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Injured GSD Pup

Nleach2010

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I've been on a journey with my pup and was hoping to get some feedback and answers from the professionals. Throughout this whole process I have been to many vets and taken different avenues to try and help my dog. This has left me at the end of my resources with a dog that is still injured, and I have no idea what to do or where to turn next.

Since this has been a process over several months, I thought I would try to include the story as is relevant.

My dog went to doggie daycare at 12 weeks old 3 days a week after I'm sure being over-vaccinated. She's a high drive dog, and I believe that the atmosphere at her daycare really led to her being overly active and having pretty poor postural stability and control. She injured her front limb on two different occasions (never got a true diagnosis) which did resolve after a few days to a week each time.

As the seasons changed and she went through her first estrus at 8 months, she got incredibly itchy and started to have hot spots on her hips. I did a lot of research and changed her from kibble to raw food over the next two months. About a month after switching, she became very ill (lethargic, limping, progressive weakness, lack of energy, to not eating or drinking all combined with a very terrible diarrhea) That lasted for 3-4 weeks of gradual decline in which we saw 4 different vets. She was given an antibiotic for her stomach because of the diarrhea. She was told she had sarcoidosis bacteria causing myositis,, until finally she was diagnosed with Lyme or some other tick borne disease and given doxycycline, another antibiotic for her stomach, and anti-inflammatories. When she was starting to get sick in the middle of this whole process, she jumped on my bed, laid down, then jumped back up crying and holding her leg up. As she got more and more sick, that moment seemed the least of my concerns.

After treatment started for tick borne illness, her personality, behavior, and energy rapidly improved (she was on medication for 1 week). She seemed to recover over the next few weeks. I think I probably let her get back to her "fun" puppy activities too rapidly because I was just so thankful she was okay.

I started a conditioning program for her to try and help her come back which started very gentle, but it became apparent that she was deweighting her right hind leg (the leg that she had been holding up when she was ill). In addition, after a craniosacral therapy session, she tweaked the leg somehow when visiting my parents dogs. This was 3-4 weeks ago. Over that time, her limp has gotten progressively worse to now she will not put any weight on the limb when she is standing, and is compensating a lot to barely touch it down when she is walking. As her limp became more noticeable I continued to scale back on her activity. I started with just carrying her up and down the stairs and avoiding any jumping and running. To now we are not taking our daily walks but instead just going to sit places to get out and about. Her limp seemed to get worse as the activity lessened.

I'll include some videos of her limp from the past two months, but really I am hoping for any advice on where to go. I've been bounced around so much that financially I am in a bind and my sweet girl is still limping so much. She's 14 months now and still growing, so I am very worried about long term consequences of her limping and apparent injury. The first video is at our first conditioning session. The second is after a craniosacral treatment and a tweak at my parent's house. The third is after 3-4 weeks of rest and is the most recent.

Also to include is that I am a people physical therapist and have been trying to help her in any ways I know how through this process also. I haven't been able to determine the location of her pain at this point.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping anyone has advice or feedback of where to go from here or what I might do to help her. I also hear Dr. Torraca is very experienced and might have some feedback also. Thank you!

Nicki Leach
 

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  • August 17.mov
    2.2 MB
  • August 28.MOV
    5.1 MB

Nleach2010

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Also forgot to include that she stopped going to doggie daycare right around 8 months. It was the week before she had her first cycle. Thanks!
 

Dr. Jeff

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Holy moly Nicki! I'm sorry that you've already been through so much with her. ?

Great work with what you've already done for her (what's her name?).

Your 3rd video did not upload, and it would be great to see what's going on now.

Has she had any x-rays or seen a vet chiropractor?

As a human PT, you know how important core strength is for proper musculoskeletal and leg function so are probably already doing some balance or core work with her.

If you're not yet, perhaps get yourself a purple TotoFit and start some training on it. Martha has some helpful articles and videos on her site:


core exercise archie on toto fit.jpg

Regarding your long term plan and your pup's prognosis, these will be partially based on your reply to the x-ray and chiro. questions.

In the meantime, there's one thing we know for sure.

That is, building and preserving your pup's Vitality using fresh foods, exposure to sun, Pranayama for pets (like sniff walks and nose work) will help her heal.⚡

We'll look forward to hearing about her improvements!
 

Nleach2010

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Thank you for the reply!

I am working on getting the last video uploaded but it keeps telling me it is too large.

However, at this point she is not putting really any weight through her leg in standing and compensating so much I'm not entirely sure how to do core work with her. That's absolutely something I want to be working on.

She did have x-rays that I'm trying to get copies of, but they were negative. She is going to see a puppy chiro on October 1st.

I will continue trying to get the other video to load, and thank you for the response again. I appreciate your time!

Nicki Leach
 

Nleach2010

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Here is the recent video as of this weekend.
 

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  • B25FED06-0C0B-4BD4-AC88-0F3E0E56157F.mp4
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Dr. Jeff

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Thanks for sharing the video Nicki.

Have you seen a conventional orthopedic surgeon to rule out a partial ACL rupture or mild hip dysplasia?

You also may want to add a vet homeopath to her vet care team since homeopathic medicines work regardless of the definitive diagnosis.

This is especially important since she has had chronic predisposition to becoming lame for most of her life.

Did her recent lameness start after an injury?

The vet chiro. might also find a conformation problem that you can work on with strengthening exercises like what Dr. Deb will discuss tonight.
 

Dr. Christina

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Adding a bit to Dr. Jeff's post, homeopathic veterinarians can help you by telephone, and as a member, you can even become a client of Dr. Jeff through his website.

Long term illness, at any age, can be so challenging to your heart, spirit and pocketbook. As you begin to research the many options, you can become very confused as well.

I am sure there are patients you have worked with as a PT who just seemed to not respond to many treatments and where the cause of their pains were never fully determined.

Patience is certainly needed, and you are doing so many things that are wonderful - like adjusting exercise to just sitting, yet still going outside. Good work. Do make sure there are no toxins around that could be bothering her. I hope her attitude is still good (you said it had improved) in spite of the lameness. Focusing on what is working can help both of you.

Have you tried any swimming or hydrotherapy?

A chiropractic exam/osteopathic exam could be very useful. Where do you live?

Dr. Christina
 

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