This puppy!

[AgilityPup]

I swear, she's going to make me insane. Death by Simi.

Today I was taking Simi out into the pasture to work on her retrieve and recall. This is normal, we've done it a few times now. This time around, she was really into me as we were walking out (quick walk down part of our drive way, past the pond then down a little ditch into the field), and was constantly looking back at me, or the ball, etc., just in general not paying attention to where she was going and too much attention on me (but I was digging it cause she's usually entranced by the cats we pass along the way).

So as we go into the little ditch thing she walked into a hole, then kind of fell forward, onto her shoulders, most of her weight hitting her right shoulder -- the one she hurt about 1 1/2 months ago (I think). She was on crate rest for 2 weeks that time around, plus anti-inflammatory meds. She's been lame on that leg now, after falling earlier today, and is really favoring it. When she's sitting she will rest her toes on the ground, but won't put any weight on it, much. She walks on it, but with a noticeable limp.

Right after she fell, she didn't make any noise and I couldn't see her limping so she did do a couple chases of the ball before I realized that she was lame, then I took her into the house and put her right into her crate. When I brought her out into the living room later (with only Zoey, so essentially, to Simi, no other dogs), she was limping pretty bad.

There are no signs it's hurting her when I'm touching it, anywhere around that leg at all. She's just favoring it. And for Simi not to whine about it, that's a shocker. She's usually a cry baby. I'm going to keep her crate rested for the weekend and if she's still lame on Tuesday I'll call the vet and get her in again.

In the mean time, I'm wondering if I should start researching supplements to give her to try and prevent this in the future...? I'm going to ask the vet about it, but was thinking I'd get a jump on researching and ask some suggestions and opinions here until I can talk to my vet.

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

No advice but I hope she feels better soon!!!

[Aleron]

Poor Simi!

Are you sure there's not an underlying cause of these injuries? IME with GSD puppies, owners often think they hurting themselves when really they are aggravating a condition such as Pano. Pano is extremely common in young GSDs. And actually, my friend just went through this with her Mal puppy too. She thought the dog hurt herself playing and kept re-injuring herself (shoulder with this dog too). After months of on and off crate rest, the pain shifted to the dog's back leg. The whole time there was worry about soft tissue damage, etc and the dog just had Pano. How/what was she diagnosed with the last time when she was on crate rest?

[Renee750il]

Definitely check with the vet -- as you're doing, and go ahead with your own research as well. In the meantime, give her the alternating ice/heat treatment.

[AgilityPup]

When she was into the vet last time it was diagnosed as just a pulled muscle by the vet. The entire time she was being examined the vet only ever got one slight twinge from her, in terms of pain, and so she told me a week more crate rest and in the mean time, the meds to try and prevent her shoulder from being something that flares up regularly.

When she hurt herself last time it was running in some deep, heavy snow. She was still quite gangly and awkward so we just assume that she got caught up in the snow and pulled a muscle.

I will for sure do some research on Pano. I'm scared that it's something more than just her hurting herself, but I'm also worried I might be being a little paranoid.

ETA: Looking at Pano from this site: http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+1561&aid=466

What are the symptoms?

Presenting symptoms include a history of acute sudden lameness not associated with any trauma. It is usually a large breed male dog between the ages of 6 to 18 months. There are periods of lameness lasting from 2 to 3 weeks and it may shift from leg to leg. The most commonly affected bones are the radius, ulna, humerus, femur, and tibia, though the foot and pelvic bones may also be involved. The dog may show a reluctance to walk or exercise. When the affected bones are squeezed, the dog reacts painfully. Occasionally, affected dogs will have a fever, tonsillitis, or an elevated white blood cell count.

We haven't had any issues with any other legs besides her right shoulder. And it's in the shoulder, too, not down in the leg. Also, she still wants to do just as much as before she hurt herself, it's just ME slowing her down. And I just squeezed up in her shoulder and she showed no pain at all... I will ask the vet about this though.

[sassafras]

A puppy that age with a sore shoulder (especially recurrent) should really have some x-rays done, IMO.

[AgilityPup]

This is the first time it has become recurrent, so she will likely be going in for an x-ray later this week. Just to be safe.

It was February 25th that she last hurt her shoulder... And it much the same way that she hurt it this time, so I'm hoping that she pulled a muscle back then, and just irritated it again yesterday (she's not NEAR as lame as she was last time, if that says anything)... but I'm going to talk to the vet. Urgh, this puppy.

[AgilityPup]

Simi goes in Friday at 3. It was the soonest I could get her in, because of my school hours. Urgh. Crate rest until then. The receptionist/tech just wanted to get me a refill of the pills she was on last time, but I told her I wanted to bring her in to have it looked at, just in case. I'm assuming they'll want to do an x-ray.