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3 month old puppy pain

6K views 77 replies 17 participants last post by  Kingston12 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello! My 12 week old GSD puppy King cries when I firmly(hard) touch his hips. Even when I hold it a little below the socket he is still in pain. I checked with both hips its the same and he screams so loud and pees on himself when I touched the hips. How can he be developing problems already and he is only 12 weeks ? What does it mean if he is in pain when I touch? I cannot take him to the vet until his next vaccination which is in 3 weeks to get him checked up as I spent 4000$ in the last 3 months on my other GSD who had dysplasia and I am pretty much broke now. The reason I held his hips was to examine them and he really did scream in pain like I thought because he keeps nipping/scratching his hips. He frog sits, pants all the time, active, and has a heavy sway walk.My last GSD was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and I am concerned and cannot deal with this again. He comes from a different breeder than my last dysplastic shepherd. Both his parents are hip/elbow certified. I am so worried, any feedback would be appreciated. thanks
 
#2 ·
Can you just put a call in to your vet and at least have them take a quick look at him based on these symptoms??? Surely they could give you a break on a full exam fee or let you pay back in some kind of installments if the dog is in pain? Based on you describing the actions of the dog, I wouldn't wait three weeks. :(
 
#3 ·
in the meantime stop hurting the dog by squeezing the hips.
see the vet

you said " He comes from a different breeder than my last dysplastic shepherd. Both his parents are hip/elbow certified. I am so worried, any feedback would be appreciated. thanks"

even though you got the dog from a different breeder they may have virtually the same pedigree or ancestry .

is the breeder really a breeder , or someone who makes pups to sell?
 
#4 ·
So I took him to my vet ( he is the only one around and he is not experienced (new vet) ). He touched his legs/joints and King didn't even yelp/cry once. So then the vet explained to me I might of squeezed the muscle. He laughed at me and said not to worry. This is the same vet that told me that my last GSD would not get HD and kept convincing me that until we found my buddy was severely dysplastic. Also King's rear left leg extends a little more back with a slight falling twist. anyone know what that is ? The right rear leg extends just 2 centimeters less and doesn't give a little extended twist at the end.
 
#6 ·
Kingston12, we are not vets. We can't see or put hands on your pup. The only way you will know anything is to take it to another vet if you aren't happy with the one you went to. I wish we could give you an answer, but we can't. Check into a vet school, they are often less expensive. Let us know how your pup is doing.
 
#10 ·
Where I live there is two veterinarians only. One has a bad reputation with a bad management (2 star rating on google maps too). The other one is the one I go to. They just opened a few months ago and they are new vets but the best thing around me. the closest ortho vet would be atleast 2 hours away and I am a student with no car or ride there. I meant I will treat like a super strong dog as in like a regular GSD with no issues and hope for the best. I only walk him for 10 mins a day and play him with for 20 minutes in my backyard every 2 hours.
 
#11 ·
I have a question I'm sure someone can answer. Does anyone's GSD scratch/nip/itch using their teeth, around their hips ? When I wake up in the morning, I can see King's fur around his hips are wavy and messy (looks like he itches/scratches it at night). Is this a bad sign or does anyone's GSD scratch/nip there too? I was thinking it could maybe be his muscles are sore or dogs just like to nip there. Thanks in advance
 
#13 ·
No but I am extremely stressed out. I had my last GSD go through all this and I worked on him for a full year and put all my work into him. I paid thousands of dollars to save his life and things didn't work out. I didn't complain and I tried my best to do the best for him. After I had to let him go when he was 1 years old, I felt very bad and my life was incomplete without another GSD. This time I looked for a good breeder around me that had very good dogs with good hips/elbows and so on. I paid a lot for him too since he was all certified. I know that certified hips/elbows doesn't mean a dysplasia free dog. Now after having King for a month and going through the same sort of symptoms my previous GSD has been through, I feel like I am in a trap. I have no good vets around me and no one can do a proper check on my puppy and make me feel safer. Sorry that I had to post this thread and ask for help but I hope you know how I feel and why I've reached to this point. I am just afraid this happens all over again :frown2:
 
#14 ·
If your puppy possibly has hip dysplasia, what is the take on it from your breeder? Have you discussed the issue with them at all to see what their best course of action would be?
 
