my st bernard/limping when getting up for a couple months at least????

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I agree with Brindlebtch, It could be panosteitis. It is a condition that effects the long bones of the legs of large breed dogs. The surface and growing tissues of the bones become inflammed and it can be very painful. Also with Pano the pain will move from leg to leg. One week the pain will be in the left hind leg, next week in the right front. The condition can be diagnosed with good physical exam and a good X-ray. The affected bone tissue will look cloudy and rough compared to the smooth white of the normal surrounding bone tissue. As Brindle said it will go away when your pup stops growing.

I thought your puppy was show quality? If your trainer says she's got straight hocks that is a huge issue especially since she is a giant breed. Straight hocks cause premature wear and tear on the knee and hip joints and set dogs up for Luxating Patellas and tendon damage, torn Ligaments and also back problems. Can you post a pic of her standing sideways?

I am sorry you didn't get her from a breeder who does OFA or PennHip on their breeding stock and I also hope your dog will be ok. I would take her to the Vet ASAP.

 

[arabianequine]

She is AKC and I bought her from out of state and she was flown into spokane.

I don't think they do or did the hip testing but I just asked tonight in an email

I don't know if she is show quality....I was hoping so and thinking about showing her. Her grandparents have championship blood lines and farther back. I have been wanting to ask on here about this issue but kinda embarrassing because of how I bought her but she is a very pretty girl. It might be a learning lesson for me.

Her health though obviously is very important and I do plan on getting her hips tested as soon as age allows.

As far as show quality some brown spots have been coming in on her white fur that bug me also and I think might be faulty if shown?

If it is panosteitis what do they do for this in the mean time or do they just suffer from the pain till done growing?

I thought her back is a tad sway back but it does look like the back end is taller then the front like a small hill slope but the trainer said she thought they were a tad too straight and I asked her about her back and she said sometimes that is normal and will go away might be the way she is growing she did not seemed concerned with her back.

I will get some pics and post them thank you!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

No, they don't have to just suffer through it. My Vet, who is really familiar with pano and other skeletal issues of large/working dogs gave me an Rx for my dog's pain. It was Duramaxx, but I gave it minimally only when the pain was severe. For moderate pain I let him be as I would rather he be a bit sore than on a drug that isn't really necessary.

Edit to Add: you can have her hips xrayed at this point. If she has displyasia at this age it will be obvious even though she isn't old enough for the film to be reviewd by OFA. Your vet can do a determination of joint health pretty easily.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Can I suggest you don't start exercising more until AFTER you have had her Xrayed, or at least examined by a vet? Deficient muscling can be a result of lameness, and some of the obvious possibilities like hip dysplasia are things you would not want to be upping her exercise with til they are dealt with. Further damage could be done.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Brindlebtch]

Yeah, I read that earlier. Unless the dog is bouncing off the walls, I wouldn't force excercise a giant breed puppy until its been X-rayed. I agree a lack of muscle mass may be a sign of a problem. Your trainer should not have told you to exercise a lame dog without a health check.

You can get the hips X-rayed now and I would encourage you to do so. Absolutely no reason to wait until 2 yrs if there might be a problem.

Swimming is a good exercise option if your pup has a joint problem or pano.

 

[mekasmom]

It certainly sounds like it could be hips. Are you feeding her puppy food? If so, it might be pano, but hips would be more common.

You should not feed a giant breed puppy food (too much protein) nor alter too early. Both can cause bone problems. And I wouldn't be taking her for hour long walks for another year either.

I would just ask a vet to watch her walk. You don't have to have the hips tested for him to see if where her pain is coming from if he has a lot of experience with dogs over his lifetime.

 

[Catstar68]

Sounds like your St. B needs a good orthopaedic exam. It could be hips, it could be stifles...it could be something else entirely like Lymes Disease. We used to see alot of cranial cruciate tears - partial or complete in these bigger dogs. Meniscal tears are also common.
Young dogs can have long bone growth plate issues. Find a good vet that specializes in orthopaedics and make an appointment. If I remember, you cannot do OFA radiographs until they are older but you can do a Penn hip study on the younger dogs to check for dysplasia.
Good luck!

 

[Brindlebtch]

You can't have OFAs done until they are 2 yrs, but I have always had a casual hip X-ray done earlier so I can have a peek at what is there. Doesn't have to be OFA quality but can be very informative.

Schutzhund people down here will often get their shepherd's hips X-rayed when they are 4 mos old so they know if they should bother working them or not.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
She does literally bounce off the walls daily if not more a day.....she has hyper moments lately been for a kitten she thinks it is playing when it hisses......

She is on puppy large breed diamond and has been since I got her at 8 weeks.

I walked her last night 15 min.

She seems fine most of the time to me not limping or in pain. Just when she first stands up after laying down for a while like she is not awake and stiff.

I just had her at the vet last month my fault for not mentioning it I guess but we were just doing shots.

 

[mekasmom]

Personally, I would put her on adult food, but that's just my opinion. Giant breeds can't take high protein foods because of the risk of pano.


That said, it still sounds like hips from your description to me. Your vet should see her to give you a good idea of what's wrong.

Good luck. I hope it turns out ok.