Weak Pasterns? - Page 1

I took my boy in to the vet (rehab specialist) last week because he was lame after chasing some deer. She said that the lameness was due to a pulled tricep, however she was very concerned about his pasterns even though this was not the cause of the injury. She said that they are quite weak and that I should be doing as little jumping as possible with him and that for any jumping or hard exercise he should be wearing braces for his pasterns. She said that if I continue to jump him frequently that his pasterns WILL break down. I do schutzhund and agility with him and he is VERY active. I knew that his pasterns weren't great but I didn't think they were that bad. I just wanted to post some pictures and get some opinions on them from some GSD people.

Also any advice on stengthening his pasterns would be great!

Thanks! Kristi.

Nice dog. His pasterns do not look that weak to me.

Do you have any other Vet's in your area that you can use. 

His pasterns are rather very good not only ok, here is what weak pasterns look like

Long daily walks on the beach in the loose sand helped a rescue I had.

There is nothing wrong with his pasterns from the photos that you show.

FWIW....find another vet.
There is nothing wrong with your dog's pasterns.  Her/his intelligent comment is right up there with "rear angulation causes bad hips"....... just plain stupid.

Wow I feel much better now, thanks everyone! She did seem rather down on German Shepherds, refering to the fact that they all have terrible structure, probably what she was told in school. Once his pulled tricep is dealt with I will probably take him into a different canine physio place for a structure assesment by someone that is not so biased.

Those pictures of the weak pasterns look terrible! Unfortunately no sandy beaches around here to exercise him on:( but the barn I do agility in has very soft dirt.

Most I know would love to have their dog's pasterns look so weak.

A vet told one of my puppy buyers that his 8 week old puppy had "loose hips" and he was going to have severe HD. He was xrayed at 24 months,  an OFA excellent. 
 
Most vets are hardly experts on this breed and most others. One of the vets I once used told me that when he was in school in FL and presented with questions about diseases and which breeds were prone to each, he always said German Shepherds!!!! as he knew he would be right 95% of the time. Jerk.... Never went back