Dog Refuses to Jump - Page 1

Brief Background:  Four year old male German shepherd, OFA prelimed at 8 months - results good.  A week and a half ago jumping into the back of the pick-up truck he lifted his rear left foot upon landing in the truck (as in a limp or position of pain).  No, he did not catch it in the space between the tailgate and the bed (I have a mat covering the gap)

I removed him from the truck, limped/altered gate for a moment and then he returned to normal.  Ran, normal gait etc.  Later that evening upon jumping on the bed in the house, he lifted the left rear leg again momentarily and then returned to normal. He will run (not a much as usual) and has no problem jumping down from things.

I took him to the vet, no signs of pain the vet physically checked his back, hip, knee, foot, etc - but did not run any x-rays. The vet though it might be a sprain, etc.

Currently - After a week and a half he still refuses to jump at all, he will not get up on the couch, the bed, etc.  - Any ideas on the possible injury?  Alternatively, has anyone out there ever had a dog that refused to jump temporarily and the issue healed itself on its own?

Thanks.

hello

if your vet chek it him and he is ok , the i would  not force him to jimp in bed or any where els give him some time 2-3 week and the try to see if he will jump in bed throw some treet in bed, but stil chek him see if is walking good .

waleed

HE STILL HURTS

He may have developed something as simple as a cracked toenail or more comples such as a soft tissue injury, or may have a hairline fracture, or inflamed disk in his back......

Have your vet give him a complete work over.

One of our club member's dogs has simmilar symptoms. He was x-ray's no bone / joint damage could be found.

The vet put the dog on crate rest for 8 weeks and then slow activity increase after that.......

Just like a foodball player with a pulled hamstring- it takes time to heal.

I had the exact same thing, 4 year old dog, that began not wanting to jump. No pain or limping were shown for quite some time. He was not sensitive to touching or moving any of his legs about. Hips OFAed good.

It took xrays to show us he had torn the bag leg knee ligaments.

Are you saying that he has been prelimbed at 8 months but did not get xrayed again later as an adult? I had a 16 month old that was pre limbed  good at 7 months and after purchasing he turned out to be severly dysplastic with DJD at 16 months old. Alot of growing goes on between 8 months and 4 yrs of age. It might be nothing, but then again it might be something you need to address now. He just might have a high pain tolerance. Or he might just still hurt.

Just my 2 cents

Debbie

One of mine didn't want to jump for a while and it turned out to be lower back pain.  She was not a dog that I was working, but still always jumped on the bed and what not.  She actually rested herself and all of sudden one day she started jumping again.  Rest and acupuncture helped her.   She did too sometimes hold up a leg with it.  Transferred pain to the leg. 

It could also be a sprain or soft tissue injury of some sort as well.  Best bet is to rest him.   Might not be a bad idea to re xray his hips as well as his back.  If he's sedated the vet can also get a better feel of his knees,even xray as on a big dog, it can be tough to really feel if the dog is tense.

Kathy

I agree he probably still hurts.  Or maybe it hurt bad and he hasn't forgotten that.

A week and a half isn't enough time.  Don't force a jump, watch and wait to see him showing improvement on his own, or keep going back to the vet.

Give him more time to heal and get over it.

One of my dogs had something similar happen at 8 years old.  It turned out to be a back injury in his lower spine.  He was rested with meds for 8 weeks and was fine after that, but the vet recommended that jumping for him should be eliminated due to his age (he was being worked at trials) just to be on the safe side. 

I agree, a week and a half is probably not enough time to recover, but I would also have him checked again.  Whether or not it fixes itself depends on what the problem is.  If it's a sprain, it should get better with rest.  If it's his back, he may need meds and enforced rest to allow the inflamation to go down.  If he's torn something, it may need surgery to fix. 

D2