My GSD is 5, a big dog (140# last week), tall and stocky. She was a rescue but I have her AKC papers. She's from a good line (not that I care) and the breeder tells me there is no DM in her bloodline.

She has developed what I would call drop foot in her left rear foot. She has no hind leg weakness but if she walks she definitely "scuffs" her left rear toes. You can also see it in her footprints. Vet thinks it "could" be the beginning of DM.

I had a dog misdiagnosed with DM some years ago (it was a spinal cord problem) and this has me more than a little frightened. I've read all I can about it and discussed her with the Vet.

Does anyone have any actual experience? Any thoughts?

Does she walk with a bit of a 'sway' at all?

It could be HD (Hip Dysplaysia) in a very mild form or in the beginning stages.

Honestly, I haven't had to deal with it but I do know an x-ray can confirm or at least give you her hip score. Basically with a hip score they are given a number for every 'fault' in the hip. 0:0 is perfect hips, but is also very rare. From memory anything under 8:8 is acceptable for most breeds.

I'm going to have to ask my mum about this one... she's the big dog lady, I deal with the littlies.

Does she walk with a bit of a 'sway' at all?

It could be HD (Hip Dysplaysia) in a very mild form or in the beginning stages.

Honestly, I haven't had to deal with it but I do know an x-ray can confirm or at least give you her hip score. Basically with a hip score they are given a number for every 'fault' in the hip. 0:0 is perfect hips, but is also very rare. From memory anything under 8:8 is acceptable for most breeds.

I'm going to have to ask my mum about this one... she's the big dog lady, I deal with the littlies.


She's had the hip x-rays and she's "clean." No faults. Also spinal x-rays. Same, no problems.

I'd appreciate what you can learn.

Sorry, I probably didn't need to explain hip scores to you... habit.

I will ask her tomorrow for you, she has Great Danes so hip/back/joint problems are common.

Sorry, I probably didn't need to explain hip scores to you... habit.

I will ask her tomorrow for you, she has Great Danes so hip/back/joint problems are common.


Hey, no problem - I didn't think you were talking down to me. It's good info for anyone else who might be reading this, too.

I may be remembering this wrong, but did you say that your GSD tore a lig at one time? Sorry if that wasn't you.

Well, I had a chat to mum and she basically said that some problems and diseases can be limited to certain breeds, her not being too familiar with GSD's she doesn't know a lot about the problem.

She did say that with problems like this early management is the best thing you can do, if it really is a problem with his spine then there is not a lot you can do medically.
I'm not sure how bad the dragging is but she suggested that if her foot is actually dragging on the ground then she may get irritation on the skin which can eventually lead to infection.
You can make her up a little leather boot to go over her foot to protect it.

From what I have read, it is a fairly fast acting disease, most dogs go from healthy to paralyzed in the hind legs in under 12 months so hopefully your vet can give you a diagnosis relatively quickly.
Every source I have read has said that an MRI can give an an indication of what might be the problem but the only way to know for sure is to examine the spinal cord, which cannot be done until the dog has passed away.

I really do hope this is not the problem, doesn't sound good... but the good news is that it is not painful to the dog in any way.

Here is a link to one of the sites I have been looking at, seems to have really good information.
Degenerative Myelopathy - disease basics (http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/DM/basicDM.htm)

I may be remembering this wrong, but did you say that your GSD tore a lig at one time? Sorry if that wasn't you.


You have a very good memory but that wasn't this dog - that was my Rott. In fact, while healing from surgery #1 she tore ligament #2 and had to have a second surgery.

Again - good memory but a different dog.

Thanks, Shaz - that's pretty much what I read. The dragging isn't that bad yet but she's certainly dragging that foot.

Back to the Vet!

Ahh I was going to say my staffy tore a lig, and he drags his paw. But wrong dog.

Good luck, I'd love to know what you find out.

Good luck Judy, please let us know if you find anything out. Sorry I couldn't be much help on this one.

Shaz, would you ask your Mom about accupuncture? I used it for pain relief for my yellow Lab (and it worked, although it did not extend his life). I've read that it can help with DM. Does she have any thoughts?

- Or anyone else with any experience?

We've done acupuncture with Max, (the one with the torn lig), it seemed to help. We had to give him a sedative of course, but he still didn't seem to mind it at all.

I'm not sure how it could help with DM, it's more to do with muscles than anything else and DM affects the spinal cord.
In saying that though it really can't hurt to try, and if you have pet insurance it might be covered by it (don't quote me on that)

Mum had acupuncture done on one of her Danes years ago, unfortunately she didn't see any results because turns out there wasn't anything wrong with the dog... yep, completely useless vet diagnosed a sway back as some genetic disorder.

Ok, had another chat to mum.
She does know a few people who have had it done with good results, one person had a dog with a spinal *injury* and they were very happy with the outcome, their dog recovered much faster than vets expected. I put *injury* as the results would probably be very different for a degenerative problem but again, it really can't hurt to try.

Hi I have gone through this myself. My 7 year old GSD was diagnosed the DM a few years ago. Sadly it got worse in just a few months after it was first diagnosed. From Dragging the back right foot, to not being able to support both her hind legs.
They say to try to keep them active in the early stages- walk along beaches to build their leg muscles up. I tried it all however it didn't work for her.. sadly had to put her to sleep as she was a very active dog and I couldn't take it that she couldn't do anything anymore. She was the healthiest dog ever and unfortunately it suppressed her from her normal life. I hope you get a few opinions from different vets as they might have different ways to try and overcome this as my last visit to the vet with this problem was 5 yrs ago..

Please visit this site Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group - Jack Flash's Homepage (http://www.mzjf.com)

I actually know the woman who founded the DM Support Group from the GSD boards. She is a little too "death and pestilence" for me but I do appreciate the site. I greatly appreciate your experience with this.

Fingers crossed for my dog.

Keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully it is something minor!

DM is manageable, you will need a doggy wheelchair eventually but if you are prepared to put the work in the dog can still lead a relatively normal life.

Good luck :)

Hope she pulls through

Thanks, everybody - as some of you know, this is a dog I owned with my late husband. She's dear to me anyway but this is an added connection.

Appreciate the support.

Hi Judy. I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I don't know anything about DM but our poodle had many spinal problems. At one time we were told that he would be paralyzed from the hips down because of his issues.

We found a wonderful vet that believes in natural remedies, his suggestion to us was to keep the dog immobile for a few weeks. It wasn't easy, we had to keep him kenneled which he was used to, and then tied up for a while to keep him from running around and jumping. It was a very difficult few weeks, but it worked.

The premise behind it was to let the spine relax, then build it back up. For our poodle his vertebra were too close together and the more he ran or jumped the closer the vertebra were pushed together. At one point they would lock (sorry, not a vet, can't explain it as good as he could) and then he'd be paralyzed. He had the same symptoms you're describing in your GSD, dragging the foot and other things.

I don't know if this would help with your dog, or if it's even similar to what you're going through, but anything is worth a try.

I wish I had an answer, I can only wish you the best and hope it's a problem that's easily fixed.