Lameness with a question mark, because I'm not sure that's the right word. Yesterday, my husband and I were outside for a couple hours in the afternoon, cleaning up fallen leaves. When I came inside around four o'clock, Logan (5 YO Doberman), was acting very funny. He seemed frightened, subdued, almost cowering. If he had a tail, it would have been tucked between his legs. I quickly checked to see if anything was amiss in the house, maybe something that had fallen and scared him. Nothing out of the ordinary. My other dog was comfortably napping on her bed.

Of course I checked him over closely for any sign of injury, watching carefully for any signs of bloat or other internal distress. Respiration was normal, his pulse was a little fast, couldn't take his temp as I don't have a rectal thermometer at the moment. His gums seemed only maybe slightly pale. He was trembling slightly as I ran my hands over him.

All he wanted to do was go sit in the corner, facing the wall. I got him up walking around the house a bit and noticed that he seemed to be wanting to lift his right front leg whenever he stopped. No sign of limping as he walked, though.

I decided to keep a close eye on him and plan on an ER visit if his demeanor didn't improve. After a while, he settled down to nap and slept off and on the rest of the evening, not even getting up when dinner time approached. He did want to eat, though, when he woke up, and I gave him about a third of his normal ration. He slept in my bed, as he always does, but he seemed uncomfortable. He got up several times in the night to just sit instead of lie down.

This morning, he is pretty much normal, except he frequently holds his right front leg up when he's standing still, and when he's sitting, you can see he's shifting most of his weight to the other leg.

I can't see any sign of injury or tenderness to any part of the leg, the shoulder, the neck, ribs. When he's outside for potty, he runs around like normal. He is not actually lame when moving. No other signs of illness. Poops are normal, no vomiting, appetite is normal.

My husband said he ran into the garage when he was playing ball with him, but he can't remember if that was yesterday morning or the day before. Didn't seem to have any ill effects at the time.

My plan is to see if this gets better over the course of the next few days, and if not, I'll take him to the vet. But what mystifies me is why does he hold the leg up when he's standing or sitting, but it doesn't seem to hurt for him to walk, trot or run on it? Any ideas? Anything else you guys would do besides watch and wait?

Holding the paw up is sometimes more of a paw sign than it is a leg-shoulder sign, I have read in an article about gauging whether an injury is more likely in the paw or higher up. This is NOT universal at all .... just one of the things to consider. (A dog will also lift the paw to take weight off the injured leg/shoulder.) But where you are not seeing any lameness, maybe the paw is the more likely spot.

Is there any swelling anywhere in the paw, like there might be from a sting? Any heat if you cup your hand around it? Can you look between each toe with a flashlight and magnifying glass for anything shiny, like a shard of glass or metal? (A two-person routine is far easier ... the other one holds the light.)

I'm thinking maybe a sting (or even burn) because of the anxiety. Maybe more towards sting because of the heart rate,

(Is there anything he could have touched and slightly burned himself?)

Do you feel heat anywhere else, like the shoulder?

Does he lie down or get up slowly and carefully?



This is all JMO .... of course I'm not a health professional.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (11/04/2013 02:59 PM)
Edit reason: edited

Just to chime in, I would look at having a lyme titre done, my last dog and Amber both have had lyme, Ambi had it as a very young pup.
My old guy got it when he was five, he had transient lameness that was literally a few steps at a time, I didn't think much of it at the time, accidently one day I banged his wrist and he yelped like I've never heard before, he was a super stoic dog so he was in a lot of pain. Went to the vet and he was sky high positive lyme.
So I'd say have a tick panel or lyme titre done if you have any Lyme disease in the area, that first diagnosis began a seven and a half year battle against this nasty disease. Though the signs you describe sound a bit sudden for lyme.
I would hazard to guess the reason he seems in more pain when sitting or standing is that he is putting equal weight on all legs whereas when trotting or running each foot is taking less force.
I do work in the medical field, but I' m not a vet and my experience is anecdotal.
Hope your guy gets better soon.

