[froggy7]

Trink's been walking funny off and on yesterday and today. There are times when it seems like the right hind joint right at the ankle is "stiff", which makes her gait a little odd... hard to describe, but not as smooth and flowing on that leg as the others, with possibly a bit of a swing out. And there has been a time or two that the leg just suddenly seems to not bear her weight at all, although that's when we are stepping up and down, like getting on/off a curb, into/out of the car, etc. so it's hard to tell if the leg isn't holding or if she just misjudged the footing. (She really seems to have no idea where her back feet are!) Human example would be when you think that you are at the bottom of the steps, but there is one more, so there's no ground where you expect it, and you do that tilt and sink as your foot keeps going.

The real difficulty is that she will be fine for most of the day, and then do this for just long enough for it to be noticeable, and then she's back to being fine. For example, she was fine at daycare today, did this on the way down the steps (did the leg not bearing weight at the very bottom step, and then the stiff footing across the lot) to the car, got home after a 30 minute drive, and then tore around the backyard like nothing ever happened. I don't see anything in her paws, and she doesn't seem to have any discomfort when I manipulate her legs or run my hands down them. She does have corns developing on her pads, which can sometimes make her gait odd, so that might be contributing to this. Or not.

If it was just the stiff foot, I'd probably put it down to just the results of a hard life at the track and the cold weather (we've had our first hard freezes these last two nights), but the leg not bearing weight bothers me. On the other hand, I was just at the vet Monday about an ear problem (we're treating for yeast, because she's been pawing it a lot and there were a few, and the vet says she just might be one of those dogs that is super-sensitive to them), and they did a brief check over, and she was fine then. Of course, the same is true for about 99% of today, too.

So.. thoughts? I'm not adverse to the vet, but it's sort of like the people with seizing dogs... if she is fine when she's there, then I'm not sure if it would be advantageous. I'd like to be able to make it a useful visit, so any advice on things I could do to provide useful information to the vet is appreciated.

[bushg]

My very active dog does this to.
1. When it is cold out, he will usually favor one leg or paw usually the back right one.
2. I have seen him do this from playing too much running up and down the steps after a toy.We have to limit his play because he would play all day.
So like you it has been sometimes but not an everday thing, so I have not taken him in to see the vet.

[labman]

Dogs can do things like pull a muscle. Look over the paw, and see if you can see anything. Let it go over the weekend and see how she is doing.

[froggy7]

Another data point: She has taken a few spills on the wood floor, and walks very cautiously on it. I'm not sure if this is because she's a greyhound, and they are raised on concrete and dirt and tend to have "issues" with smooth and shiny surfaces, or if it's more serious. But I used to feed her on the wood floor (it's easier to clean than carpet, after all) until the day I was watching her eat dinner, and she was just standing there and stretched out for a kibble that fell out of the bowl and went falling down. Also, if she is carrying her Kong on the wood floor and it starts to shift on her, she winds up scrambling to keep her feet. Which probably isn't helped by the fact that she drops the Kong, which startles her and gets in the way. She doesn't have that problem on carpet. But she also probably contributes to the problem by trying to keep her back feet on the area rugs while trying to get things on the wood floor, which means that she is stretching as far as she can, which can't help her balance!

[labman]

Most dogs adjust to slippery floors. We notice visitors have trouble at first with ours, but quickly adjust.

[froggy7]

Well.. I have had her on painkillers (not aspirin... one from the vet that starts with a "t".. tramadal?), and that hasn't had much of an impact. So we went back today for a check, and the good news is that it's not bone related. (Greyhounds are prone to osteosarcoma, so any time there's leg trouble that tends to be a lingering specter.) But the vet does think that there's soft-tissue damage. Because the leg won't bear weight going down stairs, she's thinking it may be one of the ligaments. So we are going to be continuing the pain-killers and severely limiting activity for the next several weeks (the activity, not the painkillers). The vet would prefer that she be crated, but Trink hasn't seemed to take to that well. Kind of surprising for a greyhound. But the vet is willing to allow minimal walking from room to room, but no other activities. Which is going to be interesting... Trink spends most of her day laying around, but she does love her walks! As my vet put it, I'm going to have to be the adult in this situation. *sigh*

[labman]

I hate it when they tell me to keep the dog quiet. Maybe catch up on her brushing? Is she quiet in the car?

[froggy7]

She's generally quiet. The hard part is that I can't just let her out to the bathroom anymore, because she will tear off across the yard after that. Which means taking her out on leash, and she is convinced that leash = walk, which makes her happy and dancy, which is probably bad for her, but not as bad as running at full speed. *sigh* See my post about crating for further comments.