Fyscha

No, we didn't notice it until she was limping and they never mentioned it.

Yes, they are registered. They have been breeding for 10 years and I had read about them on this forum as being a reputable breeder in country NSW. As for the vet. We have only recently moved to this town and were originally recommended to use a vet that was 1/2 drive away in another town. More for the fact that the local guy is the only vet in town and his charges tend to reflect that than from poor practices. We started seeing the other vet for her vaccinations etc but when this problem began, we decided to give the local vet a go and make our own decisions about him. We are happy with what he has done. He did wait for 2 weeks before putting on a splint because of the fact that she is so young and still growing and didn't really want to do it, but after contacting one of the veterinary hospitals in Melbourne he decided to go with the splint and hope that the tendon contracted. Basically right now I wish I still lived in Melbourne with more options at our disposal.

Yeah, we were already discussing getting a second opinion, and were trying to work out who/where. I agree with that totally 100% and was never planning on taking what was said here as a formal diagnosis but rather after ideas and advice on other options to discuss with vets. Cheers.

THanks lab lady, will do...

Thanks centitout, I will read steve's posts on diet and look into going onto adult food.

When we got her the breeder advised optimum as that is what she had been started on.

She is on optimum puppy food. With a small amount of mince mixed in. I know the toenails are long, but they were inaccessible for a month as her foot was in a splint and we did point it out to the vet when it came of and he did trim them, not enough it seems. I guess I am probably guilty of not knowing how long is too long, and assumed the vet would point it out, but rest assured I have taken it on board and will commence weekly trimmings from here on. Where can I get info on a good diet for this?? And also, the rug is back and more to come.

No, she doesn't. The vet has given her a good poke and prod all up and down the leg and it was really only the foot area where he got a reaction from her.

Curious about these 2 statements. How could have the breeder noticed it and sold the puppy anyway if you did not notice the limp from (presumably) 8 weeks to 16 weeks when you say she developed it? The vet basically said he thought it (the flat feet) would be apparent when she was a pup, especially to someone with lots of experience, but not necessarily us & that the limp had developed as she has grown.

Well, no she hasn't had much exercise lately as she has had a splint on for a month and was on restricted movement for 2 weeks before that. So I think the long toe nails are a result of the problem and not a contributer if that makes sense...

Will it cause the limping?? The foot on the left in the photo is the flattest and also the one that she limps on. I can't see any other reason for her to limp and while the vet has suggested that it may be something she/we have to live with and control with pain killers, anti-inflammitories and restricted exercise it's just really really REALLY shite to have a puppy and not be able to let her run and jump and play like she wants to. Depressing really Will get the toenails trimmed again tomorrow....

What do you mean by bad stafford feet? Is it common? Fixable? Should it cause a limp? Should I be able to expect better for a dog that cost $1000?? I can see that the toenails appear quite long, but they were trimmed by the vet about 3 days ago when the splint came off. I think they seem excessively long because of the shape of her foot and the fact that her toes are almost pointing upwards.

OK, so here are some photos. (I hope!!) You can see how her foot kind of slouches back, it's not tight like it should be. I haven't talked to the breeder yet, basically I'm not too sure how to approach the issue, head on I guess, but don't want to get her off side. The vet has offered to talk to her after I have, but didn't offer to put anything in writing, I didn't ask either though. We are going back tomorrow so will talk to him then. Puggy, As for the information in the deformities link (OUCH!) as you can see from the photos she would really only qualify for the mildest case (IMO) that said we do have mainly polished wood floors with no rugs, I'd never known it to be a possible problem until now and hubby is pulling out an old throw rug as we speak!

We bought a staffy around 6 months ago. When she was 4 months old she developed a limp, after taking her to the vet she was put on anti-inflammitories and given 2 weeks restricted movement to see if it would clear up, it didn't. When we went back the vet said it appears as though she has hyper extended tendons at the base of her feet, both front feet, one worse than the other. So we had a splint put on the worst foot in the hope that they would tighten and improve. The splint came off yesterday with absolutely no improvement and the vet has said other than surgery there isn't much more we can do, and has said if we go down the surgical road it will be hugely expensive for something that may or may not work. He said he is almost 100% sure she was born with this problem and basically suggested that in his opinion a breeder would definitely have noticed it and has possibly just gone ahead and sold her anyway. I don't want to mention names, and I really hope this isn't true. Basically what I'm asking here is what is the best way to approach the breeder about it, partly to discuss the possibility of a partial refund (am I dreaming??) but also to make sure she does know this has happened and that it is something she needs to be aware of when breeding in future. Also if there is anyone with similar problems who may have advice on how to treat it. We are in country NSW, so are limited with the number of vets we have access to without travelling. Thanks in advance for advice and suggestions.