Pingo is back home now. X-ray showed nothing--no arthritis, spondylosis or other spinal problems. It did answer one question though--her spleen. Pingo's spleen is not enlarged. She's just built funny and it's in the wrong place, a little forward from where it should be. Urine was normal as well.

So, she got a dose of meloxicam today and will get that for three more days. If she perks up a bit, that could be extended. No pulling for a week, lots of rest and tons of water. She got some sub-q fluids before she left the clinic. Dr. Kim thinks that she is dehydrated and pulled a muscle in her back. I was trying to figure out when she could have done that and think it must have happened after our last big snowfall. We had to break trail through some deep, heavy snow. It was hard work for me and the dogs must have been working even harder. Pingo does have an odd build--she's very long and tends to run on the sides of her paws. Perhaps her gait makes her more suspectible to muscle strains.

I explained to Kim that I was concerned about how similar this sounded to all the things he told me before Hoodoo died. He was Hoodoo's vet as well and clearly remembered the similarities and fortunately the differences--he pointed out that Hoodoo was much more lethargic, couldn't run at all (Pingo will still pull and keep up if I put her in harnesss), wouldn't pull,showed signes of pain ect. He also reassured me that what happened to Hoodoo was extraordinarily rare and absolutely nothing could have prevented it or changed the outcome. (Hoodoo had a brain tumor which eventually caused a massive stroke)

Thanks for all the support and suggestions everyone. Pingo has returned to her favorite place--on the couch with the TV on!