[bnwalker]

Something strange happened to Scooter Sunday night. We were outside working on the cars all day and had him outside with us, it was a really nice day. I gave him a bath while we were out there too... he needed it! While we were working he was tied by his leash to the shoeing stocks that are sitting outside. He was right next to us the entire time, and had lots of water to drink. We were getting ready to head inside and we were going to walk him around the yard for a little while first. I untied him and we started walking up the yard... I noticed he was "bunny hopping" a little... picking his whole hind end up and hopping as he was walking. I picked him up to make sure he didn't have something in his foot, all checked out fine. But when I put him back on the ground he started acting really strange... he was acting like he couldn't walk at all, lifting his front feet high off the ground and then falling over, his legs were all trying to go in different directions and it looked really scary. I picked him up and he kept moving his legs a bunch then he settled down. I put him back down and he started doing it again... picked him up and carried him almost to the door then I set him down again and he "bunny hopped" for a second and then started running like nothing was wrong. It scared us pretty bad, but he has acted perfectly fine every since, running and jumping and playing and acting normal. I wasn't sure if I should take him to the vet or just wait and if it happens again take him to the vet.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Do dogs get leg cramps? Your description sounds like what I go through when I get awakened with a leg cramp at night. Or it might be that a nerve or muscle got pinched and he worked it out. If it were me, I would just make a note of it and ask the vet about it the next time you take Scooter in for something. Of course, if it keeps happening, you would want to get him checked out.

 

[kgh]

If you are there when it happens again, see if you can check his eyes. If they are dilated, he might be having small seizure.

 

[jtward01]

I think he probably had a seizure. Suzi's aren't quite like you describe, but the part about her legs going in different direction sure is familiar.

 

[fuchsh]

I think his behavior also sounds similar to a seizure. A friend of mine had a cat with epilepsy, and when he had a seizure he will pull his legs up really strange, almost as if they had a mind of their own. I think that sounds similar to what you described and beagles are prone to having seizures.

 

[Murphys Dad]

It sounds like a seizure to me, too. When Spook has a seizure, he staggers around and his legs go out in all directions. If it should be determined that it was a seizure, don't be too alarmed. Seizures are controllable.

 

[bnwalker]

I wondered about the possibility of seizures too. When it happened, my boyfriend kept saying "look at his eyes, do they look crossed to you?". But by the time I could look at his eyes they looked fine. I've had a dog with epilepsy in the past, so I know it's not something to panic about. I will definitely take him to the vet if it happens again though.

 

[cheerio]

How old is Scooter? Pups anywhere from 5 to 20 months can suffer from a developpmental problem called Pano. It involves the long bones so the legs, and occur when one of the bone grow faster than the parallele bone. This causes pain to the dog who then walks funny. The key symptom is that the problem appears to be with one leg at one time and later another one. This is why it is also called "Wandering lameness". It is in fact nothing more than what we know in children as "growing pains".
The bad news is that it can debilitate a pup quite seriously on occasion and the dog may have to be put on antiinflamatory to help the pain, as well as restrict his exercises when the symptoms flair up.
The good news is that it is self limitating and ALWAYS dissapear by the time the pup reaches 20 months of age, that is, once the bone have reach their maturity.

 

[bnwalker]

Quote:Originally posted by cheerio:
How old is Scooter?

Scooter will be 17 weeks old on Monday.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Call you vet and explain all the symtoms that occurred. Make sure that it gets documented. I would have her checked out.

It sounds like a seizure, but dogs usually can't walk while having one. It could also be a back injury. Get him looked at. Let a vet make the call.

 

[ristau5741]

I'd say leg or back,

There's no mistaking a seizure. if you aren't used to it, seizures can be one of the scariest things to witness.

If it were a seizure, you'd notice some disorentation for a few seconds after the seizure ended.

 

[cheerio]

17 weeks is a little young for Pano but not unheard of. I agree that most seizure are unmiskable, although a first very mild one can occur in a way that it can be understood only in the light of a next more severe one.