Short summary: clicking sound from R knee, no limp or favoring. One week bout where it would falter slightly during longer hikes. Vet examined, was not overly concerned. Clicking improved then resumed. No hesitation for any activities. Just finished another week of choosing to do modified exercise as a caution for little signs. All looked good until today, stumbling returned during light "hike"/free sniff in woods. I'm unsure how to handle this, waiting to hear back from vets today.
Details: Clicking started roughly a month ago Could have been from a puppy trip playing with a dog, loading excitedly onto a car ramp, or something else not obvious. No yelp, no limp, or issue with exercise occurred before the clicking, which was more obvious if he was playing in the house. Over the following two weeks I noticed on our longer distance/time exercise days, after 30ish minutes that leg would give ever so slightly. I would end the activity at this point.
At his final follow up I explained all this to the vet. She examined his legs, said his range of motion and mobility in hips was great (fingers crossed this continues) and could not manipulate either knee or hip to create the click. No signs of pain from Theo. Advised it was likely soft tissue, one week rest with short walking. We completed that, and while I could still hear an occasional click it happened less and there was no more give of the leg. He ran with other dogs and his run was entirely different-beautiful full stretched strides and over a decent amount of time. It also helped that these were larger dogs (first one was small-medium) so less sharp turns. Something I am keeping in mind for future.
All was well until one walk a leaf blew and Theo leapt straight up for it, landed wrong and let out a small yelp. Got right up but held his right leg up (not close to body, maybe 4ish inches from ground). Next step he put weight on it and we completed the walk no issues, though I shortened it precautiously. Over next two weeks frequency of clicks increased, but there has been no giving to include on a hike that mistakenly went far longer than expected. Only other sign was a tiny yelp during jumping to greet me (which we are slowly but surely correcting), which I couldn’t discern was pain or an excited yip. Whether from this or his recent growth spurt, his rear is a little tight and I noticed it looks stiff walking if you pay attention. Legs will stretch back, but to me it looks like he'd rather hike his hip flexor then bend the knee to go forward. Running and trotting I did not see any issues.
I chose to take this week off to only do controlled walks, as well as introduce swimming (he loves water, and naturally swam straight back using all legs). All that went well, and he loves the water and swims very well. Yesterday he was allowed off leash at a park to explore and romp--most decent paced trots and some running. I saw no issues.
Sadly, today during long line exploring in the woods the leg started giving again. First it was a very subtle stumble, but went within 10 minutes to tipping over frontwards (not ever actually falling). No limp or yelp but I stopped us then.
I've contacted both the vet that looked at this before (who managed his illness) as well as the vet who took care of his limp that was misdiagnosed as osteoarthritis. My largest concerns are if this is related to ACL, luxating patella or something alike; as well as the mental toll exercise restriction and forced rest is having on Theo. Not to mention pain. It frustrates me as someone who is acutely aware of the stress of medical issues, and sees how weeks where medical isn't an issue his personality and drive erupts. I was, and still am, looking forward to working with and inquiring about his individual drives, impulse control, etc. But for now this is the challenge given to us, and it is the challenge we will face.
Details: Clicking started roughly a month ago Could have been from a puppy trip playing with a dog, loading excitedly onto a car ramp, or something else not obvious. No yelp, no limp, or issue with exercise occurred before the clicking, which was more obvious if he was playing in the house. Over the following two weeks I noticed on our longer distance/time exercise days, after 30ish minutes that leg would give ever so slightly. I would end the activity at this point.
At his final follow up I explained all this to the vet. She examined his legs, said his range of motion and mobility in hips was great (fingers crossed this continues) and could not manipulate either knee or hip to create the click. No signs of pain from Theo. Advised it was likely soft tissue, one week rest with short walking. We completed that, and while I could still hear an occasional click it happened less and there was no more give of the leg. He ran with other dogs and his run was entirely different-beautiful full stretched strides and over a decent amount of time. It also helped that these were larger dogs (first one was small-medium) so less sharp turns. Something I am keeping in mind for future.
All was well until one walk a leaf blew and Theo leapt straight up for it, landed wrong and let out a small yelp. Got right up but held his right leg up (not close to body, maybe 4ish inches from ground). Next step he put weight on it and we completed the walk no issues, though I shortened it precautiously. Over next two weeks frequency of clicks increased, but there has been no giving to include on a hike that mistakenly went far longer than expected. Only other sign was a tiny yelp during jumping to greet me (which we are slowly but surely correcting), which I couldn’t discern was pain or an excited yip. Whether from this or his recent growth spurt, his rear is a little tight and I noticed it looks stiff walking if you pay attention. Legs will stretch back, but to me it looks like he'd rather hike his hip flexor then bend the knee to go forward. Running and trotting I did not see any issues.
I chose to take this week off to only do controlled walks, as well as introduce swimming (he loves water, and naturally swam straight back using all legs). All that went well, and he loves the water and swims very well. Yesterday he was allowed off leash at a park to explore and romp--most decent paced trots and some running. I saw no issues.
Sadly, today during long line exploring in the woods the leg started giving again. First it was a very subtle stumble, but went within 10 minutes to tipping over frontwards (not ever actually falling). No limp or yelp but I stopped us then.
I've contacted both the vet that looked at this before (who managed his illness) as well as the vet who took care of his limp that was misdiagnosed as osteoarthritis. My largest concerns are if this is related to ACL, luxating patella or something alike; as well as the mental toll exercise restriction and forced rest is having on Theo. Not to mention pain. It frustrates me as someone who is acutely aware of the stress of medical issues, and sees how weeks where medical isn't an issue his personality and drive erupts. I was, and still am, looking forward to working with and inquiring about his individual drives, impulse control, etc. But for now this is the challenge given to us, and it is the challenge we will face.
