I noticed that for the past few days my 6 month pup has sometimes looked a little lame - he does barge about and play with his sister fairly roughly so I thought he may be a bit sore from all the rough and tumble. When I put him on a lead and trotted him up and down he seemed to alternate between the sides that he favoured :-(. I'm now wondering if he has developed OCD and if so does anyone out there have any experience of the success of the operation to 'cure' this ?. I have been giving him Cortaflex for the past few days and excercising him on his own in the hope that things may improve but obviously if he is still lame then I will take him to the vets next week.

He is a Groenendael with a good amount of bone and not overweight for his stage of growth ( I know at this can be a factor) - however the 'dog area' that he mostly plays in does have  two levels to it and he has always jumped from one level to the other when dashing about so I'm wondering if this may have caused the problem.

I had a labrador with ocd and the operation was a success however it is imperative that the exercise is restricted along with any playing for a good while after the operation to ensure success.  My dog was diagnosed at 2 years old and got referrred to a speciaist to carry it out.

I know of a Labrador who had an excellent result from the op - he was one of at least two (known) in his litter to have OCD and it was fairly obvious from only about 3-4 months of age that he had a problem although from memory he was about 8 months + before it was diagnosed as OCD and around 18-24 months before the procedure.   Gentle exercise over a long period and lots of tlc  to slowly build back the muscle tone etc proved to work pretty well for him although his weight had to be watched like a hawk - not easy with a Lab <LOL>.

Good luck :-)

You need to get a vet to diagnose the condition, it could just be a sprain or it could even be Pano.

Even if it does transpire that OCD is diagnosed, don't rush into an operation. I have known so many dogs that have been diagnosed with OCD that have spontaneously recovered given time.

It is always worthwhile to visit an animal Chiropracter for any lameness issues, sometimes the dog has misaligned part of their skeleton and it is surprising how a skilled Chiropracter can manipulate the bones back into the correct position.

snomaes

The age and symptoms sound more likely to be Panosteitis (wandering lameness) which some call growing pains.  It is an inflamation in the long bones and will heal on it's own.  The normal treatment is pain releif if needed and rest, with sensible excersise, no rushing about.  they eventually grow out of it when the long bones stop growing.

Yes his lameness has been diagnosed as Panostitis - he's now on Metacam and REST  - difficult as he's such a live wire ;-)

That's good news though Trevor, my Honey had Pano and within a couple of months she was completely back to normal, we only had to limit her a bit too...