possible Systemic Lupus in our 10 wk old GSD

Question
We are the proud owners of a 10 week old GSD. He presented with a limp shortly after bringing him home and also had a boil like lesion on his lower lip. He was treated with Amoxicillin for 5 days for the lip and the lesion went away. The limp came and went. After playing one day I noticed dried "sores" on the pads of his paws x 4 and little crusty lesions on his heels. He also had some little eruptions of boil like lesions on various knnuckles of his front paws-all with dried heads. Had he been older I would have suspected too much wear from pavement-but this puppy is on grass and in our home. He was taken to the vet and medicated with Clavamox 125mg for 7 days with no improvement in lesions or limp. In fact, the limp became more obvious-having a hard time going up and down stairs. His appetite remains good and he is drinking/pottying well. He is successfully potty trained to date. I took him to a new vet for a second opinion  yesterday and she felt that he had some kind of auto-immune condition, doing a CBC, urinalysis, biopsies of 3 paws and x-rays of hips and elbows (upon exam he seemed tender with flexion/extension of both elbows). His CBC showed anemia, otherwise everything else was WNL, his urinalysis was WNL, his x-rays showed inflammation of all joints and the biopsy results will be back tomorrow. She is having a radiologist look at the films, but sent us home with Rimadyl 25mg QD. She has a heavy suspicion that if it is not Lupus, it is some other auto-immune disease. The puppy (Cougar) came from a litter of 11 with none of the other puppies showing any similar signs. I did speak with the gal we got him from and she mentioned that the mom got lesions in her mouth and her face swelled 2 days after delivery (12/30/04), and she was put on a round of antibiotics with successful results. I have great faith in my vet, but need some input on what info I have. I have tried to look the potential dx up on the internet with little luck. Could you please give me any insight as we want to do what is best for our littlest family member. P.S. He "galloped" up the stairs today and really had an active period playing with our other dog-running and leaping. So the combination of prayer and Rimadyl hopefully are working. Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Hi, unfortunately it does sound like an auto-immune disorder.  The bad thing is that Rimadyl may just give temporary comfort.  I wish I could be of more help, but you are on the right track as far as following the clues to what is wrong.  If you can find the dog's grandparents (or some of their offspring), you might be able to find out if this is something genetic or not (another clue to figuring out what is wrong).  Some things will jump generations, it is very common for people to look at the parents, but not think of the grandparents.  Something else you just might look into if you are able to.  Hope this helps.  Good Luck.

Dawn