# Dragging feet when he walks?



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I first noticed this yesterday. Or rather, realized what was happening. I posted a while ago about Rayden falling on the stairs, which I attributed to his hip that he hurt as a pup. Vet didn't see anything wrong, so also attributed it to arthritis. It's a very 'come and go' problem.

Yesterday, I noticed that he sometimes drags his back feet when he walks. I then realized that I have seen it before, just didn't realize it. It's not often, but more frequent when he gets tired. When he steps, his toes on the back legs will drag the ground, causing him to "misstep" It's not noticeable unless you really watch. Plus, as I said, he doesn't do it 95% of the time. His hip does bother him at times, but that is just one side. The dragging toes is on both sides.

What should I ask the vet? What do I need to have them check? He just had x-rays on his hips, the vet said that the bones/socket all look good. Spinal problems? I'm more than a bit worried that this could be a sign of something bad.


----------



## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

It could be caused by a lot of different problems - the fall, arthritis, disc problem, muscular, legiment, neurological problem, etc etc etc. I'd explain the problem to his vet and see what he has to say.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

How old is he now?


----------



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

well, I had talked to Ronnie and I believe that the "dragging" started at least a couple of months before the fall on the stairs. His original hip injury was when he was a pup.

They did x-rays ect to check for displasyia and similar problems when he fell on the stairs and he got a clean bill of health, just arthritis. When he stumbled this morning, I noticed that afterwards he was lifting his feet extra high for a few minutes. Of course that lead to him kind of over-stepping and he stumbled again. 

We were quite a ways from the truck, so I had a while to watch him. It looks almost like he doesn't know where his back feet are?


----------



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

He will be 7 in Aug. 

wanted to clarify from my last post. the vet said that there were signs of arthritis in one hip, the other looked excellent. Vet agreed that the arthritis was probably from his fall as a pup. The foot dragging, however, is both feet.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

You may want to read up on Degenerative Myelopathy of German Shepherds just so you can rule it out OR start on the exercise/supplementation regime.


----------



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

thankfully he is already on a good exercise regime. He is supplemented with Glucosomine and MSM currently.. I printed that page out to take to the vet.


----------



## momto3k9s (Mar 2, 2005)

I thought of DM when I read this too. My first GSD had it and I started to put baby socks on him he was dragging his feet so much. He got really bad pretty quick though. He started out dragging his feet, then had a hard time getting up and getting comfortable and then he started to kinda just "tip over" while he was standing up. I hope you get some answers soon.


----------



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

the "tip over" that you mentioned might be a clue as well. Rayden has never been a "lay down" kind of guy, he has always just thumped down with a bump and a sigh (think of a kid jumping into bed). The last few nights, however, it's been more like he just crumples to the floor when he starts to lay down. Like when he starts to go down, he can't control it.


----------



## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

Penny has lumbro sacral spondylosis and that can cause some of the symptoms you see. We have been doing chiro and acupuncture and I have seen improvements. An xray should be able to clue you in to whether this could be the problem. Unfortunately it is not too uncommon with our sheps.


----------



## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

Dr Connors was out of the office today. They are going to have him look over Rayden's chart from last visit and give me a call


----------



## DianaB (Jan 3, 2007)

I would look into possible nerve issue. If you put him on all fours, take the foot and curl the toes under. A dog with healthy nerves will correct it immediately. A dog with nerve issues (either DM or pinched nerve from the spine) will be slower in correcting. 

Siena started dragging her feet around 8 months old. Nearly all the time, especially when tired. We did hip xrays and it showed nothing. We then assumed it was a nerve issue. Flash forward 2 years (last Oct). She started limping around so we rested thinking an acute injury or sprain. Didn' get better after 4 weeks so we did another set of hip xrays. 

This time it showed severe HD inboth legs. Three months ago we replaced her hip. Immediately after surgery the 'knuckling' was very bad. Now, 3 months later, she has very little toe dragging and we expect that will get better over time.

So, that is an unexpected reward for us, one that we were not expecting. Good for us to know it was NOT a nerve issue or DM.


----------

