Range of motion issue

DJEtzel

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#1
So, Recon's been having some trouble over the past two weeks with his front right carpus (wrist) and has had some limps that have started my observations. At first I didn't think anything of it because it was so slight for just a few moments. The second time he had been crated for an hour or two, so I thought maybe it was asleep. The third time was very obviously a limp and there was swelling that I noticed, after he snapped at my boyfriend when he was trying to play with him. He was in PAIN at that point, and I started doing range of motion exercises with his feet and realizes he has extreme loss of motion in that wrist. He did while it was swollen, I gave him a pain killer and anti-inflammatory, called the vet to schedule an appointment for tomorrow.

Every day since then (last wednesday night) I have been checking his leg, and it has not regained full range of motion. I'm thinking that perhaps it never HAD full range of motion and he is spraining or hyperextending the tendons because the range isn't there and his normal activity is pushing it too much.

The first limp was after a day at the park; playing for no more than an hour accumulatively. No jumping or anything, just chasing a ball.

The second limp was after coming out of his crate after a long walk at a nature preserve with Meagan, Harlow, and Rider. Again, no jumping or abnormal activity otherwise.

The third limp was after agility class last Wednesday, where all we did was tunnel work/distance/crosses on the flat, and 2o2o work being lured (walking) down the dog walk plank from a 4" table... no jumping at all there either.

The only day it actually seemed to bother him was Wednesday, though a few weeks ago he got very grumpy from being at the park for too many days in a row and I wonder if that was because he was in pain moreso than tired from playing... :confused:

Does any of this make sense? Does this happen? I did a ton of googling and read some studies and could barely understand them. :/ I'm looking for some info to prepare myself with for the vet appointment tomorrow. Will x rays help figure out what is going on in this case? I'm expecting to take them regardless...

Do you think a boot would help? I printed this out to take to the vet as well...

http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2617&ParentCat=400

I'm just wondering if this is going to throw agility completely out the window or if we may still have a chance? Typically, agility doesn't bother him at all, but I don't want to mess anything up, either. I've stopped letting him jump out of the car, since that was the only thing I could think of that I could control that he was doing to put a lot of pressure on the joint. He's still only jumping 4 or 8" jumps in agility, well below his elbow, so I don't think that is really a cause for it.

Thoughts? :/ Pretty bummed out as you can imagine, but I've been looking for an excuse to get Sir into agility again anyway, so if he *CAN'T* continue, it won't be the end of the world. ;)
 

SaraB

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#2
I say relax, breath, see what the vet says tomorrow.

Nobody can diagnose a dog over the internet or give a prognosis.

However, since he is young, it is best to limit exercise until you have spoke with your vet. Starting crate rest is always a good idea because that will most likely be recommended as part of the treatment.

I wouldn't throw agility out the window yet. This could be ANYTHING. He could've just sprained it, it could be something more. You don't really know until rads are done.
 

DJEtzel

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I say relax, breath, see what the vet says tomorrow.

Nobody can diagnose a dog over the internet or give a prognosis.

However, since he is young, it is best to limit exercise until you have spoke with your vet. Starting crate rest is always a good idea because that will most likely be recommended as part of the treatment.

I wouldn't throw agility out the window yet. This could be ANYTHING. He could've just sprained it, it could be something more. You don't really know until rads are done.
I needed that. :)

I should have added that I HAVE been giving him crate rest since last wednesday, no agility since then and no park time. I just like to go to the vet prepared for the worst and with as much information as possible to make sure I ask the right questions and get the right treatment necessary..

Everyone IRL is just telling me the same thing and not to worry. It's just... HARD. And I feel like it's easier for me to come to terms with the worst case NOW instead of ignoring the thought and breaking down at the vet clinic. :/
 

Beanie

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#4
I get that it's hard to not freak out when you have a sport prospect dog and suddenly something happens. But panicking won't solve the problem so try not to do it!

X-rays will possibly illuminate things. I agree with keeping him on crate rest for a while until you can figure things out. Without knowing what the problem is you can't even really begin to look at treatment ideas, but off the top of my head I can come up with several, including chiro and laser therapy. So there's definitely stuff to be done, but the vet will help you come up with a treatment plan once you have a diagnosis. Again, don't panic... even if he has an issue, there can be potential solutions!
 

SaraB

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#5
Everyone IRL is just telling me the same thing and not to worry. It's just... HARD. And I feel like it's easier for me to come to terms with the worst case NOW instead of ignoring the thought and breaking down at the vet clinic. :/
Here's the deal though, I sincerely doubt that any prognosis of NO AGILITY ever again will be given at an initial consult for an injury. Generally, if there is an injury, a treatment plan is put into place and then assessments are made once that is done.
 

