Problem

[J.T.]

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My friend has recently rehomed a 15month old Weimaraner bitch. The dog has been well looked after but her previous owners could no longer keep her. Within a day of having the dog we noticed she had a problem with her legs/hips/feet??

When she runs she looks like a giant rabbit as both hind legs work together & she "bunny hops" She can run really fast & doesn't seem to be in pain at all.

Walk & trot are fine, if a bit unco-ordinated but at a run it looks very odd.

The other thing she sometimes does is drag her hind feet slightly when walking or trotting, the paw seems to bend under somehow & she does not right it properly.

The vet has checked her over & says he's sure it's not hip dysplasia which was our first worry but he is not sure what the problem is.

I don't think she has had a lot of free running and until the age of 4 months was in a kennel at a pet superstore :rant: so maybe she just hasn't developed as well as she should.

Until the vet has done a bit of research we are at a loss as no one has ever had a young dog with this sort of problem before. It could be neurological.

As the dog is hopefully going to be trained for agility we are all keeping our fingers & paws XXXX that this problem won't be anything too serious.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this??

Julie

 

[Seraphina]

It is very difficult to judge from just a description. If she were older I would have suspected she may have had a stroke. Dragging of one foot is very common after a stroke. In any case it sounds to me like something neurological. Can you ask the previous owners when did she start to be like that, or was she like that from the beginning? Is it possible to contact the breeder? If it is something in their line they should know.

 

[REMI]

When a horse does this, it is indicative of lower back injury. Might be a good idea to see a physiotherapist and/or acupuncturist.

 

[Evie]

I can't offer any insight. But my advice would be to contact the previous owner to ask about history and for the previous vet's contact details, perhaps something about it is on file there?

 

[05whippet]

We had Weimaraners for years and they can suffer with lower back problems/neurological probs. Sometimes a young pup will lope but at 15mths she should have outgrown this.

I agree with the others...........contact the previous owner and breeder and see if you can find out any more info and if possible the vet history of the bitch.

I hope your friend has success with her,they are a fantastic breed and incredibily intelligent (tho they dont mature until 3yrs old as with a lot of the german breeds) so tell her not to lose faith,she will try your patience.....big time!! :lol: ours were all gundogs and we did'nt start training for the gun until they were 2yrs.

:luck: :luck:

 

[kita]

I would try a thing called chiropractic. This is a type of massage of the skeleton for people and animals. A web site that explains it in detail is: www.mctimoney-chiropractic.org.

Sometimes a dog will have a slight injury when jumping and twisting. This may not be obvious at first but it is enough to put the bones in the spine slightly out of alignment, this in turn can press on nerves and cause problems like you describe.

The bunney hopping is an indication of weakness in the hind legs, I had a GSD with severe HD and she did this all her life, her HD was so severe the vet said she should not even be walking (she used to run flat out on the beach chasing birds!!!). Has the vet X-Rayed her hips?

I also had a GSD with CDRM and she did this knuckling of her hind feet. My 11 year old dog at the moment has started doing this, his hindquaters are now getting weak.

It could just be that she is lacking in muscle because she has not had alot of excercise (what are her feet like?) if her toes are splayed out and her claws long (not neat like a cats paw) then this would indicate a lack of excercise.

I would definately try the McTimoney chiropractic treatment though - they use it alot on horses and also dogs that do agility.

Good luck.

Sue

 

[J.T.]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

As the dog came from a Pet Superstore we are not too sure who her breeder is. He is a Mr. Jones from Wales :- " The pedigree has not been seen yet as it was passed onto a weimy rescue a couple of days before my friend got her, it's all a bit complicated really

Knowing where she came from I would be very dubious of any paperwork as it may not even be relevant to this dog :rant:

Her previous owners, although very well intentioned, were aware that she did not pick her feet up properly but did not see it as a problem so she has not been seen by their vet other than to be vaccinated last year.

My friend has arranged to see a canine physio next week so we will have to wait & see :luck: I'll tell her to ask about McTimoney

We had a weimy years ago & he never really matured at all:lol: but they are a lovely breed so hopefully all will go well for Daisy :luck: