My 16 week old pup had an accident while tied out on a leash, jumped, landed, screamed! Possibly tangled herself in the leash somehow n twisted her leg or something. The vet doesn't think it's her ACL because movement in her knee seems normal (other than her screaming when he did his ACL test), but the problem is definately in both her left rear knee and ankle.

Now I'm reading up on ACL's n getting more n more paranoid that my pup has a torn ACL. A friend of mine told me that when her dog tore his ACL that he couldn't stretch out his leg at all, Lÿka's been able to stretch hers out all the way since right after her accident, but if you put any pressure on her foot toward her thigh as to simulate her walking on that leg she freaks out, n if you move her joints apart sideways (like you would to test an ACL) she also freaks out (on both her knee and her ankle). I found a website that says some dogs with a torn ACL will begin using their bad leg again, but the lameness will return.

My vet says he doesn't think it's her ACL because the dogs he's had come in with torn ACL's have alot more sideways movement in the joints than Lÿka has, but I'm worried that it's just a minor tear that's being overlooked n she's doing what the medical website I found states (using her bad leg). She looks like she wants to use it, n her toes touch the ground about 90% of the time now when she's hopping around the grass to pee.

Does this sound like it could maybe even be a very minor ACL tear? Or is this unlikely? I can put pressure on every part of her leg n massage her leg with no problems, as well as stretching it out carefully. The only time she screams is if you move her joints apart sideways, both knee and ankle. She has gotten alot more lively this evening (happened Monday night), she's gotten quick at running on 3 legs too so seems to be feeling alot better, but I'm still worried that it might be something more severe than a pulled muscle. I'd hate for her to loose 2 months of her puppyhood because of a torn ACL that needs surgery and lots of crate-rest. The common cause for a torn ACL matches what I am sure happened to her too. Agh! Not to mention she's an extremely agile breed so I would hate for this to have any lasting effects on her agility abilities.

So if you know anything about the symptoms of even a very minor tear in the ACL, let me know if anything I said about her symptoms (especially being able to extend her leg no problem) would exclude the ACL as a possibility. I'm freaking out right now, completely paranoid that it's her ACL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

It's been 3 days since the accident, n I just saw her walking on 4 legs a little bit for the first time since the accident. I read that a dog can learn to walk on a torn ACL, but it didn't give any specifics/timeframes, is 3 days enough time for a dog to get over an ACL tear and start putting weight on the leg? Not much weight, just quick hops, but she seems to be trying to walk properly. The pain meds are most likely worn off by now too.

I am 45 minutes away from an excellent ortho specialist, they go by referral only so I'm gonna try n get a referral today from my regular vet. I'll emphasize that I want to know 100% for sure since she's a working dog n I can't risk that she's not 100%. She is walking on her bad leg again now, but treading lightly, so I'm really hopeful that it's not her ACL, but there's always that chance it's a small tear and needs to be dealt with. I don't notice any real swelling but I think her thigh is a bit thicker than normal. She is psychologically better today though, she's been a little baby for the past 3 days, licking my hands n being calm, now she's running around her X-Pen barking at my GSD n biting my hands like normal when I pick her up, so at least this hasn't affected her long-term psychologically, she's a tough girl she's bounces back well.

Thanks for the PM's and post encouraging me to see a specialist, I will try to get a referral today, I am on very good terms with my vet's office so I'm sure they will have no problem with me caring about my dogs <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Good luck, let us know what happens. I hope she'll be ok.

I hope shes ok. Good luck.
I suspec that an MRI(or along those lines) cn be perfomred showing soft tissue injuries.
Might be best it was a front leg and not the back, where hips come into play.

It was the back leg, but the x ray showed no bone related problems, hips look unaffected and don't seem painful to her. I'm actually sitting in front of the specialists office right now on a pda killing time... I overestimated how long itd take me to get here, oops! Ill keep everyone posted as to the MRI results. She is using her leg again today so I am hopeful that it was just soft tissue damage, she isn't on her meds today either so her leg is feeling much better, but I just want to be absolutely 100% sure, or ill be paranoid about any physical activity she does for the next 2 years lol.

Well she's at the specialists right now, they were gonna take 2 hours to do additional x-rays and possible radeology so I went home to spend time with Cujo instead of sitting in the vet's office tying Lÿka's leash into knots for 2 hours. They don't think it's her ACL, her legs seem stable, but there's 2 things they mentioned... it's definately isolated to her knee area.... it could be a fractured growth plate, if it's not dislocated then it just means healing time in the crate, if it's dislocated then it means surgery to put pins in her knee, but either way it shouldn't have any long term effects on her. The other possibility is the tendon that runs on the inside of the thigh area from the Femur to the Fibula or Tibia or whatever the heck its called which stabilizes her legs outward movement away from the body. Either way, it's costing a bunch n I don't have a clue what's wrong.

Mike, I wish you and your dog the best through this trying period.
Hope it comes out for the best!

Man Mike, this is horrible, best wishes to you and Lyka.

Thanks Will and everyone else <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And also those of you who PM'd me. I was so freaked out last night the more I read about ACL's and leg injuries.

I took her to the specialist today, her injury is pretty inconsistent with an ACL tear, all her joints are solid, but after taking 8 (expensive) X-Rays they found a spiral fracture in her left tibia! Which explains the "pop" 2 people standing near her had heard right before she started screaming in pain. She's on crate-rest for 2 weeks then she should be all healed up and go back for another follow up x-ray.

They put her in a splint and a bright pink cast with a fancy custom made flower on it just for her, everyone LOVED my lil girl, they were all very nice and overall the veterinary experience at AVS was excellent and quick. They got me an appointment for noon, I called them at 1030am! So I was lucky there too. They were done with her by about 330.

She immediately started putting her lil demon teeth on her cast so she has to wear the head cone thing, she's not happy, but she's finally stopped whining and settled down to sleep. Here's a photo of her in her new gear:

http://static.flickr.com/52/148909773_28d1cc8848.jpg

All this because I stayed at training a little longer than I had planned to take some additional suit bites from some local police dogs, oh well. Lesson learned, the hard way unfortunately. She'll be crated on the training field in future, although a friend told me how to make a tie-out that'll eliminate the "tangling and flipping over" problem, so I'll make one of those too.