Saeleofu

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#6
I totally understand the freaking out part. While Logan was in training to be my SD, I overreacted at pretty much everything. MY DOG HURT HIS WRIST, WHAT IF HE HAS TO BE WASHED OUT BECAUSE HE'S LAME FOREVER? (mind you, he never was lame when he hurt it, t was just a laceration). MY DOG BARKED AT A SKATEBOARD, WHAT IF HE HAS TO BE WASHED OUT BECAUSE HE HATES SKATEBOARDS? (he has never reacted to a skateboard since). MY DOG HAS DIARRHEA, WHAT IF HE HAS TO BE WASHED OUT BECAUSE HE HAS DIARRHEA FOR LIFE? (he was fixed with a food change and antibiotics, and has been fine for a couple years now).

I agree with the others - relax, continue crate rest, and wait and see what happens at the vet and onwards. His range of motion probably hasn't come back because it's still inflamed and painful from whatever he did to it.
 

DJEtzel

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#7
Haha, thank you for relating!

I'm just such a worrier. And I am glad to hear that there are a least OPTIONS in the worst case scenario via Beanie. Lasers don't sound cheap, but... :p

He's been resting for a week, I brought him to the park today to see how he was feeling, warmed him up, threw the ball once and he was almost limping. >.< back into the crate he goes. At least the vet will have something to see, unlike Frag, the medical mystery. :p
 

SaraB

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Haha, thank you for relating!

I'm just such a worrier. And I am glad to hear that there are a least OPTIONS in the worst case scenario via Beanie. Lasers don't sound cheap, but... :p

He's been resting for a week, I brought him to the park today to see how he was feeling, warmed him up, threw the ball once and he was almost limping. >.< back into the crate he goes. At least the vet will have something to see, unlike Frag, the medical mystery. :p
Dude! That's not crate rest!! I would be doing absolutely nothing with him until you see a vet. Generally crate rest for a limp that won't go away is at least 2-4 weeks.

Think about it this way, the easier you go on him now, the less amount of time you have to deal with this. If you try to rush it now, you will most likely just keep postponing healing and will have a much bigger issue on your hands.
 

stardogs

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#9
Dude! That's not crate rest!! I would be doing absolutely nothing with him until you see a vet. Generally crate rest for a limp that won't go away is at least 2-4 weeks.
^This. When Kes hurt his shoulder at 7mo he was on crate rest for 2 weeks - he looked fine after week 1, but the second week made it "stick". Crate rest for him was literally in his crate except for leashed *walks* for 5 minutes 3-4 times/day. He got all his meals in treat dispensing toys, but yea, rest is REST!
 

DJEtzel

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#10
Dude! That's not crate rest!! I would be doing absolutely nothing with him until you see a vet. Generally crate rest for a limp that won't go away is at least 2-4 weeks.

Think about it this way, the easier you go on him now, the less amount of time you have to deal with this. If you try to rush it now, you will most likely just keep postponing healing and will have a much bigger issue on your hands.
I know! :(

I'm definitely not trying to rush it. I had to bring him to work anyway so I figured I would throw the ball ONCE and see how he felt. But, it seems with less activity it gets worse. He was barely limping before and now he's obviously limping after running 10 feet for a tennis ball? :/

The limp doesn't last at all which is why it was hard for me to gauge how long I should rest him for... It's never lasted for more than 5 minutes and he's "fine"... he just can't bend his wrist. But there's no inflammation or swelling to the eye anymore and it doesn't bother him- since Wednesday night for all of a half hour. Which was what kind of brought me to my original conclusion.. but I have no idea. I guess I thought he'd be able to move around a little since he hadn't done anything in a week and had no obvious pain/discomfort.

Eta; OH, and treat dispensing toys ARE a miracle. I bought a genius toy for Sir for his birthday and Recon has been using it for all of his meals and LOVES that thing. :) And I also just emailed my instructors to bow out of classes. :cry:
 

Saeleofu

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#11
Lasers don't sound cheap
I was actually surprised by how affordable they are around here. I think it's $25 for a single session and $40 for a double, or somewhere in that range, and twice a week. So, ~$50 a week for a month to have a healthy dog again? OKAY! My dogs have not needed it yet, but when I dogsat a couple summers ago two of the dogs needed it twice a week for arthritis, and it REALLY helped them.
 

DJEtzel

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I was actually surprised by how affordable they are around here. I think it's $25 for a single session and $40 for a double, or somewhere in that range, and twice a week. So, ~$50 a week for a month to have a healthy dog again? OKAY! My dogs have not needed it yet, but when I dogsat a couple summers ago two of the dogs needed it twice a week for arthritis, and it REALLY helped them.
Wow! That's good to know! That's also half of my paycheck every week, but we can handle that when/if the time comes.
 

Beanie

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I was actually surprised by how affordable they are around here. I think it's $25 for a single session and $40 for a double, or somewhere in that range, and twice a week. So, ~$50 a week for a month to have a healthy dog again? OKAY! My dogs have not needed it yet, but when I dogsat a couple summers ago two of the dogs needed it twice a week for arthritis, and it REALLY helped them.
Ditto - it's comparable with chiropractor care here. $40 for a session of chiro care, I think it's like $30-50 for the laser therapy. Not too bad really, and I've heard good things about it. I've never used it with Auggie though.
 

