Help! Leg may be broken? What ar symptoms?

Question
I have a 4month old English mastiff.  He eats puppy chow now and weighed 271b on January 23rd.  I haven't had the chance to weigh him previously yet.  2 days ago, i went out to feed him  my English mastiff puppy jumped up on the cage like my other 1 1/2 year old bullmastiff/french mastiff does. When he went to sit down, I heard my puppy yelp. I figured he must have sat down on his leg wrong.  Anyways, I picked him up and carried him to the house.  The puppy kind of favored his leg a little bit. He licked it once and kind of had a limp, for a short time.  I left the pup with my sister and went to call my mom.  When I came back, my sister said that the pup was walking just fine.  I didn't believe he was fine so I kept him in the patio.  He slept on th rug, and barely got up to walk, only to drink his water.  When my mom got home, she was still in the "running car" when she told me to bring the puppy out.  I set him down, and he began to run.  My mom said that the puppy was fine, I questioned her and said no he wasn't and that mastiffs, ENGLISH MASTIFFS ESPECIALLY have a high rate of health issues especially with puppies when it comes to their legs and growth.  My mom said he was fine and to leave it.  Now today, two days later, I let the pup out to view him again (I have checked on him everday since then) the pup began to run, I viewed his back leg and it seemed to kind of switch a little bit.  Like it was dislocated a little bit.  I am extremely worried!  My baby is a growing boy, and my mom does not know that this pup can have something wrong with his leg, that she doesn't see.  My other mastiff is much older and likes to play rough.  I often hear my puppy yelp.  I think it may be the other mastiff accidently stepping on his sore leg.  I told my mom we need to go to the vet, but she says the pup is fine.  I mean, yeah, the pup may look fine when he runs, but when I look extremely closely, the leg looks at though it is dislocated a little, or that, I don't know, that it may be bent out of place?  Is there anything at home I can do as far as wrapping it, until I can convince my mom to go to the vet.  Please, Please help!

Answer
Hi Elaine,

Knowing your puppy has a sore leg, you shouldn't be allowing him to run, have active play, or jump (including on or off furniture).

The only way to know if a bone is broken is to have it x-rayed. If your puppy continues to limp, or cries if he puts weight on the leg, then a vet exam is defiantly called for.

In the mean time, give him rest! Walk him on a leash, and then put him in his crate or contain him to part of a room with a child gate. Separate your puppy from your other mastiff, if that will help keep him quiet. If your puppy still seems to be in pain by Monday, you shouldn't put off having him examined any further. Dogs don't lie.

Best of luck,

Patti