whatsoever and there's been no change to them since. I mean, the saying is practically perfect in every way 😄

so I do have form for spotting minute details!

Eta, I think I'll give the vet a call tomorrow and try to get a phone consult
 
I wouldn't run/trot a dog on a hard surface for that distance in one go and I would not let the dog self regulate. I used to bike mine but only where there was a grass verge and the dog was on leash and I dictated the pace.
GSDs don't know when to stop, as a generalisation.

My current dog skids around a lot, she can quite often be quite tender on stones or dry grass but fine on a flat/smooth surface.
 
In my experience they do not self regulate or know what’s best. Mine is an adrenaline junkie and gets Hogg in racing around if I’d let her she’d be lame without a doubt. Even if she runs after a ball which is a rare treat I can notice her favouring her left fore. It’s subtle but I know. They’re worse off if they’re heavier breeds like yours. Working dogs are hard wired to go for it. She needs you to make all her choices to keep her safe.
 
I’d rest and monitor.
Are you running like canicross? So her on a lead? Sorry just saw she’s off lead. If she’ll run to your heel so doing a consistent pace and not extra mileage not much difference on or off I suppose.
 
Quick update for everyone, it's her central pad. There was no swelling or heat over the top of her foot this morning or throughout the day, but there was heat in her pad. Got right in there with my torch and what looked like an old, superficial split had a small deeper split further in it. Very relieved!

Very glad I started this thread though as it's been very educational imo. Naively I had only thought about gradually building up the distance over time. It hadn't occurred to me that she would need to self regulate if running off lead and not always to heel, or that she'd be unlikely to do so!
She often runs ahead and waits for me to catch up a bit (she does recall first time, apart from the occasion that a deer launched out of the hedge right in front of us!), but she will also run ahead, then back, then ahead and back again. She mostly does the latter when I drop back to walk for a bit.

I'll be investing in a canicross belt and a lead for her, and I'll have her heeling or just ahead in the future.

We don't run on the roads - the only time I'll run on the road is if taking pony out in hand, and not for long as I don't pace myself as well with him so run out of puff very quickly 🤣 and tbh, I prefer being off road. The tracks we run on are dirt or grass and Z does usually stick to the grassy bits. Glad I've had all this info now when we're only two weeks into doing 10km! Better than a year down the line having done more damage 😬

Thank you everyone for your input!
 
Jinx94 said:
Quick update for everyone, it's her central pad. There was no swelling or heat over the top of her foot this morning or throughout the day, but there was heat in her pad. Got right in there with my torch and what looked like an old, superficial split had a small deeper split further in it. Very relieved!

Very glad I started this thread though as it's been very educational imo. Naively I had only thought about gradually building up the distance over time. It hadn't occurred to me that she would need to self regulate if running off lead and not always to heel, or that she'd be unlikely to do so!
She often runs ahead and waits for me to catch up a bit (she does recall first time, apart from the occasion that a deer launched out of the hedge right in front of us!), but she will also run ahead, then back, then ahead and back again. She mostly does the latter when I drop back to walk for a bit.

I'll be investing in a canicross belt and a lead for her, and I'll have her heeling or just ahead in the future.

We don't run on the roads - the only time I'll run on the road is if taking pony out in hand, and not for long as I don't pace myself as well with him so run out of puff very quickly 🤣 and tbh, I prefer being off road. The tracks we run on are dirt or grass and Z does usually stick to the grassy bits. Glad I've had all this info now when we're only two weeks into doing 10km! Better than a year down the line having done more damage 😬

Thank you everyone for your input!
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I nearly said split pads! Tawny used to really suffer.
Druid recommended biotin, which really helped, and I used to put mushers paw wax on. (On her!)
 
Another update... kicking myself, HARD. Also trying not to waste too much energy/stress on that as what's done is done and I think we're good now.

Mum was looking after Z today while dad and I went out. Got back and they were all in the garden with mum tidying up a few shrubs. Everyone was happy and then I spotted Z take a lame step which seemed odd as she's been sound since my last post and almost all the heat had gone from her pad. Took a thorough look as thought she might have got some debris in there, spotted a small bit of plant matter and had to give her paw a good squidge to lift an edge and get it out. Something looked a little odd, so I kept squidging and managed to pull out a bloody great thorn.

Flushed it all out with saline, Z is still her bouncy, bubbly, slightly nutty self, wound is very clean and there's no heat, so I don't think there's any infection at this point. Will be cleaning it daily and continue with house arrest until it's had a chance to heal.

Poor girl is now going to have to deal with me really squidging any kind of split just in case it's actually a thorn! She was a star though, lay like a rock through the whole thing. I'll need to rethink my earlier comment about her not being stoic!!
 
Tawny had a blackthorn in her paw once so long it must have been nearly sticking out the top. She had worked all day after picking it up (I had checked her paws after a lame step in the wood) and I didn’t find it for 2 more days.
I sympathise with all foot trouble!
 
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