Limping

Hi Buster limps after we have him out chasing after balls. He is fine normally but every time we take him out for a bit of ball fetching he limps . He dos this only after ball chasing which he would do till he dropped, we have not taken him out with the balls for a week or so now but after today he`s limping again.Any thoughts. He`s 15 months old.

Paul

Its a bit strange that does it everytime you play with the ball, maybe take him to the vets for a check up  

I would take a trip to the vets just to make sure, it may be how he retrieves the ball perhaps twists in a certain way. Have you checked his nails?   

Definitely a trip the vets is recommended do let us know how things go.

Thanks for replies he was at the vets a few weeks ago and we mentioned it but he was ok at that visit. He is like a bull in a china shop and does somersaults sometimes when chasing after the ball.

Paul

if it carries on get the vet to check him over again,i know they do get over excited when their running after balls or sticks,just keep close eye on him.

Awww poor lad, I would be inclined to pop to the vets. I can't do any impact sports with Moo Xx

Lola gets a little bit stiff after a 'big' session of running - we've found fish oil helps her, we get ours from pets at home. Chloe can run and run and run, but Lola sometimes 'bunny hops' down the stairs in the morning after they've been out running. We didn't notice a difference until we'd given Lola the fish oil for 2 months. HTH   

Does he always limp on the same leg, Paul, and if so which one is it?

jo garnett wrote:Lola gets a little bit stiff after a 'big' session of running - we've found fish oil helps her, we get ours from pets at home. Chloe can run and run and run, but Lola sometimes 'bunny hops' down the stairs in the morning after they've been out running. We didn't notice a difference until we'd given Lola the fish oil for 2 months. 

He can run all day no probs he was playing with another staffy yesterday and never tired despite the other dog being totally knackered and they are about the same age.Its just the high intensity of ball chasing where he gets obsessive and only stops when I take the ball away.

Lynda wrote:Does he always limp on the same leg, Paul, and if so which one is it?

Yeah always his front right leg . It seems to be more his shoulder but does`nt cause him any discomfort if we touch him. It usually goes away the next day but then returns if we take hime out chasing the ball again. He can chase squirells all day without any probs ( never even gets close to catching them though as he still has`nt worked out how or where they disappear)

Paul

Sounds like it's the impact of jumping/twisting whilst chasing the ball. It's possible that he has a touch of arthritis in his elbow?

Does he seem a bit stiff after he's been asleep/resting?

You could try adding a little salmon oil to his food, or get some glaucosamine & chondroitin to help with his joints.

Caryll wrote:Does he seem a bit stiff after he's been asleep/resting?

He does seem stiff sometimes after sleeping. Will try adding one of the oils to his food. It is only after the high intensity/impact running at all other times hes fine.


Thanks for replies

Paul

Do let us know how he goes on with oils added to his food, Paul. And maybe not do the ball chasing for a few days, then introduce it again for a few minutes at a time, gradually building up, and see how he goes.

Strange this really,

Quite recently I noticed cassius was limping and it was his right side too. Cass is very energetic and often jumps off things, i.e the couch, as well as being off lead where he goes a bit mad. We also have another staff and they play quite rough. I checked his paw, there weren't cuts or marks and he didn't cry or yelp when you held his paw or leg. I took him to the vets and she said he’s strained or pulled a muscle in his shoulder. I was prescribed a set of anti-inflammatory antibiotics which is put in his food in the morning, and told no off lead play for a couple of weeks and to keep his walks down to 10 minutes at one time, but could do this up to 7 times a day. After a week, the limp has completely gone and he’s back to himself.

Oh - and not to let cass fly up and down the stairs!! easy to see why. he can't anyway because we have baby gates top and bottom.

If you had an injury and you slept on it you'd wake up stiff, same with an animal.

If you don't rest an injury completely, you may think it's healed because it feels ok but as soon as you go out you'll pull it again because it's not healed enough.

I have moved this post to Health Issues.

Maybe have a chat with the vet about this issue next time you are there.

Steviec wrote:If you had an injury and you slept on it you'd wake up stiff, same with an animal.

If you don't rest an injury completely, you may think it's healed because it feels ok but as soon as you go out you'll pull it again because it's not healed enough.

Yeah I agree he`s usually ok after a day or so. I think he must be straining a muscle when he tries to stop so fast when ball chasing, something they don`t do in normal play/running. Interestingly we spoke to a lady while on our walk this morning and she said it happens to her dog and its always on its "stopping" leg the leg which they use to stop with when trying to grab something mid sprint i.e his ball. Will maybe have to give the ball chasing a miss for a while now .

Thanks for all the replies

Paul

yeah, just give him a bit more time to recover mate and he'll be fine. trust me it's been hard not allowing cass to go for a blast on the near field, but he needs to recover, i don't want to damage him long term. i'm going to give him a few more days to recover, although he looks ok now, just to make sure.

Its sounds to me like his MUSCLE'S need more time to RECOVER ...?

If you give a dog vigorous exercise one day, then he/she will need 48 hours to recover.
Within that 48 hours give your dog only gentle exercise, then repeat the cycle (1 Day Vigorous Exercise followed by 2 days Gentle Exercise).
Hope my advice will prove to be helpful.

Tenby wrote:Its sounds to me like his MUSCLE'S need more time to RECOVER ...?

Could be this but or a case of muscle strain. He has been ok last couple of weeks as we have only taken him out with his ball a few times and then not thrown it as much and not 2 or 3 days in a row.

Your`s is a lovely looking dog btw.

Glad he's been OK x