Leg Injury?

[teritoad]

My Rottie, 8 month old Zeus, has some sort of a reoccuring leg problem. Every once in awhile his right front leg seems to hurt him and he'll hobble a little for a day or two and then it seems to be fine.

I give him Ascriptin for the pain and keep him off of it as much as possible but I don't know if I should take him to the vet because it seems to fix itself in a couple of days. He will put weight on it but he just seems to limp a bit. It doesn't stop him from wanting to run and play constantly, though, and sometimes I have to crate him to keep him still.

Does anyone else out there have a Rottie prone to leg problems? Is this something that I'm just going to have to live with or could this be "growing pains"?

Thanks for all of your help...as I've said before, I'm new to the world of Rotties and need all of the advice and help I can get. He's the best dog I've ever had and my best buddy and I worry about him!

[moondog]

I'd take him in and have him xrays done. There are manys things it could be, but since it's recurring, even though he recovers, it sure seems like there's definitely something going on. Best to find out now and avoid complicating problems later, don't you think? :)

[teritoad]

I think you're right and I just made an appointment with the vet. Better safe than sorry:)

It does seem to be recurring and if there's something I can do to prevent it, then that's what I need to do...Thanks for the advice!

[moondog]

Good. :) Please let us know what the vet says.

[teritoad]

As usual the next morning, the day of his vet appt., he was just fine but I took him in anyway and his x-ray came out fine. Now I'm more confused than ever. I can't imagine what it might be!:(

The vet said that sometimes soft tissue strains can come and go quickly, but should they come that easily and that often?
I understand the idea of pulling and straining a muscle, but does it heal that quickly?

Oh well, the vet says he's fine so I guess I should just let it go and not be so paranoid. He said that Rotties and other breeds that grow that quickly do experience "growing pains". Have you found this to be true? Thanks!:)

[moondog]

You know, it may be a soft tissue injury that is just not being rested long enough to heal properly. A dog will stop limping long before the injury has completely healed, so when they make that dash across the yard it can reinjure pretty easily. Try doing only leash walks for exercise for at least a couple of weeks, no roughhousing, no bolting type stuff that tends to jerk and twist. :)

I was going to mention pano, and I see you've read the description in the other thread, but I think the lameness usually shifts from leg to leg with pano. Does your dog's lameness shift?

[teritoad]

At first the pain didn't seem to shift from leg to leg but then one of his rear legs seemed to bother him as well. This entire thing has been so confusing...:(

I didn't realize that a dog would stop limping before the injury has healed...now I know and will limit his activity. He's very well socialized and we take him everywhere with us so we'll forego the play for a couple of weeks and just stick to the leash.:)

Thanks alot for info!:D

[moondog]

I hope limiting his activity will help. :) The thing with soft tissue injuries is that as soon as it has healed enough to stop causing pain, the dog stops limping, but the injury site stills needs time to strengthen, which takes much longer.

My dog is such a goof that when her arthritic elbow is hurting to the point of hopping on it, she still tries to get me to play tennis ball with her! Her brain says play and her leg says no. I go with the leg, even though I feel bad I have to say no to the play. We usually replace the play with a grooming session and that gives us some satisfaction while she's on the mend. :)

[teritoad]

I know exactly what you mean by that, moondog! Zeus is always up for a romp session no matter how he feels and I have to tell him no. I feel bad but we play catch instead of fetch and that usually seems to help. He's such a dork!:D

[Tim196482]

I also have a young rott she is 6 mouths old. She also has a limp that comes and goes it is her right front. When we took her to the vet he said that it was most likely growing pain. He said she was growing so fast muscles and tendons had a hard time keeping up. if you hear anything different please post so I can get her checked.

[teritoad]

Hi Tim196482 and welcome to the forum! This place is a great way to become educated on Rottiedom...I know I come here all of the time for answers and suggestions!:)

When I took Zeus to the vet and had all of his legs x-rayed, my doctor told me that it was "Pano" and occured in larger breeds of dogs from 6 months to around 18 months and sometimes longer.

It started with Zeus's right front but then seemed to go from leg to leg so I found it really frustrating and confusing. He just seemed to hobble from time to time.

I would suggest having it checked out just in case it may be something more serious...better safe than sorry!:D

Do a forum search under "Pano" and look under the thread titled "Growing Pains"...there's alot of info there about it, but take your baby to the vet just to be sure!

;)