Please help!

Question
We have a 10 year old White German Sheppard.  We have noticed that she is having trouble getting up and sitting down.  It seems that his back legs are not connecting with the rest of her.  She is full of life and when she gets excited she comes down the hallway hitting the walls without control.  We took her to a vet and they told us that we nee dto take her to a neurologist because it is not arthritis or hip displecia......the vet did not even want to take X rays.....do you have any recommendations?  Thanks!

Answer
Hi, first off they can't tell if the dog has Hip Dysplasia or not unless they do X-rays.  It is physically impossible to tell until they do X-rays.  I would first find a vet who would do x-rays, and then yes I would look into neurological problems as that would be the next step in the process.  It is so hard to say what it could be without tests being done on the dog.  He is getting up there in years, so a lot of it can be attributed to him getting older and things weakening in the back end.  I wish I could be of more help, but unfortunately you have to jump through the hoops to narrow down what could wrong.  

Dawn