http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keIXhMcmsU0

Yup, sure have.  Had to retire a dog out of our K-9 unit because of that. 

My husband's dog - whose main job is to play fetch - has come down with this.......

Vet wants to wait and see, I'm concerned it might get worse.....

He doesn't seem to be in pain.....

My husband is devastated........his best buddy is messed up.......

Do you know anything about what happened to your K-9 that had this?

I'm going to see the dog in 10 minutes, I'm watching his dogs while he is away.  The dog is about 7 years old, retired the handler kept him as his pet.   The dog is ok, though not suitable for our line of work as he is pretty lame most of the time. 

Kim,which one of your dogs has this problem?

can you tell if he is in pain?

does his condition get wors or is it static?

That is my Falko. I had no idea Dr. Course posted it on Youtube. It is a wonderful illustration of the condition. The problem started when we were playing frisbee and he landed hard with a slight yelp. No other signs and I did not think any more of it. About two weeks later he did not seem to be walking right but not in any pain. Radiographs revealed a slight seperation in the pelvis but nothing broken. Rested for a few weeks before training again. Then he developed the hitch in his gait. We were refered to a specialist because it was so odd looking. Dr. Course knew immediately what it was. Good news was that he was not in pain, bad news no treatment and it would probably start affecting the other leg also.

Even with the hitch in his stride, there was NO stopping anything he wanted to do. We continued on with schutzhund training but limited his jumping. I know he is showline but was a fantastic tracker and excelled in protection. Over time both legs were affected. He lived with it for several years and it was only towards the end that he started to have some discomfort and muscle loss. Hard to tell if it was just getting older or from the constricture.

It is a rare condition and little it known about it. It may be an autoimmune type disorder. My own feeling is that the injury occured, he was getting better. then I returned to working him and it got irreversably worse. So, in my opinion, if any of my dogs ever get an injury I will rest them well beyond the normal time to allow full healing.

Falko passed over the Rainbow Bridge on May 4 due to acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was my first German Shepherd and is missed every day.

animalzoo

I'm sorry for your loss. Falco was beautiful and well loved......

My husband’s dog has had a very slight limp on and off, and none of the vets we took him to could determine exactly where it was coming from. All the xrays, ultrasounds and exams turned up nothing. A few weeks ago he was running full out after a ball and stepped in a hole ...he yelped but still wanted play. His limp was much more pronounced so we immediately brought him in and crated him. We once again took him to the vet who once again couldn’t find any "real damage" and prescribed Rymidil and crate rest for 2 weeks. Shortly after this he developed "the gait". Yesterday the specialist diagnosed him..... Its a double edged sword.... we're glad we finally know that the limp is caused from, we're glad he isn't in an pain...... but long term he will not improve and may get worse....

One thing for sure, he's very happy to get out of his crate and play fetch again!

Thank you for sharing your experience.....

This article says they were able to surgically cure it, but I found little to nothing about idiopathic develpoment of the condition other than how to diagnose:

Sartorius muscle contracture in a dog.

Lobetti RG, Hill TP.

Source

Department of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.

Abstract

An adult male German Shepherd dog presented with a chronic non-painful, non-weight bearing lameness of the right hind limb. On clinical examination a contracted sarotorius muscle was palpable. Histopathology of the affected muscle confirmed replacement fibrosis and muscle contracture. Surgical excision of the muscle resulted in complete recovery.

My thoughts would be has this dog been checked for DM??  Nan