Scott,

I would rule out an ACL tear or partial tear. That is typical of what you are explaining. The wanting to play then being miserable afterwards. I would not play with this dog til you get a definite answer on what is going on. An ultrasound might prove worth while. Since it occured after hard playing it sounds like soft tissue injury and those can take TIME to heal. If the body has any inflammation the tissue can not heal so aggravating it all will keep the tissue "angered". Check with a specialist and rule out a knee injury especially since you said the vet found soreness in there...

I thought about Marcus again this morning and wondered about an ACL tear. Of course when I got onto the forum, someone had already thought of it-gotta love that.

Anyway, I bring it up b/c I see similarities in Marcus and my dog, Caleb. Caleb nearly had a TPLO for Pano. The normal vet and an Ortho "specialist" both said he had a partial tear, but due to his size (a heroin chic 98lbs), a TPLO or similar would be necessary since the conventional repair would never hold an ACTIVE dog that size. "Mother's Intuition" kicked in and I sought another opinion, thankfully. He hung the films and said "congratulations; he is still growing." I was confused momentarily and he said "Panosteitits. There is nothing wrong with his knee." I was stunned.

This dog had had shifting lameness from his front left to front right, to rear right, and while it was in the front, it never showed up on xrays. Never. I was convinced that he was just accident-prone and was bashing his elbows climbing the fence; I'd checked and ruled out every other avenue, including Lyme, bone cancer, you name it.

Sorry to be long-winded, but I thought this had relevance to Scott's problem. An ACL tear, while affecting different dogs differently, seems to be more of an acute pain that makes them stay off that leg entirely and cry out if it's manipulated. Pano seems to manifest itself in chronic pain that doesn't always quelch their desire to run...even though they may stop eating. I got nowhere with rest, but on the really horrible days, Zubrin worked wonders. I hope it's nothing more serious, but my gut says Pano with what I know of Marcus, his lines, size, and age. Please keep us posted, Scott!!!