Sorry this is so long! I was wondering if any one might be able to shed some light on an incident that occured with my dog while hiking yesterday. He was off-leash and bouncing around like crazy; jumping from the beach up to the top of the bluffs and back down. While, at one point he saw a squirrel and took off like a shot on a flat, wide, groomed trail and all of a sudden he was screaming the most awful sound I have ever heard in my life. He hadn't gone more than a few feet but was suddenly flailing around and his rear left leg was sticking out at a terrible angle (it will probably haunt my dreams for a LONG time..). I ran over to him and by that time he had stopped screaming and was sitting up with the leg sticking straight out but was greatly stressed. After letting him sit for a minute and trying to decide how to hike out with an 80lb dog, I tried to get him to his feet so we could pick him up. The first step he took he came down on the top of his paw with his leg stiff and out to the side. He then took another step and landed right way on his foot and we let him rest for a minute and he started to walk - obviously favoring the leg but also weight bearing. He ended up walking himself back to the car and by the time he got to the parking lot was walking -almost- normal and just looked a little bit off. It was definitely a more pronounced limp at a trot but later that afternoon he wanted to race around the yard (I didn't let him but he was obviously feeling better). He still doesn't look completely sound this morning but definitely looks better. Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? Could he have dislocated something and had it pop back into place on it's own? He is due for vet work/dental next month so I'm definitely going to ask the vet then as long as he continues to get better and doesn't need to go in before then. I'm really scared to let him even run in the backyard off leash because I've never heard a dog scream like that (and we just had another dog tear her ACL while playing and this was 10x more traumatic than that!). I'm think I'm going to restrict walking for a little bit as well, but does anyone have any advice? I also tried to ice his joints "just in case", but I wasn't even sure where to start since I don't know if it was hip, knee or what..

Thanks!!

bump

It sounds very much like a dislocation to me. I occasionally dislocate my shoulder- mind-numbing pain and shock at first, then a few seconds of forcing myself to move and shrug it back into place. It's usually sore for 1-5 days, depending on how badly it was out.

I am no vet and I am no expert. I have heard of the ankle (hock) dislocating. The dog I knew that had this happen was a sled dog and had to have the joint fused. He went on to race sprint races with a fused joint and did very well. I'm not sure how he presented and how acute the injury was initially.

The hip could also dislocate- but I would imagine that would not just 'pop' back in. I think it would take some serious directed pressure from outside to take care of that. But if it was sticking out at a weird angle, a hip issues sounds more likely than a hock issue.

The knee- as far as I know- doesn't dislocate.

It's also possible he tweaked a muscle or stepped on something sharp that hurt but didn't break the skin. That may make him hold his leg funny.

One of my dogs is very sensitive to any discomfort and is very dramatic about it. My shepherds are more stoic. If you know how your dog reacts to things, you might be able to tell if he was surprised/over-reacting or seriously in pain. I know that yipping sounds awful, but dogs that are mainly surprised and not really hurting can sound like that, too.

In any event, keep him quiet for at least three days, and check for swelling and smoothness of all the joints. Toes can dislocate, too. Any increase in pain or signs of swelling and I'd take him to the vet.

I wanted to add... I re-read your description and it sounds even more like a dislocation to me. I'd be concerned that this could happen again as the ligaments around the joint are loose even if there wasn't a problem with joint structure originally (which may also be the case). It's certainly worth seeing a vet about- possibly an ortho vet who has more expertise. Just my opinion.

Edited by Kiersten Lippman (03/20/2012 03:28 AM)
Edit reason: Thought process