Stiffness in dog's rear legs

My 2 1/2 year old Border Collie mixed breed,
Max, has developed stiffness in his rear
legs. He is trains in Agility and
Competition Obedience and is usally quite an
active guy. We have an Australian Cattle
Dog mixed breed (1 1/2 yrs old) who Max
usually plays with, vigorously.

Two days I noticed that Max was having trouble walking when I took him out for a
walk. Yesterday, he had tremendous
difficulty getting up after laying down for awhile. This morning he did not want to walk
down the stairs to the kitchen (eventually he
did).

I have felt both of Max's rear legs (from the hip joints down to the toes) and find no noticable problem area. Max did not flinch
nor did he refuse to let me touch his legs or
paws.

We have an appointment with the Vet on Thursday (today is Tuesday). I am quite
worried. Has anyone out there had a similar experience? If so, I would appreciate all, and any, advice.


Thanks so very much.
Sue

Quote:

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Originally posted by slbrick:
My 2 1/2 year old Border Collie mixed breed,
Max, has developed stiffness in his rear
legs. He is trains in Agility and
Competition Obedience and is usally quite an
active guy. We have an Australian Cattle
Dog mixed breed (1 1/2 yrs old) who Max
usually plays with, vigorously.

I think you will find when you go to the vet that your dog has "luxating patellas." My little Maltese had the same problem and it is usually the result of the kneecap slipping out of place. My baby had the problem on both knees. The Vet operated on him and made a larger knotch for his kneecap to ride in. I'd be interested to hear what your vet says.

Sherry
Two days I noticed that Max was having trouble walking when I took him out for a
walk. Yesterday, he had tremendous
difficulty getting up after laying down for awhile. This morning he did not want to walk
down the stairs to the kitchen (eventually he
did).

I have felt both of Max's rear legs (from the hip joints down to the toes) and find no noticable problem area. Max did not flinch
nor did he refuse to let me touch his legs or
paws.

We have an appointment with the Vet on Thursday (today is Tuesday). I am quite
worried. Has anyone out there had a similar experience? If so, I would appreciate all, and any, advice.


Thanks so very much.
Sue

---

Sue, I read your post and I have a simalar problem. I have a lab that is 3 years old. Last October, after a day with the boys hunting pheasants our dog developed a limp in her left rear leg. She has been limping ever since. I took her to the vet and they x-rayed the hip and knee and found nothing wrong. There was some evidence that she may have had a pulled ligament. The vet said to keep her of the leg for one month. Well that was imposible, but we did get her from playing and did not take her to the farm. That did not help, her leg just began to lose the muscle. She runs and playes just fine, but when she slows down she begins to limp. If anyone out there has any suggestions please respond. Thanks Julie

Julie, My yellow lab/gldn ret mix tore his
crusia ligmaments in both knees during a running/play session. We thought it was his hips again, but after a week of rest and medication,he was again unable to get up, but seemed to walk fairly well. By putting his body weight on his "good" knee, he tore the other so he was operated on 3 months apart. It was hard keeping him gated in 1 room all that time but well worth the time,patience and money, and he seemed to understand, he was a real trooper. We have kept his body weight down to prevent it from happening again too (he lost 25 lbs-he was trained on treats)This condition, according to my vet, is frequently misdiagnosed at first, because they sometimes seem "better".
Hope your pup gets better soon!..Karen

------------------
k9luver

He seems young for hip problems so ACL tear(s) does seem like a possibility. I had a mutt that needed surgery for a torn ligament and she did well-after one return trip for chewing out her stitches. Weight control is critical to prevent this problem. Judy

Karen, thank you for the reply. I will check into it with my vet. Julie

Quote:

