Walking siedways?

[cmayer31]

Since this morning Frankie has been doing the strangest thing, she seems to be walking sideways. She basically folds herself in half and walks with her head and butt almost pointed in the same direction. She was playing with Riley all day yesterday and I wonder is she either hurt her back, leg, or maybe got bit by something in the bushes?

Has anyone else seen or heard of this?

Anyhow, if she keeps it up today then she'll be visiting the white coats as soon as possible.

[Vela]

Mine do that on a regular basis daily, but they are boxers and it's notorious in the breed when they get excited. For her though, if she doesn't regularly do that, she may have strained a muscle. I hope it's nothing serious!

[Glacier]

If it's unusual for her, she probably pulled a muscle in her back end. It can also be a sign of abdomen pain. Is she eating normally and able to jump up on the couch?

Some dogs move like this all the time. In sled dogs, this is called a "crabbing" gait. It's generally seen in dogs with poor conformation--like my Pingo who crabs as soon as she's in harness! It's not a terribly effective pulling gait so most mushers don't like crabbing dogs. Pingo has such horrible bone structure that she has no choice but to crab. It works for her. Her son, Sundin, does it as well, but to a lesser degree. He has longer, straighter legs!

[KittyGurl]

Duke does this all the time mostly when he is pulling on his leash. If you want, call your vet and make sure she didn't pull a muscle, but I personally think it is normal. Good luck!

[cmayer31]

Thanks for the quick replies Vela, Glacier and KittyGurl!

This is not normal for her at all, but I can't pin point the issue and here's why:

She eats and drinks fine.
Scratches with both hind legs.
Jumps up on the bed.
Walks find 90% of the time.
Chases the cat around at full speed without a hitch in her gait.
Doesn't make a peep when I run all of her joints through the full range of motion.
She flops down and rolls all over to scratch her back like normal and doesn't seem to have an issue.


However, every now and then she'll just fold in mid stride and keep going. She'll then "reset" and be fine.

I'm leaning towards the idea that she pulled something, but I'm not sure what the best options are. I have her in my room with the door closed so that she doesn't run too much and is in rest mode. Maybe I'll pick up some dog pain reliever for her tomorrow at work.

[Vela]

How old is Frankie? I'm sure you've said at one point and I missed it, but she may not really be hurt. If she's doing all of her same things like you listed and not acting like she is in pain, it's possible she just discovered she COULD walk like that and just finds it kinda fun. I would be concerned if she showed any signs of pain at all but all those things you described sounds like she's probably okay to me. At least nothing to really stress about. My boxers do it often, most especially when happy or exicted. It's often called "kidney beaning" (because they are shaped kinda like a kidney bean) among the boxer people because they usually all do it. I would just keep an eye on her and unless she shows obvious signs of pain or she gets other neurologic symtoms that are worrisome, it's really probably nothing. But also I'm really used to mine doing it so it doesn't sound "scary" to me, although I can see why it would be if she had never done it before. I've seen lots of dogs do it though.

[cmayer31]

Frankie is around 5 years old. I keep thinking back to when we got her and it had to have been late June in 2001 or 2002.

It wouldn't surprise me if it's something that she just figured out and does it for the simple fact that she can; she's kind of crazy like that What makes it strange is that it seems to be more of a reaction, like her body does it by itself, rather than something that she thinks about. I can usually see the wheels turning in her crazy head before she does something. This just seems to be more like a twitch that locks itself in place for a bit.

I think I'll let her rest for a couple of days and see what it does. Hopefully her goofy self just finds it fun, or maybe more comfortable if she did strain something.

[Ginger's Mom]

Hi Craig, how is Frankie today? We have to make sure that little girl is fit for Saturday.

[K9soul]

I'm hoping Frankie is back to herself today . They sure do like to worry us sometimes. I know the least abnormality in any of mine and I'm watching them like a hawk and ready to take them in!

[cmayer31]

Thanks for thinking of her! She appears to be doing fine, although I couldn't take her to work with me today, so I haven't had an eye on her much. She has been acting like a spaz since I got home and finally calmed down after I gave her a greenie.

I was really worrying about this weekend but I'm 95% sure that we'll be on the road Thursday morning. If she only knew how bad her timing is.

[K9soul]

What a relief, there have been so many sick PT pups lately that I am more nervous than usual when anything is out of the ordinary. I'm so glad to hear she's seeming herself

[cmayer31]

Frankie would like to thank everyone for thinking of her while she scared the beans out of me.

Here's her idea of how fun it is to rest and "heal" from her mysterious sideways walking stint: