When Is It Time To See The Vet?

[shells]

My female dog hurt her herself yesterday when jumping for the ball. She is a bit stiff today and limps on her left leg every now and then but doesnt seem to have any pain and lets me examine her leg, hip, knee without showing signs of pain.

I figured a couple of days rest to see how she goes might help before I take her to see a vet (if it doesnt settle down)

Does this sound ok? Should I have it checked out sooner? She actually seems a bit stiff around the hips so I am wondering if it is her back and if a Chiro might be beneficial.

Also should I cut down (in future) on throwing the ball. My 2 mini poodles love it but my female gets some serious "air" and it does make me concerned about future leg, hip, knee problems - how much exercise is too much exercise?. They will be turning 3 soon

[Erny]

If it were me and seeing as she's not too bad on it, I would leave her rest for a few days to let inflammation recede and then I'd have her checked by a good chiro or physio. I admit that I'm loathe to go to chiro's who aren't more than gentle especially if there are no xrays to say if there's any bone damage where harm could be done with too much manipulation.

ETA: If lameness persists, I'd be inclined to think about getting some xrays done.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Erny

[OSoSwift]

I would give her quite strict rest from running, jumping and just give her gentle lead walks. If in a few days it has not improved then vet visit.

I would cut her ball throwing back if she really puts her body on the line.

[Weasels]

Also should I cut down (in future) on throwing the ball. My 2 mini poodles love it but my female gets some serious "air" and it does make me concerned about future leg, hip, knee problems - how much exercise is too much exercise?. They will be turning 3 soon

My girl dog looves to jump for the ball too I let her go her hardest at the beach where she has a soft landing but try to throw the ball a bit lower at the park. I use a very bouncy ball though so sometimes it gets away from her.

I don't have any answers but it's something I worry about aswell

[Jumabaar]

Also should I cut down (in future) on throwing the ball. My 2 mini poodles love it but my female gets some serious "air" and it does make me concerned about future leg, hip, knee problems - how much exercise is too much exercise?. They will be turning 3 soon

My girl dog looves to jump for the ball too I let her go her hardest at the beach where she has a soft landing but try to throw the ball a bit lower at the park. I use a very bouncy ball though so sometimes it gets away from her.

I don't have any answers but it's something I worry about aswell

I taught my girl to not jump for it but wait for it to come within her reach and grab it. I started by always throwing low so she didn't need to jump, then slowly letting it go higher. If she came off the ground then it was game over for 10 minutes. And in the end she worked out that she could jump for toys if she wanted to keep playing.

I generally do strict crate rest with anyone who limps for 24hrs. Then decide if its the vet or chiro that I go to if there is no improvement or if there is swelling- generally is the chiro then the vet just to cover all bases.

ETA- my girl has torn a ligament in her toe and only limped twice (was found by the chiro after I had done a full examination myself), done a hair line fracture to one of her back legs (no symptom other than climbing instead of jumping onto the bed diagnosed by the chiro when I went in about her back) and her sone fractured a toe and had a very occasional sometimes limp (I diagnosed that one but did have X-rays to confirm). Dogs are very good at masking pain so if you have any niggling doubts in the next few days go and talk to someone.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Jumabaar

[Mason_Gibbs]

I find vets not very helpful with limps in our expetience chiros and bowen therapists could pinpoint the problem area better

[Rebanne]

my chiro always said to have the dog in a sit stay, throw the ball along the ground, then release the dog to get the ball. This was for a ball mad GSD with very bad hips. If I had stopped the ball throwing all together she would have thought her life wasn't worth living.

[karly101]

If she is limping then she does have pain... if she didn't have pain she'd be walking normally... strict rest (on leash walking/crate if you have one is great) is always recommended to allow for healing. I seek vet advice if rest makes no difference in 24 hours as then they can advise on if x ray or pain relief may be needed after examining.

I think releasing the dog to the ball is a good idea as that would stop the sudden movements/twisting which tends to cause injuries. A lot of dogs don't know when to stop with balls...as for time limit it really depends on the dogs breed/age/fitness.

[shells]

She has had a good couple of days rest and sleep thanks to 2 nice rainy days. We went for a light walk tonight and there was no limping but I am still going to keep her quiet until we see a chiro - just to be sure.

When we are able to do some ball throwing again I might concentrate on keeping the ball low which will hopefully stop the jumping (I didnt even think of that until I saw some posts here)

If I had stopped the ball throwing all together she would have thought her life wasn't worth living

This made me LOL she lives for the ball too. Her brother enjoys it too but not as much as her - she is crazy for it. I think she would chase it until her leg fell off. Funnily enough they both werent interested until they turned 1 before that when I threw it they would just look at me like I was mad.