Oh no!!! Is this hip dysplasia?

H

Hugo

Forums Regular
This morning my 1 year old dog gave himself a running start to climb up the stairs as he always does, but he sorta missed a step, and rammed into the stairs. He made a small sound, like a complaint.

He looked afraid of going up again, so I took him in my arms. When I got to the top of the stairs and put him on the gorund, he had difficulty standing on his left rear leg.

I rubbed his lower back area, showed him there was «no problem», and he walked on fine.

Took him outside to walk him, but as soon as he started running, he stopped, and had trouble standing on his left leg again.

We did the whole walk without him running, which is somewhat unlikely, even when I tried to get him to run.

When we got home, I shoveled some snow. When I do, he generally chases the shovel. Well, he sort of did his «bow down» thing, only moved energically for like 3 feet, and again, his left leg seem to have bothered him.

Question :

Does hip dysplasia appears severely like that overnight?
Does it appears when a dog is one year old?
Can it be just the pain of having been hurt a few minutes earlier?

Dammit I'm scared...
 
I'm not certain but occasionally Jewel would misstep and then baby the leg for a day or two. But as I always say if the concern is great call the vet!! I'd much rather have them checked and told I'm a worry wart. After all they are our babies.:yes:
 
When he walks, it's just like when he walks normally the rest of the time. Could it be just that he hurt himself and the added effort of running hurts him?

Since you say your dog can take it easy for a couple of days, I will refrain from panicking just yet.
 
Its hard to tell exactly, it could be injury related (bruised, pulled or torn muscle) or some other issue. Is your vet open on Sat so you can call and ask them what they suggest?

Most likely, I would monitor to see if it improves, try to restrict activity, and bring him in to the vet at the beginning of the week to check it out if he has not improved.

If you hold him and slowly flex the joints with your hand over them, do you feel/hear anything? Any senstivity?

Hopefully, all will be fine! Hope he feels better soon.

(Just saw that elaine beat me to it, with the same advice:-)
 
You're all very nice and helpful, I deeply appreciate.

I can touch him there and he shows no signs of pain.

If I grab his legs and pull them «away» from the body with my hna don what I believe is the joint, there is sort of a «crunching» sound, but then again, my own hips do that, so I hardly think this is abnormal.

I will wait and see, and mybe buy some glucosamine for hip to strenghten his joints. I read that older dogs with arthritis take that. Whatever is it, it can't hurt.

And I will try to get him to shed a few pounds in the process, it can't hurt.
 
Hi Hugo ~ Elaine and Snowy are on the money. Shelties love to run and jump; my little one-year-old male is always wrenching something. Usually it will go away if you give him a day and keep him as quiet as possible, in his crate if you have one. Some people recommend giving half a baby aspirin but I'm always afraid that just masks the pain and makes the injury worse. Besides flexing the joint, see if you feel any heat anywhere in his leg. If not, and he isn't too bad, you are likely OK waiting until Monday for the vet if he still has a problem. I'm with the girls, though...when in doubt, call! And why oh why is it they always do these things on weekends?????

Also if he is overweight that could add to the problem. Shelties are prone to portliness...be careful not to let him get that way...at least one of my three are always on doggie diets! They are such foodies. Do let us know how your boy is doing....good luck!
 
Update : it's not the hip joint. It's the one below that (the knee?).

He can walk, but if he twirls on himself (like he does when he gets excited as I'm about to feed him), he stops short, and stops putting weight on his left rear leg. It can also happen if he runs or whatnot.

I noticed that if I take the leg from under, and cycle the articulation to bend/compress the leg, I feel a very slight click/pop, as if the articulation was slightly dislocated, and all is well from then on, he can resume his normal activities.

I'll buy some cartilage strenghtening stuff (any recommendations?) and if it doesn't help, I'll have some x-rays done.

But I'm positive : his hip is just fine. It would thus be weird that the knee would be bad overnight, unless he somehow hurt himself right?
 
Arghh

Hugo,

Please stop articulating, compressing, and messing with your dog's leg. He obviously hurt himself and has a pulled or torn muscle or worse. You wouldn't want someone stretching and compressing your torn muscle if you had one. You could very well take a minor injury and turn it into a worse one. Let it be, and if he doesn't recover by tomorrow, take him to the vet and make sure he didn't break anything. Your pup is telling you he hurts by his behavior. Respect that hurt and stop trying to be his vet without vet school.

I train race horses and have studied an awful lot about horse's leg injuries and medicine. Despite that, I would never try to replace my vet's knowledge with my own. I don't mean this to sound harsh. I know you are just caring about your dog a lot but I worry all your investigation will hurt him.
 
I agree with Susan. Leave it alone, stop messing with it, let him rest it today, and if it's not better in the morning, take him to the vet. It sounds like he injured it to me.
 
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