Poj, my gorgeous 7 month old lab/springer cross, has developed a worrying leg problem which is casuing me no end of frettinas I'm so worried about her and potential hip problems. 

A few times she's got up from bed and one leg has been limping for a short time - is this just a dead leg she's been lying on?  It sorts itself quickly but does worry me.

Also when she walks one of her back legs swings out slightly.  She is perfectly healthy and happy in herself and the 'problem' isn't getting any worse.  I just wonder if I'm being totally paranoid.  Dad was hipscored and I think it was 10, Mum wasn't hip scored as she was part springer. 

Please help set my mind at rest!

Hi Emma
From what you say she may have a problem with her hips, but don't despair, get her to the vets to be checked out.  She may have pulled a muscle or twisted her leg, she does need to see the vet

In the meantime, give her lots of rest, no stairs, no jumping on and off furniture and try to take her to a hydrotherapy pool if possible, this is the best exerxcise for dogs with joint problems.

It doesn't really matter what the hip scores of her parents were, we had a dog whose parents were Crufts dogs, great hip scores, but he had terrible hips!  It has a lot to do with exercise and diet as puppies.

Good luck and let me know how she goes on!
Maria

 

dosent sound good to me.
you need to rule out Hip & cruciate problems. if you ACT now then you could save the dog more problems in the future.

flynn had a xray at 8months because i wasnt happy,as a result we could see his hips werent great,so he had complete rest then gradual muscle building exercise to compenstate for the joint,inc hydro.

im glad i had it done ,if id just carried on he would have been in pain & could have caused more damage.

if its a dodgy cruciate then you really need to cage rest.NOW.

either way,get to vets. it COULD be nothing,but its better to know,& to prevent further damage at this young age,when you can help.

One of my dogs was like this at about this age. He used to be fine walking/running round, but when he got up he limped slightly just as if his legs were dead. Being a rotti I got a bit worried about hip dysplacia, and other factors. My vet (who I must say is excellent) said although it was a possibility, to leave that as a last resort. His joints did not seem to be painful, and like you said seemed fine after a few minutes. He refered him to a canine physio, who again was excellent.

Her first suggestion was, due to his age, and size that he was going to be, and that due to the food I had him on, it could be that that was causing his bones to grow too quickly for his muscles and tendons. (he was on Pedigree Advance, when they made it). The protein was too high for him. And to change to Beta Junior (yes, at 8 months) as this will help to slow down the growth spurt he was having.

Since this has happened, I won't touch Royal Canin, Eukanuba, etc etc. I'm sure it's good for some and doesn't suit others, but that's my opinion.

Also to freeze water in polystyrene cups and when frozen to rub over his joints to help cool down any warmth that may have occured in his joints. Oh, and to cut down on his exercise for a couple of weeks, just two 20 minute on lead walks a day.

I can honestly say that this worked for me, within a week he was practically back to normal.

It's certainly worth a thought, but just goes to show, don't get too worried too soon, it could be something else. Perhaps your vet could refer you to a physio?

Have to echo Universalady about the high growth food.  My Lab girl was part of a feeding research program done on Labs, Rotties, and GSDs.  The premise was that so-called puppy food, with it's extra components meant to promote growth, was actually doing these large breed dogs harm.  The food makes their bones grow so fast the supporting tendons and ligaments can't keep up and thus do not give the needed support.  My girl has never had puppy food.

Darned if this isn't exactly the diagnosis given by the Vet of one of our early obedience friends, another Lab puppy, at five months already as big as full grown dog.  He developed a similar sounding problem and the Vet said, "no more puppy food" and they had to stop obedience for a time.  It was actually a very serious problem as the dog was slated for retriever trials and the damage was such that the owners were told it was doubtful he would be a competitive dog.  I do think there is also a good chance this puppy's "papa" was working him too hard too soon.

You might want to ask your Vet and the breeder about this but keep in mind that my girl is now 13 so this was all some time ago and I believe the food may have changed by now.  Also, when researching before getting our girl I discovered some statistics that said the incidence of hip displaysia was higher in ESS than in Labs.  Again, things may have changed.

I really don't want to add to your worries but this was exactly how Molly started so my advice would be to get her to the vet ASAP.  We let her rest, started exercising & it would come back exactly as you describe, very stiff when she gets up but after some gentle exercise it would ease off.  Molly is older than Poj (15 month now) so we have had to resort to surgery to try & correct the problem :( but hopefully if you catch it early there may be more the vet can do.  I don't know the exact condition but it is linked to elbow/hip dysplaysia but I'm sure you're vet will be happy to explain everything to you....GOOD LUCK I truly hope it's not anything serious but in my experience the sooner you get her to a vet the better...pls let us know how she gets on!

I think I will take her to the vets then.  Will my (M+S) pet insurance cover this?  I don't like to ask about money but I couldn't afford to take her this month unless I'm sure the insurance would cover. 

I've booked her in for tuesday morning, it can go on the credit card.  I know she's not in pain and I feed her BETA junior anyway.  I've been very very careful with the amount of exercise she does and she doesn't do any jumping - I always lift her in and out of the boot.  I'd be devestated if there is a hip problem, but it's worrying me so much that there might be that I'd rather pay to have my mind set at rest - or to start treatment as early as possible if there is a problem. 

