8 month old mix breed

Question
QUESTION: Hello Jana; We adopted an 8 month old mix breed dog about 3 weeks ago, named Penny.   My guess is she is a type of border collie/collie/golden mix, weighing in at about 50 lbs and she has a longer body than she is tall.  While she is a lovely sweet dog, she is what I call 'clunky'' and has no grace to her whatsoever.  It is not a problem and rather endearing.  

I have had her checked at the vet and she passed it all with flying colors.  Perfectly healthy and very sweet disposition. 1 issue we continue to have is that she limps occasionally with her front right shoulder.  Sometimes it is very pronounced, other times not at all.  She does not appear in pain.  The vet manipulated all of her joints and inspected her pads/shoulder etc and found nothing wrong.  She recommended supplements for joint/muscle but also thought it could just be soft tissue.   In your experience, have you observed these to help any animals?  

Second; since we have been to the vet, Penny has started regurgitating sporadically.  It seems that it is sudden as she will just stop and spit on the floor.  Not a lot of heaving or retching at all. Not alot of content and usually hours after she has been fed. She doesn't seem that bothered by it.  She has been uncontrollable in eating unknowns out of the yard, no matter how hard I try to prevent it.  Berries, leaves, etc... but this is not in the content of what she regurgitates.  Any insight on this?  She eats dry dog food, quite heartily and enjoys her training treats.  She is always in good spirits and again, doesn't seem bothered by either of her issues.  

Just wanted to have another opinion on her issues.  Thanks very much.

ANSWER: I would be concerned about any limping in an 8 month old dog, especially with retriever in it. Some dogs can develop a condition called Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), which is where a small piece of cartilage breaks free and it is loose inside the joint. This can cause pain and inflammation of the area and the joint. It is common in the shoulder joint and occasionally in the hip joints. Here is an article about it:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1569&aid=464

The only way to diagnose it is by xrays or ultrasound.   
Now that is only one thing it could be, but it is something to consider. Could just be a muscle strain as well, which rest should take care of.

Regurge is not uncommon, but if it's daily that is not common. She may be eating too fast, or she may need to have her bowl raised up into a tray. This helps them slow down to eat. Some owners use a big ball in the bowl and the dog has to eat around it.

My question of her eating content outside of the yard is, how is she getting out of the yard by herself? She should always be on a leash outside of your yard so she doesn't "uncontrollably" eat someone's antifreeze that is in their garage. It would be the last thing she eats.

So keep her in the yard, raise up her food and talk to your vet about having her shoulder xrayed or scoped if the limping continues.

She will probably outgrow most of her clumsiness to boot! She is after all, a teenager!!




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry, I was unclear about eating out of the yard.  I meant she eats debris out of OUR yard - we have a fence and she is always leashed outside of our yard.  I would like to be able to allow her freedom in the fenced area but for now I am with her in the yard, her on leash to keep her from ingesting debris.  We live on the edge of woods and there is constantly berries, leaves, acorns, etc in our grass.

Answer
Of course it would depend on the type of berries she is eating as to whether or not they are going to upset her stomach, but I can tell you from experience that dogs LOVE acorns and they are VERY hard on a dogs stomach! The reason is the tannic acid in them. Deer have no problem with them but dogs tend to get sick from them.

Some get really sick and some just urp a lot. I would rake them up if you can and dispose of them. Black walnuts are another hazard for dogs as well.

Puppies LOVE to chew and taste, so give her some nylabones while she is out there and maybe she will stop rooting around for truffles and eating acorns.
:-)