Hi All

Not sure whether you remember me posting about Hamish back in July when he fell off the window seel and hurt his back leg, he didn't break anything but 1 of the bones slightly moved out of line just a small fraction and he had it bandaged heavily for 3 weeks and after that was fine and the vet discharged him, he was only 5 months old when the accident happened. Since then he has been fine with no problems until about 3 weeks ago, he is now 11 months old, he is fine all day and goes for 2 long walks every day and he walks okay with no problems then, he runs along and when he sees other dogs he plays and goes mad with them like a normal puppy should, but we have been finding that when he sleeps during the afternoon and evening upon waking he gets out of his dog bed as if he is very stiff and limps on his back leg, this is the only time it happens as when he gets up in the morning after resting all night he does not limp then, it is only in the evenings or afternoons once he has come back from his walk. He is not crying in pain or off of his food and is lively enough but it is just once he has been asleep during late afternoon or early evening.
He has been lately climbing the stairs and jumping up onto a box to get up onto the sofa with us which i have now stopped to see if this would be the cause of it but i cannot understand why he only limps at certain times, surely if there was a problem he would be doing it all the time, or is it where he gets tired and stiffens up?
If anybody could shed any light on this i would be very grateful as everybody that see's him out cannot believe how lively he is but it is when he is indoors and after sleeping that it occurs.
I cannot understand how other peoples puppies climb stairs and get up on chairs and are fine but with Hamish i suppose it is where he hurt his leg as a puppy and he will have a weekness there now, i just cannot think of what else it could be.
We have never had dogs before so i am new to all this, if he were limping all the time i would take him to the vet but i know what will happen he won't do it down there as he loves people making a fuss of him and all the time he has got attention he will be as lively as anything.
Hope somebody may be able to help.
Thanks
Helen

Helen,

   I certainly do remember your posting about Hamish.   I believe you decided not to take Hamish to a specialist to have his leg checked at the time, but relied on the advice of your general vet.  I think now is the time you should ask your vet for a referral to a specialist.  Growth plate injuries can be very subtle and a puppy appear to be fine for a long time, but if there was a break or fracture or it was pushed out of alignment and it healed incorrectly it can cause problems when the leg is fully grown.

   I know the specialist vet that operated on Abby's leg (when she was 5 months) said that if the leg grew longer than he expected it to that Abby would start to limp.  Fortunately, that did not happen, but nature is not always predicatable.   However, I did ask the vet what would happen if she started to limp and he said there was corrective surgery.  I also saw a vet program on TV where a dog about Hamish's age had his leg completely bowed and out of shape because of an injury when he was younger.  He had surgery which fixed the problem - even the bowed bone started to straighten up.

  The symptoms you describe are typical of a dog that has arthritis.   If I were you I would call your regular vet and ask for the referral.  If you live anywhere near Guildford I would be happy to give you the name of the vet who treated Abby.  

  Dogs are like people.  They will always figure out new and inventive ways to injure themselves.  

Stacey