# Concerns about pups rear legs, movement, slight limp, etc.



## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

Hi all,

I have a question I wanted to run by those of you who have or have had puppies recently. 

I was concerned about Maximus when we first brought him home as his rear seemed to be not following the rest of him. Almost looked misaligned after he went potty or stood up. I haven't noticed that the past week or so, but there are some other things I wanted to mention. They may just be typical for a pup at 10 weeks old, but I wanted to make sure (the over protective dad in me). 

Max will be 10 weeks tomorrow. When I'm on the floor or grass playing with him and he climbs over my legs, rather than lift his rear legs to go over me, he drags them over my leg. Going up the 4 steps we have to go into the house, he goes very slow and sort of pulls his rear legs up, rather than lifting them. And over the past 3 days, he doesn't really want to go on walks that much. I've been taking him on short walk, maybe 100 yard or so each way and now, it seems like he's limping. I've been trying to figure out which leg is causing the limp, but it's hard to determine. I can see his bob when steps forward with his front right paw, so thinking his front left may be the issue. I've looked at all his paw, pads, toes, legs, etc... and can't find anything visually wrong. I did accidentally step on him about 4 days ago. He was clamped to my jeans and shaking his head as we went into the kitchen and I put my foot down on him. I didn't put my full weight on him, I actually fell intentionally to keep from doing that. He didn't yelp and didn't limp or anything after that.

I'm just worried a little about my little guy and thought I would see what others had to say and vent a little. I'm hoping it's just him being a puppy and growing, but I see videos of other pups at 10 weeks and I can see a difference. 

I did take him to the lake over the weekend and we had a long walk from the car, maybe 200, 250 yards each way and he was fine, but still had that little head bob going on. After the walk and playing in the water, he slept the entire way home, 45 minutes and then slept for 3 hours straight... he was an exhausted pup. 

So am I being worried over nothing? We go in 2 weeks for his last round of vaccinations and I'll talk to the vet then about it.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Didn't the vet already say he may have loose kneecaps (patellar luxation)? Perhaps some videos would be good.


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## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

She said he had loose knee caps, but that he "should" grow into them. Meaning she didn't classify it as PL and give it a grade. 

I was trying to get an idea on what others see/saw in their pups at that age (10 weeks). Like the dragging the rear legs, rather than lifting them, how far they took them for walks, etc. It's been ages since I had a pup, so wanted to compare to other pups.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Most likely you are worrying over nothing. Relax and enjoy the little guy. Puppies are awkward, hurt themselves, tumble here and there, they will be ok for the most part. If you see him limping significantly, indicating pain, whining, off food etc - take to vet. If you are extra worried about hips/elbows, do a prelim xray at 6mo.


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## andreaB (Nov 6, 2011)

I'm not a expert and my boy is my first puppy so please take this as just my experience with just one pup. I thought my boy was awkward as puppy. We have a lot off stair inside and outside and he did climbed then funny.
He was never tired on walks, he could've walk over hour and still not beening really tired so I had to limit our walks. 
I think swiming is great for dog and impact free. My started swiming around 4 months.
I would still talk to vet again just to calm myself.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I would be concerned if my pup were tired after walking such a short distance. My first dog, Massie, had severe bilateral HD that showed up when she was very young but she still had boundless energy and, at 10 weeks, could easily walk a few miles a day. However, what clued me into a problem is that she bunny hopped when she ran and she often fell on the stairs. I ended up getting x-rays and that's when I discovered the problems. I did wait until she was 10 months old though because the vet thought her mobility issues might improve with age. 

It may be that he just needs to build up muscle mass but it also may be that he's in some pain or both. I would trust your gut though. 

I have a cat who has luxating patellas and (possibly) no hip sockets and she was slow and clumsy when I brought her home, as a 7 month old kitten. Now she is on joint support and doing great but she can't jump like a regular cat and is still very clumsy.


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## ImJaxon (Jan 21, 2013)

I wouldn't worry about it unless its something continual. Jaxon does this weird thing where he runs around and acts like a crazy fool and then all of the sudden he will stop like he really hurt himself, he limps and three leg hops holding is front foot up for about 20 seconds. Vet says that it's growing pains, and that they are still growing into things. Scared the crap out of us the first couple times.


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## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

Hopefully it's just that he needs to build up his rear muscle mass. I'm going to watch him over the next two weeks and then have the vet check his knees again. I did notice him do the wobbly rear end walk again this morning, so hoping he just needs to develop the muscles in his back end and it will all work out. 

As far as being tired... I'm not so sure if he's tired or just nervous now. When my daughter and I took him on his first walk, on the way home, she ran and Max ran after her. So now, every time we turn around and head towards home, Max walks fast and pulls slightly and when we get close, he breaks in to a full run. We did pass a larger dog a week ago who barked at him and scared him, so wondering if it's that. I took him out the other night and he met a small dog his size and they got along really well. Most of our walks are at night, either before dusk or after dawn. I'll try taking him out more during the day and see if that makes him more comfortable. He's just stop and sit and I have to use treats to coax him to keep going.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

Dexter is 13 weeks and has been like that since we brought him home at 6 weeks. It didnt worry me until random family members started pointing it out. He also does not jump up on the couch, he just puts his front legs and body on the couch and then gives my daughter the sad eyes so she can pick him up. This maybe because we havent allowed him to jump since we got him. Lately ,now that hes not sleeping all the time, we have been taking him on more walks to see if we can build up some muscle. at first he got tired really fast but lately he has been going longer with a few rests and water breaks. Yesterday we took him on a hike and he was slowing down until he found some horse poop which he took of running with in his mouth. (ugghhhh) I too, like you just hope its a puppy thing and he will out grow it,


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Sorry if you've already mentioned this, but what is the breeder saying and how about the littermates? Or is this a rescue?


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

Msmaria said:


> Dexter is 13 weeks and has been like that since we brought him home at 6 weeks. It didnt worry me until random family members started pointing it out. He also does not jump up on the couch, he just puts his front legs and body on the couch and then gives my daughter the sad eyes so she can pick him up. This maybe because we havent allowed him to jump since we got him. Lately ,now that hes not sleeping all the time, we have been taking him on more walks to see if we can build up some muscle. at first he got tired really fast but lately he has been going longer with a few rests and water breaks. Yesterday we took him on a hike and he was slowing down until he found some horse poop which he took of running with in his mouth. (ugghhhh) I too, like you just hope its a puppy thing and he will out grow it,


Of course right after I wrote this , Dexter jumped up on the couch today. He was trying to keep his bone away from the other dogs. He was looking all proud of himself, until I told him to get down. I guess, be careful what you wish for , is in order. Still runs lopsided and bunny hops though.


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