Why is My Dog Limping?

Dove, owned by Sarah Anthon, at a recent visit to the MCR clinic. Dove recently had a TPLO surgery to repair her cruciate and meniscus injury.

Have you ever been out enjoying the day with your dog, maybe on a trail or at a show, only for them to suddenly start limping? It can be a gut wrenching moment when your normally happy and free moving friend is suddenly showing signs of pain or discomfort.

A limp or gait issue is a common visual clue that something is wrong with our dogs but unfortunately our dog's can't communicate with us directly to tell us what's wrong.  The challenge with a limp is that it can indicate a simple issue that may go away with time or some easy care or a limp can indicate something much more complex! Which means we as their trainer partners sometimes have to put the puzzle pieces together to get a clear idea of what's going on.

In this week's blog, I'll cover some of the common reasons why your dog may be limping and what we can do in our conditioning programs to reduce the likelihood of a future limp or gait problem. 

Signs and symptoms associated with lameness include ...

• Refusal to place their full weight on the limb. Your dog may be holding their paw up close to their body or simply resting their toes on the ground.  
• Unable to walk or run
• Swelling or noticeable heat in a joint 
• Decreased range of motion (ROM). The full  motion that a joint can make is referred to as ROM. The structure of the joint and the volume, integrity, character, and flexibility of the soft tissues that surrounds the joint affects joint motion.

• Pain or general discomfort
• Loss of muscle mass
• Abnormal posture or gait
• Nervousness - trembling, shying away from touch etc 

When our dogs have a limp that lasts longer than a few minutes it's time to seek the help of a vet, physical therapist, or chiropractor to determine why your dog is limping. The degree of limping is not always the best indicator for the severity of the issue. For example, cranial caudal ligament (CCL) injuries may show little lameness but could require surgery to repair. Whenever you take your dog to see a health practitioner for an issue its helpful to come with some basic information, such as, how long the lameness has occurred, whether it was a gradual or sudden onset, and what type of activities or movements seem to aggravate the limp. Try to keep a regular health journal and document an issues that arise. Having this history will greatly help your health practitioner get a full picture of the issue. .

Understanding the different types of lameness 

There are different types of lameness that can occur and knowing whether your dealing with a gradual, sudden, or intermittent limp is an important aspect in discovering an underlying cause.  

A gradual onset limp can happen slowly over time – perhaps you’ve been seeing only an occasional limp that has slowly become more common. Gradual onset limps are often caused by an underlying, chronic or degenerative condition such as arthritis or muscle tightness. 

A sudden onset limp can occur quickly, often the result of an injury or trauma. Have you ever had you dog whip around the yard only to come up lame? It's possible that this is a sudden onset injury.  Generally speaking, sudden onset is almost always the result of a high strain activity like running or an impact injury.  

Intermittent Lameness - ​“My dog’s limp disappears when I take them for a walk,” is a common thing I hear from my clients. Sometimes a dog who starts the day off with some lameness may seem to get better after moving around for a bit. Have you ever woken up in the morning and felt a little stiff but after walking around for a bit you’ve noticed that stiffness disappears? That’s because movement increases the synovial fluid in the joints which basically acts like an oil that helps the joints move smoothly. Movement also warms up the muscles and flushes out any inflammation.  You may see the limp return during a walk as muscles start to fatigue and can no longer work optimally.

Why might my dog be lame? 

Lameness can occur as a result of muscle tightness and imbalance or  because of a pathological change to the tissue. Our dog's posture and the way they move can help us determine what the underlying cause of their lameness may be. 

Limping because of muscle tightness and imbalance  

• A change to our dog's posture and movement could indicate that our dog is experiencing tightness or imbalance in their muscles. Our dogs may show reluctance or avoidance to perform certain movements or activities.  In this case the best course of action is to be proactive! The longer we leave the tightness unresolved the harder (and longer) it becomes to correct the issue.  ​
• A health professional can help guide you through areas of tightness, imbalance or weakness in your dog.  ​By understanding the areas of weakness in your dog you can work towards building a program to help strengthen the muscles and reduce the risk of greater injury. A canine physio can also offer different modalities (manual therapy, laser, PEMF etc) to treat tightness and make your dog feel and move better. 