Lyme was the first thing that crossed my mind, too. Other possibilities are a misstep that kinda wrenched something in his paw or a sting/bite of some sort (something that startled him could explain the weird behavior). My rule of thumb for minor limps is 3 days of restricted activity then ease them back to normal. If it returns or gets worse in that time, I call the vet. Major limps I call the vet right away of course

As soon as I can enlist my husband's help this evening, I'll take a very close look at all the nooks and crannies in the paw. I looked at it yesterday, but didn't think to use a flashlight and magnifying glass. Even if the pain is originating just from the paw, wouldn't there still be at least a little lameness in motion? I know I limp when my feet hurt!

I'll check again for heat, specifically in the paw area. A couple times, I thought maybe the whole right front leg felt just a little bit warmer than the other one, but it was a barely noticeable difference and could have other explanations like maybe he was sitting near one of the heat ducts.

As far as a possible burn, I can't think of a single thing that could have caused anything like that. Stings or insect bites are always a possibility, although it's getting cold enough we aren't seeing too many nowadays. The thought also crossed my mind that maybe he fell off the bed. The dogs will typically get on my bed to look out the back windows, and they sometimes crane and stretch to get a good view, so it's possible he lost his balance and fell.

Yesterday, he was noticeably careful about lying down and getting up. He usually just plops like a sack of potatoes. I also noticed yesterday and last night that he seemed more comfortable lying more upright on his sternum as opposed to on his side or curled in a ball, but that seems to have gone away today and he's lying more normally. He's had a couple episodes of sitting in a corner, but I am not noticing the fearful or anxious demeanor like he had yesterday.

All of this came on very suddenly yesterday. He was fine all day, and when I came in after being outside for a couple hours is when I noticed all these symptoms.

Three days is about all I was going to give it before taking him to the vet if there is not significant improvement. I'll remember to ask her about testing for tick-borne illnesses.

Thanks!

My min-pin had the same issue a few months back. She was bit by a fly, but since she is so tiny you couldn't miss the swelling later on, but the foot wasn't noticeably warmer, since the ground she walks on was cool.
Can't hurt to take a trip to the vet to be on the safe side.

See if he has any pain around his neck.

The behaviors you describe suggest to me a big fear (hung up by the collar? a dog fight that ended before you saw? Gunfire in a gun-shy dog?) or a pain (disc (including neck disc-which can give pain in a foreleg) or some other deep visceral pain) that went away or got better without treatment.

Just a bunch of guesses. Hope he's better soon!

Just an update: Yesterday, my husband and I looked very closely at his paw with a flashlight and magnifying glass. On the bottom, in between the pads, I found three tiny dark specks, smaller than a grain of sand. Thinking it might have just been dirt, I ran my fingernail over them and they turned out to be tiny scabs. I cleaned and dried the area thoroughly.

I also pressed and squeezed the entire foot and leg and noticed no tender areas at all.

This morning, I examined the foot again, and the scabs have not reformed, but there are still tiny red marks where they were. I guess these could be insect bites, or they could be little scratches he got from stepping on sticks out in the yard. (I try to keep the sticks picked up but it's impossible to keep up!)

The dogs are naked when they're in the house, so it wasn't a collar accident. I have two dogs, and although one can never be absolutely positive, I'd say with almost-certainty that they didn't get in a fight.

I did wonder if it was something originating in the neck. Dobermans are prone to a condition called CVI, cervical vertebral instability, also called Wobbler's syndrome. The symptoms can be vague and intermittent in the early stages. So I'll look further into that if this doesn't resolve.

This all happened sometime Sunday afternoon. Yesterday, Monday, he was better. Still keeping weight off the leg if he was sitting or standing, but no sign of fearfulness. Today, Tuesday, he seems almost back to his normal, happy-go-lucky, bouncy, wiggly self. I've only noticed the leg favoring a couple times.

So, hopefully, this is on its way to resolving. Thanks to all of you for your ideas and suggestions! I'll let you know if there are any more issues with this.