Your insurance should cover this and any investigations including xrays etc if it is needed :)

If it doubt give them a call ;)

If she has got hip problems it isn't the end of the world as with care, controlled excercise and diet she should be able to lead a normal life ;)

Lucy
xx

"if" it is a hip problem,it really isnt the end of the world,most can be easily managed with the "right" exercise to build up the muscle around the joint.

a dog dosent limp if its not in pain,i dont mean she is in alot of pain or constant pain,but it must be hurting her abit or she would be sound

The limp only occurs immediately after she's just got out of bed and it only happens about once a week - could it not just be a stiff/ numb leg from lying on it?  This wouldn't be painful.  I've seen her painful limp where she's trodden on a prickle and limps trying not to put her foot to the ground.  This is a different sort of limp, like she's not quite sure where her leg is?

flynn was never lame with his HD,he had trouble getting up sometimes.tbh i thought hed done something to his back.
now he has the muscle holding the leg in the correct place,hes never lame or looks uncomftable. & he works with tons of drive.

there are different types of pain, a uncomftable pain that a dog that a dog gets used to is common as well.

hopefully its not so serious as flynns,

I quite agree with universalady. As with most fast growing breeds, Labs will sometimes go lame for no apparent reason at about this age. This is caused a growth spurt in the bones which isn't matched by a similar growth spurt in the ligaments. This lameness can last up to three weeks until the ligaments catch up. It is not unusual for them to be lame in one leg, then just when you think they are ok, they go lame in another leg. However, there may be a more sinister cause. Your best bet is to wait a few weeks. If the lameness gets noticably worse in those few weeks, then you should take her to a vet. I always explain in my puppy literature about this problem and also the danger of over excercise in young labs. Make sure she isn't getting too much calcium in her diet as this can have an adverse effect on the growth plates at the ends of the long bones.

Thank SO much, I had no idea about this lameness.  Also I'm feeling terrible as I have been feeding Poj eggshells - about two or three a week probably.  We have our own chickens and she loves the eggshells and I thought it would be good for ther bone growth and now I feel awful.  No more eggshells for Poj.  Maybe I will cancel the vets and see what she's like at the end of the month?

Don't beat yourself up. 2 or 3 eggshells a week won't have done any damage. The damage mostly occurs when people give lots of supplements and feed a high calcium diet. They do need calcium, just a small amount though. As growth spurt lameness doesn't have an obvious cause,it's all too easy for vets to diagnose hip dysplasia, but HD can only really be diagnosed by taking x rays. I know somebody who took a 10 month old Lab to the vet with this lameness and it was diagnosed as the onset of HD, only for the dog to come sound after a few weeks and when hip scored at 1 year he had a score of 3;2, which is extremely low. With HD, you can quite often hear a clicking sound as the dog walks. 

Just wanted to ask for guidance as my GSD behaves similarly to this.  I am also hot on hip dysplasia as when I did GSD rescue several years ago I kept a rescue dog that my older GSD took to - and I had to have her put to sleep before she hit 18 months as her ball and socket joint wasn't formed and her bones were being held in by muscle and she was in a great deal of pain.  It broke my heart.

I aquired a 5 month old GSD through rescue this week and she's sometimes stiff upon waking up, and also I have noticed her limp a couple of times, the vet checked her over and examined her hips on Wednesday and he said they seemed ok at present and he wouldn't rush to X-ray.  I only lead walk her, and she's quite a quiet dog, but she's still settling in and has had an upset tummy, I was just worried this was due to joint pain - as this was a symptom of the other rescue dog that had dodgy hips.

Anyway she's been fed on Eukanuba puppy with additional chicken meat (prepared) and I am going to eventually change her diet (when her tummy has settled down).  I am glad I've seen this thread as I will now rethink what I give her and steer away from puppy foods.  i have been looking up the BETA food you mention on this thread, is it the Purina one?  Looking for junior but the only one I can find is puppy and junior - can anyone steer me in the right direction as to where I can see what large breed pups are best fed on - a link to the BETA junior or something.

Thanks.

BETA is made by Purina, but I think that the puppy & junior would be fine rather than just a 'junior' food, as your dog is 5 months, I would imagine that she would be about the age to be having a growth spurt or two. Perhaps, it's worth mixing a small amount of adult BETA in with it? I'm not a nutritionist, but maybe someone else on CD could say if this is an idea worth thinking about?

I can't remember  if I said earlier in this topic, but I feed Arden Grange, as it's great for sensitive tummys (one of mine is very sensitive) and is made from meat that is of human grade consumption.

The Arden Grange people have GSD's, and from what I know (I could be wrong!) it was made with that breed in mind. So it could be worth trying. I found BETA excellent for the dog I had that had growth spurts, but changed when he got better, as I didn't like feeding food that had derivatives in it. (personal opinion only!!)

Thanks universalady.  Actually, my Chihuahua's and my cats are on Arden Grange (cats have occasional oral care from Hills for their teeth).  I researched what was in many of the other brands of food (with the help of a lady on another pet-related site I belong to).  I order directly from the manufacturer, and it most certainly wouldn't hurt for me to gradually introduce my GSD to this once her tum has settled down. 

What I need clarification on should I still feed puppy / junior but AVOID the ones specifically for large breeds, as it seems from the previous posts in this thread that the type made 'for large breeds' can cause problems?

I've always found the people at AG to be very informative and helpful, so I could ask their advice, but I wondered what some of the other vets had advised other owners of large breeds, as they would be more impartial.  That said my vet was somewhat miffed when I stopped buying Hills from her and tried to swap me on to Royal Canin (which she also stocks).

Personally, I would feed a junior food, but not one for large breeds. I've never found a 'large breed' food to be any better. I would certainly talk to someone at Arden Grange, as they do do a large breed food aswell as normal size.

Thanks universalady, I spoke with my vet today and she agreed to use non large breed junior food.

I'm going to introduce AG after she's finished her antibiotics (diarrhea) and Precription Diet in 5 days time.

Thanks for the info - I am going to ring AG tomorrow just for a general chat about the best food from their experience.  I would have done it today but she's off colour so I was down the vets bright and early this morning, and then out, and didn't get time to chat to them and order before the 11am cut off point for next day delivery.