#20 ·
Before getting my first GSD, I worked 3-4 months over the summer from morning to nighttime to save up all that money I had so I can spend it on my dog over the next 2-3 years, I never owned a dog before so I never thought health issues would come up at that time.(I am 19 years old and a university student if you are wondering). When I got him and he was diagnosed with HD, I ended up spending all the thousands of dollars I had saved up in less than 8 months and all of it went on vets/surgery/medication/tesco/etc.. So now I don't have that kind of money anymore. I am not saying that I am financially ruined, no. But I cannot at all put even hundreds of dollars at this time. I am able to keep up with all premium dog needs but not high vet bills like this anymore. I just had him checked yesterday for 100$ and I left with an answer that his hips don't hurt him, though I know that at times they DO bother him or make him uncomfortable (because there is always itch marks on his hips), but again I may be wrong. Sorry for the long story, just thought I'd put it out here.
 
#17 ·
I find it interesting that the breeder has no interest in providing you with some options, vets they would recommend, or possible options for home treatment. Not exactly the response I would hope for from an ethical breeder IMHO. I understand financial responsibility laying on you, but to not offer any help or suggestions? Seems a bit crude considering the situation and your concerns/previous experiences.
 
#22 ·
My puppy is not dysplastic though for my breeder to help me out or provide home treatment yet, though I agree with you on that if my dog does get it in the future. He still guarantees me till this point that King will not get hip dysplasia but at the end of the day how can he know for sure. I just told him my puppies legs are in pain when i touch them so he did not go on with advising me what to do, he just said massage his legs, he'll feel better. He also said that my pup King is only 12 weeks old and that it is impossible for a puppy to develop HD or get any symptoms for it at that age (not sure if that is true). King is active all the time and is always running and jumping around. That is why I am concerned that why his leg would hurt if i touched it and his nipping/chewing hips. He is able to do all these things and acts completely normal. I may be just super worried and he is fine. Also since I talked to the breeder about HD before purchasing the pup and he told me that the puppy won't come with a health guarantee (because he never needed it apparently), he wasn't too happy when I called him recently telling him about his hips and what if it was HD in the future <-- I agree with you, he is not an ethical breeder, he cares about selling instead I guess, but he does care about his own dogs and isn't breeding dysplastic dogs if you know what I mean. Not the best breeder out there but he was the best one around me.
 
#25 ·
I just contacted a german shepherd trainer that was recommended to me long ago. I was told he has a lot of knowledge so I called him now. He has had 4 gsd's with HD out of his 11 in his life. He said on the phone that when you touch a dog's hip and squeeze it a little hard, it will cry no matter if it has or doesn't have a problem, meaning hips are a sensitive part of a dog and squeezing a hip even a little bit will hurt or bother any dog. Can anyone confirm this because when I asked about the pain when i held his leg join firm, alot of you told me he must go to the vet immediately.. just wondering
 
#27 ·
Stop squeezing your puppy's hips and pulling on his joints. If he doesn't have HD now, you are going to cause an injury. Do a google search on puppy hip xrays. The bones are still growing. There are growth plates that need to mature and come together. You are accomplishing absolutely nothing except hurting your puppy.

If you are that concerned, then call an ortho vet and have a penn hip done or, if the vet thinks he's old enough, get xrays done. Nobody, including a vet, can diagnose HD without an xray. It's simply not possible.
 
#31 ·
I only did it the first day to check before going to the vet. I haven't touched his hips again since then.
Pennhip ! I will check that out ! thank you :smile2:
I thought an Ortolani test was the only other way than an x-ray to 100% confirm hip dysplasia, according to vet vid:

He explains in the video how if an Ortolani Test was done on hips, and the hip pops out, the dog has HD, regardless what the x-ray's show. He specifically begins talking about the Ortolani at minute 1:50 in the video... interesting
 
#28 ·
He might be crying out of frustration rather than pain... you're holding his leg, he can't get away, he doesn't know whats wrong. Stop holding and pinching and pulling your puppy.

At 12 weeks of age he will be growing rapidly and dis-proportionally. He will be wobbly and awkward. Give him chance to grow into himself.
 
