pulled muscle/back pain, any thoughts?

Ok, so firstly just want to reassure you that I will be following this up with the vet, but I'm also really interested to hear any tips from you lovely lot, and whether you've experienced anything like this:

My Vincent is 13 months, and I'm building up a picture that he might be prone to a little pain or a pulled muscle. It's happened three times over the last six-ish months, twice after boisterous play but this time just after a regular walk. Each time I thought he had picked up a puppy bug because he seemed really poorly, but yesterday he was shaky and stumbling around so I whipped him into the vet, who said she thought he had back pain. Because of Covid I wasn't in the room, but she gave him an injection and he seems to have slept it off. She ruled out illness or something toxic.

So, like I said I will follow it up with the vet, but I don't want to (and frankly can't afford to) take him in for an injection whenever he's had a good run around. That's not a solution in my eyes.

My question is whether you've experienced anything like this? Maybe it will settle as he grows and gets more muscle mass? And is there such a thing as doggy physio or gait analysis so I can try to understand why this is happening and stop my boy from being in unnecessary pain? Or, do you have any tips for natural at home pain relief if he gets discomfort in future?

Thanks so much for your thoughts

Did the vet give you any anti-inflammatory? Do you know what the injection was?

Different dogs react to pain in different ways, but back pain often exhibits as a 'hunched' gait and/or reluctance to get up from lying down. It could also lead to a reluctance to twist/turn around quickly, or to sit. Does he have any of those?

I always used to have a tub of Pardale V tablets on hand (co-codomol for dogs) which would deal with most strains, but the only thing to cure it, In the end, is rest.

Poor Vincent

Can you just re-explain his symptoms and how quickly the onset after play/exercise ?
I agree with gilly with the indication of back pain which doesn’t immediately match your description.
The poorly, shaking and stumbling around reminds me of Nifty’s intoxication after having eaten a garden snail and vets confirmed that the creatures are not dog-compatible.

It would be useful to know what treatment your vet has been administering.
Just one thing, our covid measures here allow one owner plus pet with vet during consultation but all humans wear face masks. This at least allows you to comfort pet during treatment and discuss/follow treatment with vet.
I don’t know if an equivalent could be negociable for you ?

Thanks for your replies, this is really helpful.

So, this time around he seemed to have no energy and didn't really want to move around/eat breakfast, and his body language was a bit crumpled, if you know what I mean, not at ease. He was definitely having trouble getting up and down, and the less he moved the stiffer he got. This was the day after a longish but not extreme walk. I thought he had a little bug so just gave him lots of tlc and kept a close eye and kept him hydrated. He was clingy, intermittently a little shaky (not that unusual for him to be a little trembly), but it the afternoon he seemed a bit dazed, he was just standing, then he suddenly stumbled which is what made me phone the vet.

The policy at our vet at the moment is that you have to stay in the car whilst they take the animal in, so communication wasn't great, and I've no idea what they injected him with. She seemed fairly sure that he wasn't ill and hadn't consumed anything toxic, but she agreed that he wasn't right, and said she had found a pain site in his back. He seemed immediately a little bit perkier, even wanting to interact with other dogs in the carpark. He slept well, and hopped out of his crate no problem the next morning.

What makes me think this is recurring is that he had a boisterous play session with his staff buddy a few weeks ago, and then he couldn't seem to settle that evening, and he cried in the night which is really unusual. He didn't seem poorly but he was clearly uncomfortable, but it did go away. The first time I think must have happened (going back about six months) was again the morning after he had a really energetic day, I also thought he had a bug that time as he wasn't himself and didn't want to eat that time either. I ended up taking him to the vet that time too (new puppy owner, what can I say?!), and he didn't appear to have a temperature etc, the vet didn't discover any pain but looking back I think it must have been the same issue.

Thanks for reading- sorry for the essay :-) x

There are canine osteopathy practitioners around, if it continues maybe your vet can refer you?

Thank you for the “essay”, it’s much clearer for me now 
As it’s going on especially the day after, it does sound like big stiffness from a particularly active day.

Odd question but does your boy drink alot, especially after these sportier days ? The reason I ask is because when we do heavy sport, a great way to avoid stiffness is to drink alot straight after. I feed kibble and I put water in the bottom of the bowl, especially when the girls have been more active to ensure they are correctly rehydrated. It’s also a great way of slowing Opium down from hoovering her dinner in a few seconds !  I have also been known to feed tinned food for supper that day too.

Nifty staffy wrote:Thank you for the “essay”, it’s much clearer for me now 
As it’s going on especially the day after, it does sound like big stiffness from a particularly active day.

Odd question but does your boy drink alot, especially after these sportier days ? The reason I ask is because when we do heavy sport, a great way to avoid stiffness is to drink alot straight after. I feed kibble and I put water in the bottom of the bowl, especially when the girls have been more active to ensure they are correctly rehydrated. It’s also a great way of slowing Opium down from hoovering her dinner in a few seconds !  I have also been known to feed tinned food for supper that day too.

Ah that is so helpful, thank you! He can be quite a reluctant drinker so this is probably something for me to take on board. As humans we have to be careful not to dilute our essential salts too much, I'm assuming it's similar in dogs as I have heard of pets getting hyponatremia, but I'm also thinking this won't be too much of a problem for my boy given that I have to encourage him to drink in the first place! Thank you for your help x

gillybrent wrote:There are canine osteopathy practitioners around, if it continues maybe your vet can refer you?

Ah that's good to know, thank you. Canine osteopathy might be ideal! Much appreciated x

essjess wrote:Ah that is so helpful, thank you! He can be quite a reluctant drinker so this is probably something for me to take on board. As humans we have to be careful not to dilute our essential salts too much, I'm assuming it's similar in dogs as I have heard of pets getting hyponatremia, but I'm also thinking this won't be too much of a problem for my boy given that I have to encourage him to drink in the first place! Thank you for your help x

A 20kg dog needs between 1-2 litres of water per day to stay happy and correctly hydrated. Can be more if it’s particularly hot and/or if the dog is very active.
Water flushes toxins in the body and cramps/stiffness are due to an accumulation of toxins. That’s why we drink lots of water after heavy exercise.
I would have thought that hyponatremia is mostly due to another clinical cause than just a dog drinking too much water. If your boy is otherwise healthy, probably very unlikely to happen. You can also do a total blood check just to be sure it isn’t an issue for you 

Just another thought. If your boy isn’t drinking much/enough, maybe he doesn’t like the taste of the water you are giving him.
Is it tap water ?
Is there too much chlorine/limescale ?
Is it too cold ?
You can try filtered water or bottled/mineral water.
Water at room temperature is also worth a try.

To clean limescale from drinking bowls, leaving to stand with some vinegar in the water works a treat. Rinse well and you’re back to as new 

Another thing I have known is a dog who wouldn’t drink or eat as their ID tag on their collar would make noise against the metallic bols when they leant over them.
You can also check this isn’t an issue for your boy.