Runs Like A Rocking Horse

[KismetKat]

There's a JR I know at the park who has always had a funny gait. When he runs he moves like a rocking horse. It has belatedly occurred to me that this might be a sign of some sort of problem. Is it?

Edited April 18, 2010 by KismetKat

[Ons]

it could be a luxating (sp?) patella

the vet should check it out

my maltese had it intermittently but the vet said no need to operate

[Erny]

Could be numerous things.

Spondylosis might be another (I think)?

When they have patella issues, they normally 'skip' don't they, rather than "rocking horse" gait?

Edited April 18, 2010 by Erny

[WreckitWhippet]

He's pacing

[Erny]

He's pacing

Then I'm confused.

By "rocking horse" I'm picturing a gait just as a child's rocking horse would look like. As though there is little flexion in the dog's back.

Pacing rocks from side to side.

KismetKat, would you please clarify what you mean?

Edited April 18, 2010 by Erny

[Loving my Oldies]

it could be a luxating (sp?) patella

the vet should check it out

my maltese had it intermittently but the vet said no need to operate

I wish more vets were like that. Too many legs being operated on. Poor dogs.

My little old rescue, Mufti, throws his front legs out and around like a Komodo dragon, but then he has an old injury we think and he has been compensating for years.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I've seen this once in a badly bred dog but vets couldn't find anything wrong. Just two breeds that shouldn't be bred together, dog came out with an odd body shape causing strange walking/running gait.

[GoldenGirl85]

My JRT bunny hops, usually when she is running back with the ball she has a real 'boing' about her gait, when she is running towards the ball its all "tail tucked and down to business" lol

[poodlefan]

If this dog only moves its back legs together (ie bunny hops) I'd be wondering about its hips.

The usual sign of a luxating patella is "skipping" ie carrying a back leg for a few paces.

[KismetKat]

He's pacing

Then I'm confused.

By "rocking horse" I'm picturing a gait just as a child's rocking horse would look like. As though there is little flexion in the dog's back.

Pacing rocks from side to side.

KismetKat, would you please clarify what you mean?

Yes Erny, like a child's rocking horse, i.e. front/back/front/back

Not entirely sure what the legs are doing - it's just the whole motion of rocking front/back/front/back that I notice.

[GoldenGirl85]

If this dog only moves its back legs together (ie bunny hops) I'd be wondering about its hips.

The usual sign of a luxating patella is "skipping" ie carrying a back leg for a few paces.

Its not a regular thing for mine, in fact she doesnt do it a whole lot anymore, I think it was more of a happy "I got it" than any sort of medical issue, she doesnt have any issues moving otherwise

Edited April 18, 2010 by GoldenGirl85

[GoldenGirl85]

KK - How long is the grass? could he be 'bounding' over long grass?

[moosepup]

KK - How long is the grass? could he be 'bounding' over long grass?

Moose does this, he looks like a gazelle.

I'm having trouble picturing a dog walking like a rocking horse. If he didn't move his legs then he'd just be bouncing everywhere?

[KismetKat]

This is on any surface - when he starts to move with a bit of speed then he's rocking front to back as he goes. Saying he looks like "a rocking horse" is the best way I can describe it. When going slowly he seems normal, it is only when he picks up a bit of speed. It's like he's bouncing from front to back, front to back (but no moose, he doesn't bounce in one spot :D )

[Souff]

There's a JR I know at the park who has always had a funny gait. When he runs he moves like a rocking horse. It has belatedly occurred to me that this might be a sign of some sort of problem. Is it?

It is a problem that inhibits the dog's gait and as Poodlefan has suggested it is coming from the hip and spine area. It is not a patella problem.

I have been watching this rarely mentioned problem in pet dogs for years. I have not seen it in show dogs so can only assume that it is the result of very poor selection. Some Jacks, Corgis and other small dogs (crossbred or purebred) have done it for most of their life and owners accept it as normal. "Oh, she's always done that!"

Often nothing abnormal shows up under X-ray. One owner was concerned and the x-ray revealed that one hip socket was a different shape to the other and the spine was crooked. Cute little crossbred fluffy that had multiple conformation problems - the result of crossbreeding. :D - we wont see that little dog moving quickly and easily in old age.

Some of the affected dogs gait normally for a while, then 'switch gear' into this hopping gait at a slower pace. I sometimes wonder if there isn't a vertebrae/nerve problem and the full nervous system 'power supply' is not coming through.

If I had a dog with this gait, I would be getting the spine checked out.

Fortunately these dogs do not have to run many kilometres every day - if they did they would be a right mess at the end of each day.

It is a very inefficient way for a dog to gait.

Souff

[moosepup]

This is on any surface - when he starts to move with a bit of speed then he's rocking front to back as he goes. Saying he looks like "a rocking horse" is the best way I can describe it. When going slowly he seems normal, it is only when he picks up a bit of speed. It's like he's bouncing from front to back, front to back (but no moose, he doesn't bounce in one spot :D )

Okay I can kinda see it now. It sounds pretty strange. Is it like his legs aren't moving back and forth so sorta fixed at the shoulder?

[Souff]

This is on any surface - when he starts to move with a bit of speed then he's rocking front to back as he goes. Saying he looks like "a rocking horse" is the best way I can describe it. When going slowly he seems normal, it is only when he picks up a bit of speed. It's like he's bouncing from front to back, front to back (but no moose, he doesn't bounce in one spot :D )

Just read the bit about "at speed" so I think I am talking about a different gait problem.

Is what you are seeing more like a gallop?

Souff

[Souff]

This is on any surface - when he starts to move with a bit of speed then he's rocking front to back as he goes. Saying he looks like "a rocking horse" is the best way I can describe it. When going slowly he seems normal, it is only when he picks up a bit of speed. It's like he's bouncing from front to back, front to back (but no moose, he doesn't bounce in one spot :D )

Okay I can kinda see it now. It sounds pretty strange. Is it like his legs aren't moving back and forth so sorta fixed at the shoulder?

I think KK means it is when both hind legs are bent and moving forward at the same time, and both front legs are moving forward at the same time.

Sort of rolling along, at speed. Have I got it KK?

[KismetKat]

It's hard to say souff - I would really need to see slowed down video of the dogs gait to see what is really happening. I no longer go to this park much, just I have visited again recently, saw the dog and wondered. He's done this since I first knew him and I always joked with the owner about him being like a rocking horse. Now i've been back at the park after a long absence, seen he still does this (and after reading things on DOL) I just wondered if it might be signs a problem.

Next time I go to that park I will pay more attention when I see him and see what he does at different speeds - but certainly when I think he's at a speed where my dog would be at a trot, he's doing the rocking horse thing. I will keep an eye out for when he actually runs.

[Erny]

I have not seen it in show dogs so can only assume that it is the result of very poor selection.

Or perhaps the dogs who exhibit this awkward gait are not likely to be the dogs that are shown?