Sudden joint problem hind leg on my g.s.d.

Question
My 8 yr. old g.s.d. got herself "straddled" over the rear seats in my car last week. She was a bit "lame" when we found her about half an hr. later, but has seemed ok during the week when we are out. I took her for a walk yesterday and within a couple of minutes she held her back leg right up and cried. I didn't know what to do as I thought she had something in her paw and was prepared to carry her back to the car, but then she was ok and we continued on our walk and she was fine? When we got home I inspected her pads on that leg with a magnifying glass and found nothing wrong. When she gets up from a lie down she is quite bad on that hind leg,but then she is running around like nothing is wrong! Although when we got back from a run this morning she lifted it SLIGHTLY (nothing like yesterday). Could she have "put it out" so to speak or damaged something, as I am worried it could be the start of hip displacia or would that be in both her hind legs and not just one? She has only been like this since getting stuck across the back seats of the car though. Many thanks for any help you can give me. Helen.

Answer
Hi Helen,

It sounds like she could've injured a joint or a muscle while trying to wiggle free - or even stretched or sprained or strained a muscle.  It sounds like you've been keeping a careful eye on it, so that's really good.

No, it's not hip displasia - that would've shown by about two years old.  It isn't something that develops from an injury or anything like that, it's genetic.  

I think that if you take her to your vet, he'll take an x-ray, find nothing, and give you a painkiller or a muscle relaxer.  It's worth finding an animal chiropractor.  You can ask your vet or chiropractor for a referral, or you can go to avcadoctors.com to find a certified doctor in your area.  

Keep me posted - I'm always interested to hear where these go.  Good luck,

Dr Larry
  P.S. What does "g.s.d." stand for?
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Dr Larry Allen
Doctor of Chiropractic
Certified Animal Chiropractor
President, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association
"If it has a Spine, I'll Adjust It!"
drlarry@performanceequine.com
   (951) 852-1600