Have an 11 year old male. He has been healthy all his life. Up to date on vaccs, OFA were done when he was 3. Never a medical moment with him.

Yesterday morning he was fine. He lounged around in the cool house all day, nothing out of the ordinary. Late afternoon, he was holding his front left paw up, but no lameness. I can manipulate every bone and joint without anything from him. Noticed him walking on it without any other problems but when he went to back up, he yelped. I thought neck or back. Today, same thing, will randomly hold his paw up, then walk away like nothing. backing up continues to yelp, and when he first gets up but before he puts any weight on his leg. I have inspected him thoroughly. Unless he has a bite on his neck area, I cannot find anything wrong with him.
He is eating, drinking, sleeping and moving normally, just yelp when he moves from his lay down and steps backwards for anything.

Any thoughts before I go to a vet and clean out my bank account with multiple testing costs? His back is not arching, he keeps his head a bit lower than normal rather than perked up, but he is not hanging his head persay.

Any horse/dog chiropractors near you? I would definitely try that first.

He may have a problem in his neck or back since he is holding his head a little lower. My very sound 9 year old dog over did it running the fence with the neighbor dogs several weeks ago. He was fine until the next morning. When I woke up he was standing near my bed holding his front leg up. I couldn't find anything wrong with his foot or leg and his pain was getting worse. I took him to the vet, and of course he seemed much better there. They gave me Tramadol and muscle relaxants (Methocarbomal)for him because I did not want Rimadyl. I took him to the orthopedic surgeon the next day. He had improved, although he had a pretty bad night. The vet did some neurological tests on him and decided the problem was in his neck. The pain was radiating down into his leg. He asked me to continue the Tramadol and Methocarbamol for three days and he added Gabapentin for two weeks. He also asked me to rest him for at least two weeks. He is currently off all meds and doing well.

Don't panic but definitely get him checked out by a vet. It may be that with some pain meds and a little rest, he'll be good as new.

I hope you have good results and that your boy is feeling better soon!

Thank you everyone. So far no change. I will be taking him in on Saturday morning if his resting doesn't improve the situation. Vet asked me to call to cancel the appointment tomorrow night if he seems better. He did not engage in much activity any time recently, so injury seems so improbable right now. It is just too hot to overdo anything outside for him. He is a very fit boy, and athletic. My husband and I were just saying the other night how healthy he looks for his age and has never had any issues. He of course is my baby, and would like for him to be comfortable.
If anything out of the ordinary pops up, I will be sure to update. For now, we are all thinking his neck.

I just had this same thing happen with my 12 1/2 year old he didn't want to lift up his neck and was stiff I his front legs. , he even looked like his shoulders were sunken. I made an appt with the chirp but in the meantime gave him some Robaxin, Traumeel and Tramadol , he was much better after 2 days but continued with the meds till he was back to normal, we figured out it was one of the youngsters that was playing with him and landed on his neck, he is still going for an adjustment since while he feels okay I'm sure he's out of alignment . And I was thinking the same thing the week before how healthy and active he is!!!

If it is his neck, a good chiropractor could easily straighten him out. I had a girl, who as she got older would throw her neck out every 2 - 3 months. I'd take her to the chiropractor and he would put her neck back where it belonged and she would be fine by the very next day. No drugs, not resting. Just a simple adjustment.

Most good chiropractors will require xrays to pin point problem. This reduces chance of further injuring a dog with incorrect adjustments.

Years ago I had a dog training for master at 8, that hit a ditch and flipped. We at first thought he injured his paw or shoulder. It was his spine C-6. He had severe reaction to steroids. Oral pain meds didn't help much. I was considering putting him down because he was in such pain. I took him to a Veterinary chiropractor and they kept him comfortable for 4 years. It took a series of adjustments at first then tune up when he tweaked his back. Couldn't convince the old guy not to jump off bed but use his ramp.

I now have a nine year old male that was just diagnosed with bursitis. We thought he had a spinal injury but on xray we found calcified areas in both shoulders. I just started laser therapy on him and seems to be helping a little but only had 2 treatments so far. Good luck with your girl I hope you diagnose it and get the pain under control.