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Originally posted by karen israel:
Julie, My yellow lab/gldn ret mix tore his
crusia ligmaments in both knees during a running/play session. We thought it was his hips again, but after a week of rest and medication,he was again unable to get up, but seemed to walk fairly well. By putting his body weight on his "good" knee, he tore the other so he was operated on 3 months apart. It was hard keeping him gated in 1 room all that time but well worth the time,patience and money, and he seemed to understand, he was a real trooper. We have kept his body weight down to prevent it from happening again too (he lost 25 lbs-he was trained on treats)This condition, according to my vet, is frequently misdiagnosed at first, because they sometimes seem "better".
Hope your pup gets better soon!..Karen

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Just thought that I would post an update on '
Max's condition. The Vet said that the
problem is his knee. It was inflamed. He
probably sprained the knee. Of course,
there is no way to accurately diagnose any
ligament damage just by palpating the joint.
We are waiting and 'resting' Max to see if
he heals. He still is reluctant to jump
or leap. But he runs and plays just fine.
Trying to keep him inactive is just about
impossible with a second, active, dog in the
house. We have kept him out of Agility
training class for two weeks and anticipate
keeping him out for another couple of weeks.
Then we will reevaluate. We, also, might
seek alternative treatments if he does not
improve. Perhaps, acupuncture. We will
cross that bridge when we come to it.

I have a 5 1/2 year old Aussie Shepherd (Sadie). She recently pulled and/or tore both ligaments and minicus pads in her knees. Sadie had orthopedic surgery to correct the problems and she's slowly returned to her normal "rascal" self. It has been a trying and expensive experience for both of us. The most important thing you can do is keep your dog's weight under control. I walk my dogs (I have another Aussie 4 yrs. old) every night for at least 20 minutes. Consistency is the key. Attempting to keep herding/working dogs calm so they won't hurt themselves is like taming a tornado. Walking a good start. I wish you the best of luck!

slbrick.....How's Max doing????

Quote:

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Originally posted by karen israel:
slbrick.....How's Max doing????

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Karen,
Hi. Max seems to be much better. We kept
him out of Agility classes and any jumping
in the Competition Obedience class. He
still seems to be stiff every once in a
while (usually late at night after laying
on his side). But he is not hesitating to
run and jump on his own when given the
opportunity. He has modified his behavior
on his own. When we go to the park with
both dogs (with foxtail ball for fetching)
Max does not always try to get the ball, but
hangs back and crouches (Border Collie
style) to see if Sydney (our Australian
Cattle Dog mix) gets the ball and then
decides on a maneuver to use to get the
ball. He has become quite crafty. He
still runs quite a bit but doesn't do those
tight turns anymore.
We are still in a wait and see mode.
As long as he continues to improve, I don't
see a need to do anything. We try to keep
his weight down already, so I don't think
that there is anything, else that we can do.
Thank you for your concern.

Regards,
Sue

Hi Sue! Am glad to hear he's doing better. It's so amazing how they know what to do on their own. If I had the facilities and space

oops-sorry I entered in error-I need to pay more attention!!! -I wanted to say that if I had more running space and knew the border collie would be content to fit it's needs, that's the first dog I'd get- altho I love my GR/YL mix BC's are my absolute favorite. My friend at work has a BC-quite an attention getter . Hope all continues to be well with all the pups!!!

My dog is a mix of Husky with blue Heeller, once in a while he suffers of stiffness on his hip. What happens is that the muscles on his hips turn too rigid and he can get up, as soon as we noticed this we rush to star giving him massage on all the hip muscles, the episode last only a couple of minutes, my dog stays lucid but I can see in his eyes that he feels the stiffness on his hip, he does not complain during the episode, all he trays to do is to get up or lay down on his side. This is the 4th or 5th time in two years. The first time it happened we rushed him to the vet but by the time we got there the problem was gone and the dog was fine. The vet said it could be a pinch nerve and it would be very hard to diagnosticate because the episode last only a few minutes. Does anyone has an advice?

Has the vet checked his hips - xrayed them for signs of hip dysplasia? It can be common in bigger breeds like huskies ...