How to Assess Lameness in Dogs

Dogs get into trouble with their feet. Some injuries are easily treated by Mama Nature and time, others need surgery and others are often incurable. The wise dog owner knows what to look for and how to direct care appropriately.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dog
• Your own hands
• Level surface
• Dog anatomy book

1. Know your dog's habits. Do they normally limp? Are they normally slow? What does their normal gait look like? If lameness happens or pain in one of the limbs, get a history of the events that happened from someone who was watching (or should have been). Start by feeling all of the legs, comparing heat, bumps and lumps on left side vs. right side. Are there any abnormalities? Is anything painful? Also assess the eyes. If the right pupil (black part of the eye) is smaller than the other and the right leg if paralyzed, it could mean that there is injury to the brachial plexus on one side, which is an irreversible injury. For the knee, see if the bone above it (femur) is easily dislocated from the bones below it.

2. If you feel bone breaks, surgical repair is needed. Plating and pinning is best (casts are no longer used). But if you don't feel a bone break, there still could be one. X-ray is only real indicator.

3. Consider giving aspirin for pain. Usually a 70-pound dog can handle one adult aspirin two times a day. If there is mild inflammation, this will help. If severe inflammation or structural damage, it won't.
   
   If amputation is required, it is not a death sentence. Dogs do very well on three legs if such turns out to be necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are in remote locations, these may be necessary things for you to know.
• Consult veterinarian to seek help in diagnosis and treatment.
• Sometimes many injuries can happen. Beware that injuries are normally never as they are neatly described in the textbooks. As the expression goes, the patient rarely reads the textbooks.

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