Does your puppy walk "weird"?

Jax is now 14 weeks and since we've had him, I've always noticed he walks a little funny. He sways his hips a lot when he walks and has a "wiggly butt" most of the time. I've always just thought it is because he's growing and constantly happy, which leads to him wagging his tail and wiggling his butt everywhere he goes... but now that we've been going on walks every day, I've noticed it a lot more and I'm just wondering if this is normal? Do/did your puppies walk with a sort of "swagger"? I see stuff about canine hip dysplasia all over and this being one of the "symptoms"... maybe that's got me a bit over paranoid. I know he's just a pup and still growing, but his jiggly walk is very noticeable!

All staffs have wiggly bums when they walk, a pup more so as a guess but if your worried mention it to the vets... Xx

Can you put a video on here?

Staffords do have a distinctive 'gait'. I like to say that they 'strut' rather than walk - you can spot a stafford even when you can't actually see it clearly, purely because of the walk!

Yes, HD can make a dog walk strangely, but it tends to be more at a trot or run, because they 'bunny hop'.

Darcy walks with a strut & a wiggle

Tommy swaggers , cos he de man  

There's also the fact that his ligaments/tendons etc haven't 'set' properly yet, so he's all loose & leggy when he walks! 

Yep Katy has a good wiggle  

Yea my 2 walk 'wierd'
Tank kinda walks side to side like a posh swagger. Diesel kinda trots

I always think Daisy looks weird when she walks, it seems more natural for her to trot along!!

I was once told that staffs are very proud dogs, Hugo checks him self out when walking past windows, and walks with extra swagger :p

Personally, I love that staffy strut! 

My boy likes to shake his a$$ lol

Jenson struts too he has such a cute bum wiggle that its often commented on when we out and about

Completely normal. Zeus loves to wiggle his bum when he walks and hop along lol

Rocky wiggles his bum too haha, and has the 'weird' walk, rather cute actually!

I took Jax to the vet today for his last set of shots and his rabies vaccine... after walking him around the clinic, the vet did agree that he has an odd gait. I've also noticed his center toe nails on his hind legs wear down SUPER fast since we've been out for walks, almost like he drags them a bit on the pavement. However, the vet said his knees and hips felt okay. He said that he would do some research and look into some things and give us a call regarding whether or not it is something to be concerned about. Hopefully it's just the staffy waddle and nothing serious!

If the vet has checked his knees and hips and found no problem, then that is reassuring.

The bum wiggle is normal and so cute in Staffy pups! He'll mature and get stronger, don't worry about the wiggle!

If his toenails are wearing down, it could be that he's getting a lot of walks on hard surfaces when his hind-quarter muscles aren't quite developed?

Gwen also struts around! lol She also sometimes wiggles her but when she walks and it does look somewhat awkward! I hope there is no bigger issue and he just walks with attitude:P 

So an update on Jax...
It seems to me his walk has gotten significantly worse :(he seems very stiff when he gets up from rest, and the sway in his back end is now so pronounced that others have commented on it. He seems to keep his right hind leg more under his body, giving the appearance that his gait is crooked as well. Sometimes it's almost as if he as the slightest limp back there, but so slight you can't tell which leg it's coming from. He still drags his centre back toenails, creating significantly uneven wear. I've also noticed that he's VERY stiff in the rear after waking from rest, often stretching 10+ times and walking around very slowly until he gets going. I think that sometimes it's uncomfortable for him as well, as I've noticed after lots of play he seems to be restless and he sits very awkwardly in the frog sit, reluctant to stay standing. I've heard that dreaded clicking sound a couple times in his joints as well... and he seems a TINY bit more reluctant to go up steps (although being a staffy, when he's playing, it's as if nothing is wrong with him) As he grows, it seems he's displaying more and more symptoms of having hip dysplasia... although he still seems awfully young! Because things haven't improved, I'm not really sure if I should push for x-rays and a definite diagnosis or wait it out at this point? I don't want to be that person overreacting about nothing, but then again, I don't want it to negatively affect his life if there is something more seriously wrong. I've heard that the younger they can diagnose hip dysplasia, the better it is managed... but I have also heard that they need to sedate most puppies to do x-rays and that is a risk in itself, as well as it being more difficult to diagnose a growing puppy. Advice?

I've fortunately never had a dog with hip dysplasia, but I've always asked my vet to check them when they were pups for it . And it was done by manipulating the hind legs around without need for x-ray. I guess that if the vet had not been happy with this examination then an x-ray would have been the next step and yes x-rays are usually taken under at least heavy sedation.

Has your vet checked Jax's legs at all?

The vet did check his legs and said they seemed ok - but when he watched him walk he agreed his gait was off. This was about 2 weeks ago. A lot of research I've read and the vet that I see have said that x-rays are really the only way to conclusively test for hip dysplasia, as some dogs don't show any clinical symptoms and sometimes you can't tell from physical examination, especially in a growing pup. I just don't know.

i have to say i have to think REALLY hard to know how lexi walks. its the strut or trot or nothing!

OK, thanks.

Well I can only say that in your situation I would go for fuller tests including x-ray, but be guided by your vet if he thinks that Jax's bones are too young yet to show a conclusive diagnosis by x-ray.

I wouldn't worry too much about a GA - I'd be pretty confident that they can x-ray with the pup under sedation - my own boisterous young man had to be restitched after his castration, and that was achieved under sedation, not GA. An x-ray is much quicker than restitching so I would think that that is what they would use, but again be guided by your vet.

Wishing you both the best of luck  

Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and just get them to watch Jax and get him checked out again. The vet I saw last time wasn't our original one because they were on vacation - so I think I'll feel better if the other one sees him. Better safe than sorry I suppose.

Hope Jax is ok. Lola walks with a swagger, sometimes she does a crab walk which is too cute  

Ref "crab walk" - do you mean kind of waddling with both legs on one side going forward, then the other side (like a camel?) What is called pacing in horses.

All my dogs have done this, when they are lazy or tired.

Good luck with Jax, do keep us updated