I've been in Labs a while and although I have gleaned a wealth of knowledge, I have come across something recently that put a big question mark over my head.
Scenario:
One of my 4 month old puppies began to limp on her left front. She limped for a few days. I took her to the vet to get her elbows looked at and they were fine.
Two of my 9 month old puppies began to limp on alternating legs on the very same day. I took them to the vet and they were also determined to be fine.
All 3 puppies quit limping quickly and I have not limited their activity or administered any type of drug.
Here's my Question/Hypothesis: All 3 girls were raised in grass, on soft dirt, and in my home on tile/wood flooring. All 3 girls began limping almost immediately after their first exposure to a new gravel pathway. I'm not talking pea gravel, I mean some rocks are really large (bigger than two inches, and jagged) Also, the girls weren't walking this path, they were running it.
Do you think they could have limped because of sore feet?
Have my older dogs not limped because of callous and rough feet?
My experience has never led me down this road before, but I have a hard time believing that all 3 would experience orthopedic issues at the same time. These breedings were from very sound orthopedic lines.
It is VERY possible that they have sore feet from the gravel. Are their pads fine? Any cracks or anything? Did you see anything irregular with the gravel? (liquid that could sting there feet, bees, gravel flies?)
Sounds like nothing more than stone bruises- just like if you'd been in shoes all winter and then ran around on stones- your feet would hurt too. Goes away and their feet will toughen up, but seriously doubtful to have ortho issues in a group like that. Good luck!
It is VERY possible that they have sore feet from the gravel. Are their pads fine? Any cracks or anything? Did you see anything irregular with the gravel? (liquid that could sting there feet, bees, gravel flies?)
Their pads looked fine. No tears, cuts, or rips. Just smooth pads. You know....I have noticed that these three and spending quite a bit of time standing in the baby pool. I'm wondering if the cool water soothes their pads.
I haven't seen anything like bees or other things that would sting their feet.
I'm really thinking bruises, but since I have never had experience with this I wasn't sure.
What a relief! I was so concerned over this and it honestly took me a while to put 2 and 2 together.
I let my lab out for his morning run on the farm - he came back limping - front left paw - rushed to vet, bruise on his toe!
Rested him for a few days - he is out running again - now he comes back limping on his other front paw!
My driveway is a mile long - the day before the limping was observed I york raked the driveway to fill in a few pot holes. The york rake uncovers and moves around al the gravel on the road.
That was the cause of the limp! So you had a great observation - dogs sure can worry a person!