Limping because pathological tissue change (injury /degeneration/cancer)  

• This type of limp can range from non-weight bearing lameness to a subtle, occasional limp. Remember, our dogs are very good at covering up injuries so the severity of the limp does not always indicate the severity of the condition. For example, one of my clients whose dog has a consistent limp and noticeable gait issues in the hind end was diagnosed with a grade one luxating patella in both knees. If we were to base the grade of his luxating patella off his movement alone we may be inclined to think he had a more serious prognosis. Instead, his gait is more a result of learned movement.  
• These types of injuries can often sideline our dogs for a time and reduce their regular exercise regime. Without regular movement their muscles can begin to atrophy.

Common causes of limping

Soft Tissue

Chronic Conditions

• Iliopsoas strain
• Shoulder injuries  
• Cranial/caudal ligament tears (partial/full)
• Meniscus tears
• Muscle tightness and imbalances ​
• Repetitive strain injuries 
• Inflammation of muscles or tendons

Acute Injuries 

• Broken bones and trauma 
• Dislocation
• Broken, ripped, or infected toe nails
• Paw injuries such as cuts, punctures or debris stuck in the foot
• Bites from bugs or other animals 
• Lacerations

• Joint disorders such as hip or elbow dysplasia
• Orthopaedic conditions  such as luxating patella, arthritis
• Obesity  
• Neurological issues 
• Cancer
• Bone diseases
• Degenerative myelopathy
• Intervertebral disc disease

• Tick born illnesses such as lyme disease  
• Panosteitis, or growing pains 

What we can do NOW to help reduce the risk of lameness

(Pixabay)

There are a number of things we can do to help our dog who is limping - the first step is to determine why they're limping in the first place! If you see your dog limping it's important to not wait and get them evaluated by a health practitioner quickly - this will reduce further compensation issues down the road! Remember,  without an understanding of the underlying cause we can't effectively treat the issue. Once we know the cause of the limp we can start to plan a treatment.

​There are a couple of proactive measures we can take now, however, to reduce the likelihood of our dog's getting an injury resulting in lameness.

• Consider your dog's environment. While pet owner's love to have hardwood or linoleum floor for ease of cleaning up pet hair these types of floors can be slippery to our dogs! Lay down area rugs and mats on these surfaces to provide better grip. Consider also the terrain conditions when training and showing your dog - is it on a surface they're familiar with, is the surface wet, of has it been sitting under a hot sun? These factors should all be taken into consideration and can help prevent an injury from occurring.  Remember too, as our dog's age it can become harder for them to navigate their surroundings. For arthritic dogs, an orthopaedic bed away from cold spaces in the home can go a long way to making them feel a lot better! 
• Regular exercise - Movement is medicine! It's important that our dogs lead a healthy and active lifestyle to keep their muscles moving. We can introduce our dogs to a number of exercises that will help to improve their overall fitness, strengthen their core, front and hind end, and increase proprioception and body awareness. Conditioning exercises will not only help to prevent injury but can also, in the event of an injury, reduce the time it takes to recover.   
• Regular assessments of your dog by a qualified health professional  to monitor for any muscle tightness and imbalances. These assessments can catch a minor issue that could become a more serious injury down the road! 
• Keep your dog at a lifelong healthy weight! Obesity is often associated with a decrease in mobility and can add undue strain to joints and muscles. 
• Avoid the Weekend Warrior Syndrome - don't pack in all of your dog's activity and exercise into just two days, this is asking for an injury! Remember to keep exercise within reason and based off your dog's stage of development, training, and age. ​

While limping is often an early sign to an underlying issue it's still important that we take the appearance of lameness seriously and work quickly to address the underlying cause.  Remember that the more information you can provide to your health practitioner the easier and quicker they'll be able to determine what's wrong and get you and your dog back on the road to recovery!  A conditioning program is a great way to prevent future injury and can better prepare our dogs for recovery in the event of lameness. If your dog has recently shown signs of a limp I'm more than happy to discuss a game plan to help them move and feel better!