Effie was running at the park on Friday, chasing Carmen. She fell behind (which is unlike Effie - she's competitive!) and stopped, and came back to where we were standing. She had no noticeable limp, but did not run for the rest of our time there by her choice. At night when we got home from work, she was very slow and mopey. She had a large slight red mark on the inside of her thigh, but no visible pain when I palpated it. She did put weight on it, but I could tell that she was limping slightly, and she was walking slow.
She woke up as happy as a clam on Saturday morning, and she's been acting fine since then, not favoring the leg, so this morning, I let her run again. She did not run much. However, when we got home, I could tell that she was hurting and when she laid down on the floor, I could see that her thigh and butt were very red, almost bruised and the area was larger and darker red than on Friday. I will try for a picture later. She's a white dog, so the red mark was very prominent. However, there was no swelling in the area at all. I palpated her down her spine and legs and nothing specific seems to be bothering her. Her appetite is OK, she ate most of her breakfast and a couple of saltines that she begged off of me. Could a pulled muscle cause bruising like this, or can you think of something that would?