Muscle pull / strained ligaments

[Marshalls_Master]

Hi,

Out on a walk yesterday my dog pulled up whilst sprinting back with a dummy.He has had a limp since on a front leg. He is putting some weight on the leg and not showing any discomfort when I've squeezed up and down the leg (still following me around and wagging his tail!). How long would you leave it to recover before visiting the vet?

Any opinions welcome - I'm sure that a fair number of you have experienced similar events.

Thanks,
James.

[Catherine Connolly]

Hi my spaniel bitch strained her ligaments a couple of weeks ago,, And the vet said it could take months to heal, She walks good on it most days but she sometimes gets very stiff and she cant put it to the ground.. Think ill be bringing her back for a x ray next week if its not improving... give your dog a week or two and see if it gets better if not bring Him to the vet for a check up..

[Gignesthai]

Our girl pulled up a few months ago, and we considered vets but she seemed happy in herself (unlike the time before), so we just kept an eye, reduced exercise and more rest and made sure that it was improving every day. After 48 hours we let her off lead, but restricted the time and watched for any sign of a problem, it took about a week before she was back to full strength. I would judge day by day if not serious enough to rush straight to the vet and make sure you can see an improvement.

[Marshalls_Master]

Thanks for the comments, its improved slightly through the day so hopefully he'll be back to his bouncy Lab self in a couple of weeks. I'm sure he'll be happy sleeping more and walking less for a few weeks!!!

[Gignesthai]

When we started letting her run around it was a little of the two steps forward three steps back, as in after a few minutes it would show signs of potential weakening again, so we just watched and followed her lead, stopping her when it started to bother again, it took a week or so to get back to speed and stamina. But made improvements every day.

[Marshalls_Master]

Sounds like how I would deal with one of my many Rugby injuries!! Usually don't manage to get to the second step though...

[keirk]

Jack did a similar thing about 2 weeks ago - left it a week with just short onlead exercise. Didnt seem to improve so took him to the vets (for the 2nd time in Jan!) and she prescibed a week of zero exercise and a couple of caripreve (i understand they are ibuprofen for dogs) a day.

Seems like he is nearly back to his old self again today.

[vicky payne]

one week slow lead walking. visit vet is he's miserable for painkiller.