Painful But Undetectable Injury.

[tote 861]

You are a bone man and likely as good as most that will charge you a fiver to make up a crap diagnosis. Go over your dog checking every joint.

 

Gently mobilising every one starting with the toes, then wrists checking bend, rotating and extension, move to elbow then shoulder then repeat on the other side, next go over back legs in a similar fashion. Feel all the muscles comparing one side to the next, look for heat, tenderness or withdrawing when you try to mobilise. Check pads to tiny holes etc. Check the area between the toes and wrist of forelimbs for small areas of swelling about an inch above the toes. Rotate neck up, down then side to side. Feel along back muscles either side of the spine then over the hips, check inner thighs for swelling or changes between the two sides. Look for bruising everywhere

 

If you do this thoroughly you will find the problem then you can make decision if you know how to sort it or need a vet.

A lot of good advice re checking your own dog over, some folk however just aren't confident enough to do it.

 

The last paragraph lets the post down however, I trained greyhounds for years so had injuries to deal with often enough and one comes readily to mind. The dog ran on a Friday night and finished second but as he walked off I was sure I seen him dip slightly, the following morning I checked him over but found nothing. For some reason I wasn't happy with him so asked a mate to give him the once over, this he did and found nothing.

 

Meanwhile the dogs owner had entered him in an open the following Friday thinking the dog was ok. I told him I had a niggling feeling the dog was injured but couldn't find it so he booked him into the local vet [he'd been the vet at Oxford greyhound track so knew how to check them over]. At the vets the dog was checked thoroughly and was given a clean bill of health, I told him I still thought there was a niggle somewhere so we took the dog outside and he got me to walk then trot it up and down the car park with him watching and saying it looked fine. The vet then asked why I thought it was injured and I told him about the dipping on the front right after the race. He started to go over the dog again and eventually found an injury deep up in the dogs oxter/armpit and that isn't the only time I've heard of injuries being missed by vets so if they cannot find some what chance for the rest of us to detect all of them?

[robin hood 109]

Is this what sets apart trainers and keepers,

[sandymere 8,263]

 

You are a bone man and likely as good as most that will charge you a fiver to make up a crap diagnosis. Go over your dog checking every joint.

 

Gently mobilising every one starting with the toes, then wrists checking bend, rotating and extension, move to elbow then shoulder then repeat on the other side, next go over back legs in a similar fashion. Feel all the muscles comparing one side to the next, look for heat, tenderness or withdrawing when you try to mobilise. Check pads to tiny holes etc. Check the area between the toes and wrist of forelimbs for small areas of swelling about an inch above the toes. Rotate neck up, down then side to side. Feel along back muscles either side of the spine then over the hips, check inner thighs for swelling or changes between the two sides. Look for bruising everywhere

 

If you do this thoroughly you will find the problem then you can make decision if you know how to sort it or need a vet.

A lot of good advice re checking your own dog over, some folk however just aren't confident enough to do it.

 

The last paragraph lets the post down however, I trained greyhounds for years so had injuries to deal with often enough and one comes readily to mind. The dog ran on a Friday night and finished second but as he walked off I was sure I seen him dip slightly, the following morning I checked him over but found nothing. For some reason I wasn't happy with him so asked a mate to give him the once over, this he did and found nothing.

 

Meanwhile the dogs owner had entered him in an open the following Friday thinking the dog was ok. I told him I had a niggling feeling the dog was injured but couldn't find it so he booked him into the local vet [he'd been the vet at Oxford greyhound track so knew how to check them over]. At the vets the dog was checked thoroughly and was given a clean bill of health, I told him I still thought there was a niggle somewhere so we took the dog outside and he got me to walk then trot it up and down the car park with him watching and saying it looked fine. The vet then asked why I thought it was injured and I told him about the dipping on the front right after the race. He started to go over the dog again and eventually found an injury deep up in the dogs oxter/armpit and that isn't the only time I've heard of injuries being missed by vets so if they cannot find some what chance for the rest of us to detect all of them?

 

Thanks for a good reply; I agree they aren't perfect, mind he found it when you gave him the clues. Taking a history is all important and a good vet will get the relevant history than start on the dog. Not all vets are up to scratch but most aren't bad and some very good, it's like everything else if you get a good un keep em.

 

Ps be especially be cautious of bone men, or chiropractors manipulating necks

 

 

http://jrs.sagepub.com/content/100/7/330.full

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html

Edited June 22, 2015 by sandymere

[sandymere 8,263]

Is this what sets apart trainers and keepers,

We should all endeavour to be keepers and trainers, I’ve often advocated owners going over their dogs on a weekly basis, why wait till it’s injured. If owners went over their dogs weekly they would know exactly how the joints normally feel, move etc along with the normal muscle tension, size and feel plus the dog would be used to the process. Then when an injury happens they would have the confidence to go over the dog and the experience to pick out even little niggles in most cases.

[beast 1,884]

 

Is this what sets apart trainers and keepers,

 

We should all endeavour to be keepers and trainers, I’ve often advocated owners going over their dogs on a weekly basis, why wait till it’s injured. If owners went over their dogs weekly they would know exactly how the joints normally feel, move etc along with the normal muscle tension, size and feel plus the dog would be used to the process. Then when an injury happens they would have the confidence to go over the dog and the experience to pick out even little niggles in most cases.

Good post. We should all know how our dogs should"feel" nd also be aware of exactly how they should move, walking, trotting, even just getting up or laying down. If you can spot a tiny injury early, then I'm sure there are more serious injuries which can be avoided as a result of this. If I get a few minutes to sit and listen to e wireless i am always running my ands over the dogs, it becomes easy to pick up if there are hotspots,tender areas, or even just places which make the dog tense when you put your hands there.

 

 

 

In regard to the original post, can you give some more symptoms or be a little more descriptive?

[Poacherspocket 189]

Iv just had to put my dog to sleep due to simular symptoms. One minute fine next minute couldnt walk. In the end she had a slipped disk and bad atheritus. But the vet didnt think either was the problem die to the dog not having the right symptoms for them to be the real issue. Shitty situation for you because same as me if the dog doesnt have clear symptoms everything has got to be tested and you waste so much money with no results.hope you get the dog sorted bud.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Poacherspocket