my soon to be 4 year old bmd is causing me concern. He has started to yelp 2 - 4 times a day. Let me try and explain. I have checked him over and nothing seems to bother him when touched, but what seems for no reason he will yelp when just sitting, laying, this is not constant. He is running as usual, eating, drinking, playing, rolling etc which is making me confused as to what is wrong.i am starting to think maybe a problem in his ear, although he does not scratch at them or shake his head very often. I have checked his pads, teeth, tummy and all seems fine, i will be taking him to the vets on monday for them to take a look, but wondered if anyone could share any similar cases? Believe me, if he was showing more signs of a problem , not eating etc he would be seeing a vet tonight, but he is acting normal, no limping, no problems getting up. So i am puzzled!

Hope Axel's ok Zoe xx

Have no idea right now but does seem odd...

thanks sue x it is so strange, he is acting normal but now and again yelps once! I would be down the vets straight away if he seemed 'bad' but he is doing everything he as normal. He is even play fighting with sky, rolling around with her, up on hind legs, bmd does not yelp at all!

muscle cramp

Recently had a toy breed that did this.  Perfectly healt hy and racing round with my Collies, without a care in the world.  Unfortunately, as she appeared ok I didn't see a vet right away, as she didn't seem "ill."  Just the odd yelp and, like you, I couldn't find anything.

The vet examination showed patella problems, and he operated on the first one two weeks a go.  It must have been playing her up for ages, because the vet said bones had been rubbing together.  So, caged for 12 weeks now.

He is obviously getting a sudden pain and I would be wanting him to have a check over, let the vet look at his ears and joints etc, they may find something you would not even think of.

I had a collie coming to me that did this and it turned out to be her anal glands were compacted.  She needed ABs but it soon cleared up.  Just another idea.

I hope he is ok..My bernese was fine at the beginning of December running around in the snow on his walk trying to get his friend Maisie too chase him.  No injuries when he was out.

Within an hour he was under the weather we were at the RCV school in the early hours of Thursday morning and we brought him home no signs of lameness they put it down to a bladder infection they gave him an injection to make him comfortable as he was panting  a lot but no signs of pain either.  We were advised to see our regular vet next day which we did he got in the car out of the car fine by 10pm Thursday night we were back at the RCV.  His back legs kept collapsing he was in there for 10 days having all manner of tests.  No diagnosis so could be a choice of many things and he is now on steroids he can walk a lot better still can not go out for walks only 2 mins down the road and back and he can now go out in he garden and use his ramp on his own without the aid of a harness.

We had no yelping or any real signs of anything going wrong.  Whatever it is must of been underlying though.  He is 41/2.  I hope this has not alarmed you.  But just wanted to share how quick things seem to come on.

I hope he gets the all clear tomorrow and it is something easily remedied.

hi lynn, glad your boy is recovering. I am so puzzled as to what could be causing this, i am really starting to think it is his ears. Right at this moment he is laying on the rug rolling around on his back stretching out all four legs in the air! He has not yelped that much so far, but i will still be taking him to the vets tomorrow, he did his usual stretch this morning, bum up in the air and front legs flat down on th the floor! So it does not seen to be his bones or joints

He sounds in good spirits.  I am sure the vet will get to the bottom of it and he will be fine like you say may be his ears are playing him up.

All the best for tomorrow I will keep a look out for your update.

UPDATE: Well, we have been to the vets, My boy acting a complete loon in the waiting room! seeing all those strange animals in baskets and bird cages!!!!
He has not 'Yelped since yesterday late afternoon, but I still wanted him checked over by the vet to have peace of mind.

His ears are fine, little bit of wax but nothing that would cause pain, his temperature was up a little but the vet said this could be due to excitement being in the vets, I agreed, his teeth, gums all fine.
My vet pulled him around, prodded him, checked his heart beat etc and no 'Yelping'.
The vet feels he may of pulled a muscle in his neck that seems to have started to heal all ready as he was not bothered by anything the vet did to him, he even rolled over on his back and put all 4 legs up in the air for her to rub his tummy while she was trying to listen to his heart!!
So, we are to keep him calm and rest (with 3 BMD's!!! in the house!!!) no walks, no lead and collar. if he starts to 'yelp' again we are to collect some pain killers and anti inflamtary (sp) tablets and see how he goes, if the pain does come back and gets worse she will refer him to have an MRI scan.
I am keeping evetything crossed that he will not get to this stage, as he seems to 'OK' but I will be keeping a very close eye on him and try and keep him from getting excited etc:

As a Bernese Mountain Dog owner, I know not to let my dogs climb stairs, jump from high places etc, and my BMD's have learnt that our stairs are a big NO NO, just one of the things my vet told me to avoid while he rests, I told her I know how important it is not to let such a big breed do these sors of things especially from a young age.

Thank you all again for all your info and experiences, advise, fingers crossed he has recovered from whatever it was. :)

Pleased to hear he is ok.

Good luck with the keeping him calm.

Hi there Stanley had a bout of the yelps a while back, and it just came to me one morning, like yours he was doing everything as normal even jumping in the car no problem, he had had a bit of an ear problem nothing bad though, but he had cricked his neck!! shaking his head,  he had a jab and that was the end of that after about a week but as with Bernese doesn't take much to make em cry!!

hi butler, that does sound very much like my boys problem, and you are definatly right about not much making bernese cry! He is a giant wimp sometimes! We had to go back to the vets this afternoon and pick up some pain killers as he started the yelp again, it seems to happen when he turns his head round to the right to look behind him, turning left is no problem.

Oh hope he recovers from this soon. If not then a scan would be the way to go for me..

They are b*ggers aren't they these Bernese ;-)