Hip problem?

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Monty is coming up on 4.5 years and I've noticed this summer that after a vigorous play, he limps for a while. We were in San Diego and he got to run on the beach and swim in the ocean. He had a blast, but then after we got back to the hotel and he slept for a while, he had a hard time getting up and seemed to be limping. After a little bit of movement, the limping was gone.

This repeated itself on couple of other water/sand adventures.

During our vet visit to get his rabies shot, I mentioned it to our vet. And she said that she would be stiff and hurting too if she was running like that on the beach and in the water. She attributed this to "extra" exercise that he was getting.

I was not sure if I was content with her answer since Monty had "extra" exercises like this in the past years and there was no limping afterwards. So I'm keeping a close eye on him.

We go to a park every morning, where he chases his ball. Then we go back home, I go to work and both dogs sleep. The other day I came back from work and Monty had a hard time getting up to come great me. The truth is, many times he sleeps against the staircase, rolled on his back, with his legs against the stairs. My legs would go to sleep after a while.

I was determined to call the vet the next day, but Monty was back to normal in the morning.

This evening Auggie wanted to play and he jumped Monty from the back. Monty fell flat on the carpet and after he got up, he was holding his right back leg up. I massaged it for a while and after a few steps he seemed okay.

Now I don't know what to think. Until today, I thought it was his left back leg.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow morning. He is only over 4 and this should not be happening.

What test can they do to figure out what's going on? Anything else I need to ask the vet to check?

Thank you!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Thanks, Bonnie. They spoke very highly of this ortho vet as they get a lot of dogs after his surgery for rehab. I'll see if I can catch him on Monday to set an appointment. His office is close to where I work.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Oh Jarka I know how horrible you must feel…. Thank GOd they can do so much to repair and work with these type of things, I know that doesn't make you feel better because I have never seen a more dedicated mom than you to those two.

I will keep you all in my prayers and please keep us posted.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Thanks, my friend.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm so sorry to hear that Monty continues to have problems. Thank goodness there are specialists now days to treat our canine babies.  What a great idea to take a video to show the docs, it really shows how much he struggles.  Hopefully they can sort this out soon and get him on the way to healing and being pain-free.

[Hazel & Chester Wayte]

Hope Monty is OK. must be hard to keep him calm. A friend of mine had something similar in her doodle. Would occasionally hold his back leg up. I think their diagnosis was floating kneecap. Not sure if it is related.

The ortho Vet also told them chasing a ball was a bad activity - as the sudden stop would bother the knee. Suggested keeping weight down. They didn't opt for surgery.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

I have no idea how I'm going to do that. He does not limp when he gets up in the morning, only after exercise. I'm supposed to just walk him on a short leash for 20 minutes and if he is limping after that, decrease the time. How in the world am I going to do that with two dogs full of energy in the morning? I usually go to a park where Auggie romps with his best friend and Monty chases his ball. I took them to the park on Friday and did not take the ball with me. Monty was very confused and then he just walked around and sniffed. But apparently he should not be doing even that.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am sorry to hear this latest news Jarka but at least you will have a consultation and know your options.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Here is a video of what I'm talking about. It's like his leg is stiff, but he walks it off after several steps.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Jarka ~ I just read this full post about Monty.  I am so sorry and this video makes me so sad.  Our standard poodle had a partial tear in his ACL and he had little issue with getting up, but would lift the injured leg up instead of using it when running, or if he turned it slightly the wrong way, he would lay down and wail like someone was hurting him.  It was so sad and scary.  We went to an ortho specialist that has operating on literally hundreds of hunting dogs over the years.  After examination he told us it was only a partial tear and would not do surgery until the dog was no longer putting weight on the injured leg.  He also said some dogs are so smart and learn quickly to not overdo and we were lucky that Wilbur was one of those.  He never had surgery and died 2 years later of something totally unrelated.  I have fingers crossed the specialist you are seeing will be able to get to the bottom of this quickly and can help Monty.  He is obviously struggling with getting up poor fella and it almost looks more like a hip issue.  Will be watching for an update. You will be in our thoughts and doodle prayers.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

So sorry to hear/see this..I hope your visit with the ortho vet goes well..Wishing you guys all the best

[Donna K & Quincy]

I'm sorry to hear Monty is still having problems. Good luck with the Ortho vet.