I have a 2 yo female out of very nice working lines. I've been looking forward with great anticipation to adding her to my program. Problem? She's been acting very strange.

I noticed a few times that the dog seemed very stiff in the rear, particularly the left in the mornings. This seemed to disappear after moving for a few seconds and I attributed it to the hard crate floor (she eats blankets).

Now, however, she seems to be growing slightly uncoordinated in the backend and she seems stiff even after walking around. She has been x-rayed and OFA pre-limmed "good" so displaysia shouldn't be the cause.

I am going to call for a vet appointment for her, of course, but any ideas as to what could be causing her problem?

Elisabeth

I'd think about neck and spinal trauma...working injury, jumping on and off somthing and taking a misstep...or some neurological bug like EPM in horses...I think there is something similar in dogs...

My 7 yr old bitch had that problem and it turned out she had pyometra. It's unlikely since yours is so young but it's worth taking a look at. It might be some other kind of infection that is causing the problem or even an intestinal disorder. Mine also would get stiff when she was in season and laying on hard floors.

I would run a tick borne disease panel on her. Anytime a young dog acts stiff and sore and xrays are OK, it would be the next thing I checked.

As for pyometra, anything is possible. My 4 year old female Zen had to be spayed at age 2 due to a pyo.

I had a two year old with pyometra once too. Almost lost her because my vet at the time said that dogs that young don't get pyo so she didn't get treatment until it was almost too late. Her poor little uterus weighed 10 lbs when it was removed after 4 hours of surgery!

I do not think that this dog has pyometra though, at least I hope not! She has awesome lines and I would hate to have to spay her.

With the mention of tick bourne diseases I did some looking as I had not even considered this. Some of the symptoms listed for lymes are joint pain/stiffness, anorexia, weight loss, and neurological changes among some others.

I have only had the dog for about a month, she was thin when I got her. Not extremely so, but she needs to gain some weight, you can feel her pin bones and easily see her ribs. I haven't been able to put any weight on her because she does not want to eat and she spends most of the day spinning in her kennel. I didn't worry about the spinning as she was very poorly socialized before I got her and I figured she just needed to settle in, but perhaps it is related?

Anyway, she has vet appointment on Monday so hopefully we can find out whats wrong. Keep your fingers crossed with me if you will that this is not congenital or genetic and that it is treatable!

Elizibeth, the litter mate to your female has started to get stiff in the right hind quarter after being in the crate throughout the night.

Coordination is not a problem for us. She takes & hits the sleeve and no problems noticed. Very active.

The stiffness or limp does not get worse as we train. At times it's not noticed.

I've had her prelimed and all normal, came back good. My vet had said that the left hip was excellant and the right hip good. I'm going to have her hips done again next month.

As to the spinning, my bitch does the same thing until I go to her or redirect her. It's to get my attention only. I almost have this concern corrected.

The side she limps on is the side that on the inside of the spin.

Yes, the pedigree is impressive.

Please e-mail me privately to discuss this concern of yours. I may have insight from the litter that might help.

It's all good! Foxie has just sprained her knee. Nothing serious or genetic. She just hurt herself with her incessant circling when she's excited. Hopefully she will chill out long enough for it to heal!
Thanks for all your input.