Saeleofu

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Ditto - it's comparable with chiropractor care here. $40 for a session of chiro care, I think it's like $30-50 for the laser therapy. Not too bad really, and I've heard good things about it. I've never used it with Auggie though.
So, I have a quick question about chiro. There was one at the Sunflower Cluster, and I was considering having Logan examined and/or adjusted since it was $50 and no travel. But doesn't it need to be done more than once if something is off? I figured it was pointless to do it once and then not be able to follow up, so I didn't do it.
 

Beanie

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So, I have a quick question about chiro. There was one at the Sunflower Cluster, and I was considering having Logan examined and/or adjusted since it was $50 and no travel. But doesn't it need to be done more than once if something is off? I figured it was pointless to do it once and then not be able to follow up, so I didn't do it.
I am not a chiropractor (and in the animal world a chiro must legally also be a DVM; in the human word a chiro has a certificate program but is not legally required to be a PHD) so take this with that in mind...

I would say it depends on the issue.

Auggie, for example, ran into the wall one day (less gracefully than normal) and wrenched his neck. Like he was walking crooked as a result. He also slipped practicing agility in the snow one time and landed hard on his shoulder/neck and wrenched that. Those issues were resolved with one adjustment because it was minor trauma and the adjustment was done within a short time of the trauma happening (less than a week both times IIRC.)

On the other hand Auggie needs routine chiropractic care because of his feet, because he stands funny, and that throws lots of things out of alignment - his shoulders because he stands funny, which throw off his hips, and his back gets torqued slightly as a result. He also sometimes needs an adjustment at the wrist, and when he did agility he frequently jammed toes and needed those adjusted - the jammed toes were an easy fix and wouldn't need readjusted except he continued to jam them. I would not be surprised if I took Payton in right now and he had a jammed toe or two just given his craziness.

(From a human perspective, by the time it comes to an adjustment usually it's become a chronic problem that takes multiple adjustments to fix, OR it's a chronic problem as a result of things we do. Like for example I have a chronic problem because I have poor posture while sitting at a computer all day at work.)

So it depends entirely on what is going on and what is/was the cause. I would not find HARM in a single adjustment, but you may not get the full benefits if there is some kind of chronic problem that will require multiple adjustments. Possibly not useless if, say, a single adjustment revealed a chronic problem to you and let you know that he needed further care. But in most cases I think if there's a chronic problem you would see suggestions that there's an issue in one way or another from the dog and his behaviour.
 

Saeleofu

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Thanks! That makes sense. Next time I may get him seen, just out of curiosity. I've been told once (by someone who is not a chiro and made the judgement based on a single photo) that he needs his sacrum adjusted. So I've been curious since then to see if that's true, or if she's whacko lol. There's just nobody around here that does it.
 

DJEtzel

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#18
And once he has recovered, stop training a puppy in agility on full sized equipment until his growth plates have closed.
Excuse me? He's jumping 8" and the only time he's on a contact is for 2o2o training and getting him used to the movement of the teeter while it's held. He doesn't weave or do anything with impact. Everything his breeder and all three of my trainers approve of. Thank you for your judgement, but I will do what I want with MY dog and take the opinions of highly regarded trainers and breeders in my life.
 

MandyPug

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Excuse me? He's jumping 8" and the only time he's on a contact is for 2o2o training and getting him used to the movement of the teeter while it's held. He doesn't weave or do anything with impact. Everything his breeder and all three of my trainers approve of. Thank you for your judgement, but I will do what I want with MY dog and take the opinions of highly regarded trainers and breeders in my life.
Umm...

Recon did pretty awesome on some serpentines and 2o2o work after my agility classes yesterday, so I took him out to the park today to work on 2o2o more with teeter work and weaves. He is doing so awesome. He has chained 6 weaves now and is no longer scared shitless of the teeter and will move over it pretty confidently! Yay!
So is he doing weaves or not doing weaves?
 

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#20
Ignoring the other issues (which I agree with Ado on, but I know you've discussed it with people and have made your decision), I would make a point to find a rehab or 'sports' focused vet. I had issues with Gusto being lame a few weeks ago, and messed around with a regular vet and a chiro vet before I finally went to a rehab vet. Best decision ever. She did a full on lameness work up before diagnosing a bicep strain (other vet just wanted x-rays without ever even examining him). He had two laser treatments ($35/each) and was back to light agility work (ZERO jumping/weaves/contacts, but tunnels and "ground poles" between standards) 8 hours after the first laser treatment. After dealing with horse lameness for years, I was incredibly disappointed by how most small animal vets handle lameness. This vet renewed my faith.
 

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