And it's Remy again :rolleyes: Way back at the end of Nov/beginning of Dec, Remy walloped his right shoulder on my back door frame.  Twice.  He was racing my then third dog, a little springer boy, to run out into the garden.  There was a loud yelp each time, but he carried on fine.

Since then, we've worked through 6 months of recovery.  Initially he was very lame but only in the evenings, he had about a month's almost complete rest (10 mins on lead once a day tops, usually not even that) then I tried to build it up; at one point we tried just leaving him to it, but of course he got worse.  Eventually he got better, over about the last 4 months, with very carefully built up on lead walking, working up to being allowed off-lead in the garden (it's a big garden, and he likes to chase the other dogs) and finally to off-lead walking.  Fortunately he's a VERY lazy dog, so in an hour's walk in the woods he'll run for maybe a couple of minutes altogether, if that!

But today, he's had his hour with just about no running, maybe a minute tops in a few separate bursts, and he's ever-so-slightly lame.  Anyone else wouldn't notice it, but of course I'm looking for it.  So my question - what's next?  Back to the vet?  He had an x-ray a few weeks after the wallop and there was no sign of any damage at all; he had a thorough exam then, and an even more thorough exam a couple of months ago when it weas still persisting.

I have him on a glucosamine tablet every morning.  He's also had chripractic treatment twice that seemed to be the thing that got him through the last of his apparent recovery - would it be worth ringing the chiro again for another session?  He had one vertebrae right in between his shoulder blades that was slightly rotated.  I've decided not to even consider any agility training until 2008, not cool as he adores it but obviously if we don't get this sorted once and for all he'll never be able to do it again properly.  Luckily he's insured for this!

Sorry to hear this - I know how you feel !.

My dog started limping very badly earlier this year. X-rays showed nothing so it was put down to a muscle strain/pull. He was on painkillerss for a while (was finding it too painful to put weight on) and we had weeks and weeks, about 12 in the end of lead walking of about 10 minutes a time. Very little running about and I was lifting him in and out of the car etc. He'd then have a couple of good days but then for no apparent reason he'd have a slight limp again. It was tough not letting him enjoy himself and was always tempting to 'try and see'. Anyway, when he seemed almost better I took him to a hydrotherapy pool. The difference after a few sessions was amazing. When swimming it became obvious how weak his left leg had become so the hyropool really helped build the muscle and his stamina back up.
Fingers crossed he's now had 2 non-limping weeks but we are still careful. He's only allowed to go mad off-lead every other day, the rest of the time its quite gentle lead walking but for half an hour or so.

Worth considering the hydrotherapy, and you may find that the insurance will cover that too.

Good luck.

Thanks for that arched.  I have thought about it before, but because he did seem to get better I put it out of my mind - I think I will look into it again.  I'll ring M&S Monday to check that it's covered, should be though - and I've claimed for the x-ray already so there's no reason it wouldn't be.

On another point, hydrotherapy would be excellent for his weight - he is quite overweight at the moment because of the resting.  Heck, maybe some work on his fitness might sort that laziness out :D if it works on him I may start swimming myself... :p

you should have £750 worth of alternative treatments with M&S, of which, Hydrotherapy is included, but you may need a referral from your own vet :)

I have some opinions about glucosamine. When I first took it for my own knees I thought it was worthless - but I was only taking glucosamine, probably one a day or something. It wasn't until I finally saw a physio that he said it had to be gluc plus chondroitin and in high enough doses or it wouldn't be helpful. I don't know of any facts or research that makes the same claims for dogs but I always get the high quality gluc/chondroitin for mine.

I hope Remy improves.

I have heard that before for dogs - I've not tried it perhaps rather dimly because the gluc alone works well for Soli (iffy hip).  I'll give the gluc/chond combo a try, anything that might help is worth a go at this point.

Oh, and vet referral won't be an issue - I'm fortunate to have very good vets, who so far have been very accomodating when I've wanted to try something different to their usual treatment routes.