back left leg pain

Question
Abby, our 3 year old, 75 pound, Lab Queensland cross started limping on her back left leg about 4 weeks ago.  I kept her in the house except for potty breaks for a few days and she got better.  Then I took her to the park, where she is like a rocket across the grass, for about 1/2 an hour.  After we got back home she took a nap and was limping again when she woke up.  Again, I kept her in for about a week and she was again improved but a short walk, on a leash, to the park and back and she was limping again.  We kept her in for a few more days and she was doing better but yesterday again she was limping and today she is even worse, wimpering whenever she puts any weight on the leg.  I have gone over her legs comparing them and I can not find any lumps, swelling or irregularities in her leg or foot.  I have been giving her a bayer asprin twice a day, but today it doesn't seem to be doing her much good.  I hate seeing her in pain, but I do not have a couple hundred dollars to take her to the vet.  I thought of trying to tie up the leg so she can't use it for a couple of days, but I don't know if this will make it worse.  I am pretty sure it started as a sprain from doing "donuts" and playing on wet slippery grass while playing with out Chichuaua, but I don't know just how long I should keep her down so it can heal throughly.  Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Laura Riddell

Answer
What you might do is cut out the aspirin.  If the leg hurt more, she might use it less and give it time to heal.  And by the way, aspirin or better yet buffered aspirin, is the only over the counter pain killer to ever give a dog, 5 mg per pound of dog every 12 hours.  The acetophen and Ibruprofin are very dangerous.

The real solution is the vet.  My friend almost lost her Golden.  It wasn't just a sprain, but Lyme disease.