I am very ,very, worried about my puppy Nero. He just turned 8 mos. old now and I am scared he might be dysplastic!!

I have had this worry for a while, but I figured that I was being paranoid. What made me worried earlier was the thread that was posted about a dog being too big and lazy to jump and Ed said to have the dog x-rayed because it might have a problem...well, Nero too looks for help getting into my Astro van and doesn't really jump alot either, but I was always able to tell myself that it is just coincidence until yesterday.

Yeasterday he was roaming around in my front yard, we had alot of company over, and for some reason he tried to climb over a small (8-10 inch) retaining wall into my ground cover which lines a section of my house.This area is to the left of the slope off of my front stair case( 20 foot long , 13 steps, uphill grade). I was standing right there and so I took his collar and made him make a u turn out of the new plantings( steps were just redone!!!)

When he came onto the stairs he was on 3 legs!!! He was not using his right rear hind leg AT ALL!!!!HE was not in any discomfort, but he was walking w/ his leg off of the ground! I walked him onto the patio and I manipulted the leg up and then back down in a circular motion a few times, at which point he was then able to step onto his hind leg again, but he seemed a little stiff still. Then he walked around and soon seemed all better??????

Needless to say I am sick with worry!! (IS it any wonder that I myself am being worked up right now for possible ulcers!!!!)Does this sound like dysplasia? I have never had a dog w/ it so I don't know what to think.

He is lean, the vet as a matter of fact just recently complimened me on his great condition. He weighs 65 lbs, but is very heavy boned. He is on barf/ kibble mixed. (Adult food since 8 wks old)

I am not able to get an appt. to see Dr. Whitefield until 8/19. Should I restrict his activity in any way until then?? I have stopped him from running outside w/ Bella now, I am afraid he will over stress his joints. Previously I thought that natural playing wouldn't be dangerous , but now I don't know anymore!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I know that alot of you guys have been through dysplasia before, so I really need to hear some advice from all, or I will go crazy before 8/19 rolls around!!! Thanks so Much...........

Take a deep breath! It could be any number of things. I had a very similar worry about my Lab shortly after I brought him home. He would not jump up into the back of my Volvo wagon, but would stand there, waiting to be lifted in. I became concerned about his hips, thinking it may be uncomfortable or painful for him to jump up like that.

Took him to the vet, had the xrays done. Excellent hips. And guess what he did when we left the vet? Immediately jumped into the back of the wagon! The turkey had me fooled, was playin me like a violin! Seems he only needed the right motivation! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

As far as the leg incident, that could have been anything from something stuck in his pad, to a small strain from twisting around on that leg, to who knows what.

First off... breathe...

Jeanette, I know what you are feeling right now but you have to take it for what it is/or may be.

Bunny hopping is usually a good sign to indicate dysplasia, and the fact that he doesn't like to jump into the car would have me a bit worried as well.

I wouldn't restrict his activity too much. Maybe not playing with Bella is a good idea, but you don't want to lose the muscle that he has there. That muscle will be his saving grace if he is dysplastic.

Dogs with MILD HD will show signs like you have described, and mild HD is not THAT bad. Of course he shouldn't be worked hard, or bred, but I don't think you were planning on either for him to begin with.

Just get him to the vet on the 19th. Get him xrayed. You should have a good idea of what the deal is between you and the vet looking at the rads in house. He can then give you options. If it is mild, you are looking at a maintence excercize plan. If it is bad, maybe surgery. But, there is no sense in getting an ulcer over it just yet.

My schnauzer has HD and has been fine with the maintence plan for the last 7 years I have had her. She is starting to have more problems now, but at the age of 11 that is to be expected. I am currently looking into adequan for her this winter... if that doesn't work we may have to say goodbye, but she has had a good life here with me, and that is all I can do...

Jeannette,

These symptoms are not necessarily signs of a hip problem. My male had similar symptoms, and I believed he had hip dysplasia also. When I had him x-rayed, it turns out that his hips were ok. Instead, they discovered that he has a bad knee, which causes him to limp sometimes, and he rarely attempts to jump over anything.

Just try to relax and not worry too much until you get the x-rays done. There are probably any of a number of things that could be causing this, and it may be nothing even close to as serious as hip dysplasia.

Good luck!

Jeannette,
I can very much relate to you concerns. I pryor GSD had HD in both hips and elbow dysplasia. my current GSD which is now 16 months old and from day one I have been looking for any tell tale signs of HD. His preliminary OFA showed elbows clear of ED and showed laxiety in the right hip (their term, no deformaty, left was excellent). With that news I was very upset to possibly have 2 GSDs in a row with HD. However what I was told was that as the the pup grows and the growth plates close things can change drastically by the time they are 2 years old. What I was also told was that he has seen prelim x-rays that showed possible HD and then the dog goes OFA excellent at 2. I do still have hope he will do well on the OFA this fall. He is extremely athletic and shows no signs of HD that I had seen on my other GSD.
Some of the signs I have looked for are bunny hoping, popping of joints when getting up, stiffness in the mornings or after excersizing, just now feeling well, when sitting always leaning to one side rather than having both feet underneath. Those are some of the things I recall my other GSD did.
At the age of about 8 months my current GSD started limping on one rear lef then later on another rear leg. I was really concerned at the time because I thought it was signs of HD. especially since it was right after a play session. It turned out to be panno. after I switched to adult food all was well as far as limping and such. Then at about a 11 months and after having had the prelim x-ray he would not walk on the left rear (the hip that showed laxity was the right). My thought at the time was here I go again with another GSD with HD because the way he acted was just like my other GSD when he had a very bad hip day. I took him to the vet as soon as i could. Turned out it was a dislocated toe caused by his rough playing and jumping like mad over things in the yard. I have seen no signs of HD on this GSD. I look for them daily. My point being that limping once does equate HD for it could be so many diferent things from pano to dislocated toe as was in my experience. Also make sure the vet is experienced in OFA x-rays for positioning is very important. Ed has an article on this site concerning OFA x-rays, positioning etc.
I do hope everything turns out ok

Jeanette

May I suggest you look at Ed's artice on Pano.
This may well be what your dog is suffering from as he is still a young dog. Just a thought - it may help ease your concern till you get to the vets.

Gwen

Gwen is right... My GSD got pano at that age and I was just SURE I had done something wrong with him. Lo and behold it was just a temporary road bump (I think he decided tracking was boring and he wanted to be a couch tater).

He was DEAD lame until we got to the vets office... then I guess all that excitement overtook the pain and he was fine. The vet believed me though and the lesions were on the rads...

Just breathe... Either way it is going to be alright.

Yup! My dog has/had Pano as well... I went of the deep end too. Couple of treatments and he is all good now... you would never know he had anything. You go through it, then it's over.. all part of living life in the doggie lane.

How did/do you "treat" pano? My understanding was that it was transitory and would simply go away with time.

Pain relievers... I used ascriptin, but the vet was pushing rimadyl.. I said no thanks..