Mystery Limping Had Gone Away

[Guest KsFrets]

This is just a FYI post. We are learning! Our little Maggie girl had very long nails, and she clicked when she walked. She is terrified of clippers, growled and nipped and generally went ballistic at the sight of them...and that had a lot to do with the length of her nails (totally my fault).

 

Well, I didn't connect it right away, but she would really slow down towards the end of long walks. And sometimes begin to limp slightly. When we got home, she would really favor her right rear leg. I would look over every inch of her feet and legs, and find nothing wrong. One of her nails actually turned in a little. She would limp in the house for about 20 minutes or so after a walk, and be VERY slow navigating stairs...like it really caused pain. It was strange, because after she laid down and rested a while, the pain and limping would totally vanash, until after then next long walk or run.

 

After reading on GT that nails shouldn't touch the ground, I got out my old hobby dremel and got very serious. Taking a week to get our pups used to it, and beginning mild manacures every other day. Little Maggie now lets me trim her nails with the dremel. She is a little figity, but no fighting or nipping. About a week ago, I finally got her quicks short enough to where her nails do not touch the ground or click when she walks.

 

I had mentioned this in another post, but decided to make it a thread, because little Maggie is a new girl out on long walks and joggs!!! She keeps up the pace as long as I can, keeps up with Magnus no problem, and there is absolutely no more mystery limping or signs of any favoring or pain after walks. She is perky and happy and in a much better mood. No more dragging with her head down. The poor girl's nails were so long that her toes were hurting! I'm 99.9% sure that's the reason, because nothing else has changed. Just thought I'd relate our experiences, as it might be something to check if your doggie is dragging or limping for no apparent reason.

[Guest boni923]

Sounds like the nails were the problem! Now enjoy her newfound love of life!

[Wendie]

Glad it was a simple fix! Thanks for sharing your lesson learned!

[Guest KateWantsaGrey]

wow... that's crazy! Glad it was such a simple fix! Think how much money you could have spent at the vet trying to figure out what it was...

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

I am glad you found out what was bothering her. My hound really doesn't like his nails done; we use the dremel and it's not particularly pleasant for either of us, so at times I had been inclined to let his nails get a little long. I had him out in the wet grass once and when I saw his back toes all wet, I could really see how the long nails were changing the position of his toes (it was hard to see until the wet fur exposed more of the toe) After that I have been more religious about keeping them short. If only our hounds knew we are only looking out for their best interests when we bring out the dreaded clippers or dremels!

[Guest Ola]

That's a really good reminder! I think we all slack off once in a while when life gets busy (at least I do!). I'm going to get back to it and shorten them up some more tonight.

[Guest ejw]

I just went thru almost the same thing with Jamaica. I lost track of time with stuff going on here and haven't clipped for a while. Two days ago, Jamaica started limping, but I couldn't find any reason. It got to the point she wasn't weight-bearing on that foot and she didn't want me touching her foot. Turned out one toenail was a bit turned in and digging into its neighbour, making a tiny sore. Amidst much more protest than usual, I trimmed her nails. Instant relief for her, "bad mommy syndrome" for me!

[PatricksMom]

Glad you found such an easy to fix problem Dremeling is def. the way to go.