#30 ·
The only way to diagnose HD is through x-ray.

Unless your puppy is limping (without you doing and manipulating), then I would wait until the puppy is closer to full grown before getting an x-ray. Then you will have a better idea of how the hip socket is at the end of development rather than with a whole lot of growing to do.

There is a lot of info here are how to supplement your puppy for good hip health, and not to over do exercise or jumps at this stage. Let your puppy be a puppy, no forced marches over hard pavement, no jogging with you, no running along with your cycle, until he is a whole lot bigger.

Unfortunately you picked a breed that has health issues, and HD is just one, and often not one of the worst ones. Often HD is not a death sentence, nor does it always require surgery. Often-times dogs live to their teens with HD and never have any surgery, or really much pain with the condition. It depends on how bad it is. And we can do things and not do things to improve our dog's life with the condition if they do have it. So it is definitely worth checking out if the dog is having symptoms. But we shouldn't be creating symptoms.
 
#36 ·
I squeezed my puppy's paw by accident and he yelped, too at that age. Now it's no big deal. It may be nothing. Please contact a vet school if there is one near you and get him checked for your own peace of mind. I agree, at 12 weeks you should be enjoying him, not worried about every little movement. This is bunny hopping with dysplasia.

.
 
#37 ·
I squeezed my puppy's paw by accident and he yelped, too at that age. Now it's no big deal. It may be nothing. Please contact a vet school if there is one near you and get him checked for your own peace of mind. I agree, at 12 weeks you should be enjoying him, not worried about every little movement. This is bunny hopping with dysplasia.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ_5we6OCWU.
That is EXACTLY how he sometimes runs at the park :crying:eek:k now im scared again
 
#38 ·
He's a baby puppy. Usually they do not have symptoms of HD this early. If they do, then I suppose it can be really bad. But I would NOT let them press the hips out of the socket or do range of motion tests. Have them sedate and do an x-ray. But, it still might not be conclusive because your pup has a lot of growing to do.

Bunny hopping when running -- lots of puppies do this.
 
#45 · (Edited)
UPDATE-

Hey Everyone,
So today we took a long trip with King to see another veterinarian since the two that are in my town are not that good. So the vet checked his hips and this is what she wrote in the summary:

Seemed mildly uncomfortable on full extension left hip, okay with right hip.
Uncomfortable when his left hip is extended, but walks normally on it.


----
So when the vet was extending his hips he wouldn't let her and cried so we got another three vets/employees to distract and hold King with treats so we can know if the pain is from fear or from the hip. So after analyzing she said that he wouldn't let her extend the left but would let her extend the right. She said she was able to extend the left maybe once or twice, but not fully and it hurt him. She said usually dog's who are in hip pain won't allow the hip to be fully extended.

I know he is still young but I'm surprised that already at 3 months old something like that would rise.
 
#49 ·
UPDATE-


"Seemed mildly uncomfortable on full extension left hip, okay with right hip.
Uncomfortable when his left hip is extended, but walks normally on it."
You just got suckered out of more vet bills.

What did they give you?

Nothing.

Why?

Because, as we told you, they CANNOT diagnose hip dysplasia without an x-ray.

So you paid more vets to yank and crank on your poor puppy's hips. :frown2:
Maybe you should give the dog back to the breeder before you do serious damage.

Maybe pulling on and extending the hips will not do damage. Maybe. But if you don't watch out, you might just need to have him sport a muzzle when you take your dog to the vet.

There are people out there that just want people to feel bad, and will say things to that purpose. So far you've made the puppy cry, and you totally ignored everything everyone said to you and reported that another vet made your puppy cry. Whatever flips your flap jacks I suppose.
 
#48 ·
Kingston, did you know that many GSDs are cry babies at the vet? Deja jumps when the vet points to her. Now go enjoy your pup for heaven's sake but take it easy with him, short walks, no running unless he initiates it. Let him be a puppy and don't get tempted to try this leg extension again that you saw the vet do. If you continue worrying I would return him to the breeder as both you and the pup are not enjoying your life together. Most GSD puppies are a 'worry' in progress but most turn out OK in the end.
 
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