Our retriever has started limping on a regular basis. She doesn't seem to limp all the time but it seems to be more often at the minute.

She has been playing with a larger dog that is clumsy and bowls into people and dogs. Do you think this could be the cause?

We are going to try and get into the vet today.

She loves running but we have decided that instead of playing out for 30/45 minutess her walks will now be 10/15 minutes and only 5 off those minutes will be throwing the ball. What else can we do?

We haven't seen the larger dog for a while but we are friends with its owners but would it be wise to stop her playing with this dog as much?

How old is she?

What sort of ground is she running on?

Hi,

She is four and runs on a field.

Always been very energetic but never had any problems before.

So that rules out any growing pains!  is the field a flat field or bumpy?  If it's bumpy then she could be jolting herself slightly.

It could be the cause.  Lastar was in pain with his front shoulder the other day and realise since, after seeing her do it to him again, that Carina my jumping SWD must have landed on top of him!

She did her mothers back in about 3 years ago doing the same thing and it took Lydia about 2 months to recover.  Luckily Lastar is a lot better and only took just over a week to recover!

Dogs, who'd have them?:rolleyes:

Never thought of that.  My foots toppled over once or twice on the field.

It's bumpy.

Do you know that you have a very good Oesteopath in Leigh who is wonderful. If any of my dogs are lame I always go to him.  My Vet even tells me to let him have a look at them (he really is THAT good).  I do believe that she probably has knocked something slightly out by the bigger dog. PM me if you want his tel no. His charge is £5.

Hi Pipkins
Sorry to hear about your retriever. 

You say that she may have been hurt playing with the larger dog, but then you go onto say you haven't seen him for a while - so this makes me think it isn't the playing with the other dog that's caused her problem.

It could be the uneven ground, but I do think it's best to get checked out with an orthopeadic vet.  Until then just let her rest, no stairs or running at all, no jumping on furniture.   If you can get to a hydrotherapy pool then swimming could really help.

Do go to the vets to get her checked our asap though!
PM me if you need details of an orthopeadic vet which we have used and is brilliant.
Maria
 

Hi Maria,

By a while I meant a week because we normally see the dog every night, every other night.

Went to the vets last night due to her having an abscess in mouth so whilst we were there we mentioned the limping.  The vet couldn't feel anything wrong but said for us to keep an eye on her and if we are worried to let them know.

We had her out for quite a while last night but kept putting her back on the lead.

She's maybe pulled a muscle or strained a ligament, or could have got a small thorn or something in the pad?