Hi Guys

Would appreciate some advice please, my young gsd bitch has for the last month seemed to be struggling from a laying down position to standing up, it is almost like she has to pull herself up with her front legs.

Once she is up she is absolutely fine and has no mobility problems at all. She is only 8 months so obviously still growing, we restrict her exercise and she is fed on a BARF diet . I have been to the vets this morning but he just pulled her about a bit and said her hip doesn't come out of the socket and gave me some metacam and told me to come back when she was a year if i was still worried.

She comes from parents with excellent hipscores although i am aware that this doesn't necessarily mean her hips will be great.

I am worrying myself sick at the mo about it, any advice would be great

Michelle x

Could be spinal, neck or something, hard to say really.

you cant really tell the hips score until they are fully grown ( about 2 years for my breed ) however but if you are still worried i would ask the vet to x-ray, that way if there are any big issues you would know sooner rather than later.

she may have twisted herself , you could take her to a chiropractor if you are worried and then have her hips scored at a later stage (12 m in my breed) I would also do as previous poster have her x rayed if you are worried.

You do not tell us how old you GSD is. There are any number of things this could be and I think you should be asking the vet, they will be able to offer help and in all possibility medication to help your dog.

Sorry to hear about your girl, as she is only  8 months old and she has been struggling to stand up for the last month, I would want to know what the problem was sooner rather than later.  A second opinion from another vet at the practice or a referral to a specialist.  A dog that I had once came from low hip scored parents but grandparents were very high hip scores my dog had really bad hips from a young age.  I'm not saying this is the problem with your girl and I do hope not, but please get a second opinion, good luck with her and let us know how you get on.

Why don't you have her hips x-rayed to be sure either way.  I have a Rottie x GSD and her hips clicked terribly as she was growing (still do occasionally)  I was panic stricken after having recently having a lab with severe hip dysplasia, that I may add had come from good low scoring lines.
Anyway took my girl to an orthopedic vet after another vet thought she had it after trying to flex her hind legs, he x-rayed her hips and said she had beautiful hips definatly no problems so I need never worry.  She is now 3 and runs furiously catching her frisbee etc and has never had a problem and I stopped worrying, apparently the clicking is quite common in some dogs and is something to do with the gases in the ligaments and no cause for concern.
Back to your girly, as someone else suggested get a 2nd opinion, she obviously has a problem of some sort at the moment and it is better to find the cause sooner rather than later. Metacam may hide it but it won't give you the reason.

I Have a 11 mnth GSD had to take her to the vet as she was limping on front right leg,the tenderness was appparent in the shoulder.The vet then pulled pushed all her legs and her hipsI am thinking here we go again,just having had a very expensive back problem with dachshund.we didn't have any hip score for Sacha's parents as we got her from someone else when she was 4months old.The vet said sometimes this is caused (clicky joints) by bad nourishment as pups,and she was being fed on value mix ,yuc.I now have her on burns and seraquin supplements .She doesn' have a sore shoulder the limp went a few days after the metacam kicked in.So fingers crossed she will be ok now. Hope you get your boys problems sorted out and good luck to both of you,hope all is well.Dachmad

Sorry did not notice the 8 months bit in the OP there is a bone condition that attacks growing dogs particularly large or fast growing dogs and is common in the GSD. Its called Panosteitis and is self limiting, it is difficult to detect even with an x-Ray and the best way to describe it is soft areas in the growing bone that causes pain but no damage. That apart the sort of behaviour your dog is showing require a vet to investigate and we all hope that Panosteitis is the problem.