Puppy down on pasterns - Page 1

Any one have experience with a pup down on his pasterns. This guy is 14 weeks old, 36 pounds and just returned from a 2 week boot camp. They were feeding him Eukanewba (SP) Greman Shepherd while he was in boot camp. The owners are feeding him the Pro Plan large breed puppy. My experience with this, is too much protein in the diet and/or to much exercise. I told the owners to put him on an Adult food and limit his exercise for a few weeks. Does any one have any other sugestions? Thanks! http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/norbengsd/100_0840.jpg

Boot camp for a 14 week old pup??? Is this common? Well, I think whoever did this to the pup ought to be shot! This MAY correct itself, but I think the chances are against it. The ligaments that hold joints together are NOT elastic. Once stretched, they stay stretched. I'm speaking here from my knowledge as a nurse, personal experience with bad ankles, one of which required two operations, and many years of working with horses. YOU DO NOT JUMP horses until they are fully mature at age 3 or 4, not unless you want to ruin them. Yes, they do race horses before that, but that is not as high-impact a sport, and the rate of injuries is very high. We would see fewer horses break down if they weren't raced until 3, but usually the almighty dollar prevents that from happening. The pup may have been genetically predisposed to this. It's unfortunate, but I think the owner would be better off to start again with another pup. I also had a friend with a dog that had one dropped pastern, the result of jumping off the porch after a squirrel. It never corrected itself, but the dog was full grown when it happened.

My vet said my puppy was down in his pasterns as well, but my breeder reassured me that he looked normal, that with his disproportionately large feet, he did look floppy, but that he would grow out of it, & he did. Right about the same time as his ears came up, his pasterns seemed to gain some strength. I was careful about the amount of excersize he was given, however. Just offering my experience. JO

I forgot to add that dogs are not allowed to compete in agility before 18 months of age, or in Flyball before 12 months. So, WHY would anyone be jumping a GS pup at 14 weeks?? That's just asking for trouble! Growth plates on the bones can be damaged and ligaments and tendons overstretched.

This is usually only noted in large boned pups, like pano. They generally grow out of this phase. Watch the pup's weight. SS

Did the puppy have weak pasterns before he went to "boot camp"? Some dogs naturally have such weak pasterns, unfortunately. What happened at "boot camp" anyway? I have a big boned DDR/Czech male and he never went through a stage with weak pasterns. I find it hard to imagine that a dog with that structure could recover to a normal leg.

Sunsilver? Where did you get the idea that some one has been jumping this puppy. He was in training for the basic's. Sit down, don't eat the couch type of thing.............

I guess I jumped to that conclusion [ouch!] I really don't see how just basic obedience exercises could have caused this, though. SOMETHING must have been overdone, or the pup was just naturally weak in the pasterns. Sometimes even jumping out of a vehicle, e.g., an SUV or truck that stands higher than normal off the ground can damage joints. Like SchHBabe says, WHAT HAPPENED AT BOOT CAMP??

I don't have a clue what happened at "boot camp". But we are trying to find out. I can't see any one allowing a pup to jump even out of a veichle at that age. But that's me. I never would have sent the pup off to school in the first place.

This looks like a condition called carpal subluxation.. Google that..Common in a number of American lines. I think very unusual in these lines...