Sprain leg - Anyone with experience?

[fr4nnie]

My dog sprained its legs about a 3 weeks ago, nothing major. No bruises, not swollen and would only limp when getting up, it only lasted for a day. I was restricting him and he was in his crate resting for two days. After that the limp went away and he was fine again, however I started doing more exercise with him and he started limping again, he only limps after a nap, when getting up, and after a few steps he is back to normal. So I restricted him again and he was back to normal, always the same leg, the front leg.

Now it happened again, I guess this time it was because he was playing with the other dogs. He wakes up slightly limping and it will go away.

Can this be something else besides a sprain? How long for a sprain to heal properly?

He is resting now in his crate and I will be watching him closely. This time i will restrict him for 2 weeks. I guess that is what i should have done to begin with.

The vet told me that to rest him, and if he could put weight on it and was limping just after getting up and after a few steps it was gonne it was probably a mild sprain. But now I am getting confused and will probably go to the vet for x-rays.

Anyone with sprain experience please enlighten me, none of my dogs had this before, and I never had it myself so I am getting a little frustrated with this situation.

If you can share your experience with sprains it would be great.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

Is it a front leg or a hind leg?

If strict rest for one week doesn't resolve the issue, I would be concerned that it's more than a sprain.

[fr4nnie]

It is the front leg. He is being restricted for two week now without any jumping or running.

He is fine overall, when restricted he stops limping and is back to normal, so I guess I am not giving hi the right amount of time he needs.I already contacted his vet and will wait to hear what she has to say.

Thank You.

[HappyPuppy]

I would think a sprain would hurt for a week at least - could it be arthritis setting in?

[dogs4jen]

Did they take an x-ray?

[Misskiwi67]

Sprains don't tend to come back again. I would get a second opinion and x-rays. Dogs only limp when they are REALLY painful - think ACL rupture and toe-touching...

[Mooresmajestic]

How old is he?

[PitBull-Lady]

Sprains don't tend to come back again. I would get a second opinion and x-rays. Dogs only limp when they are REALLY painful - think ACL rupture and toe-touching...

This is exactly what happened with our first dog. I'd have it looked at. They really don't show pain until it's bad... our dog was pure proof of that

[fr4nnie]

Thank you for everyones concern,

I ended up taking him to the vet just to be on the safe side. After the vet finished examining him (stretching his legs back and forth, I was about to cry) he said it was a pulled muscle and to rest him for two weeks, he was such a good boy and did not complain, and the vet did not see anything major to take his xray, however is not batter of course go back and do further tests. So no playing running jumping for Mr. Black.

So after all it was what I thought it was, I was not giving enough time to recover properly.

Thank you for everyones information and concerns, I will now accept ideas of how keep him entertained for these two weeks.

[dogs4jen]

That is the hard part. Try to do some mental things with him, like teaching him some new tricks. If he is the type that doesn't just destroy all toys, puzzle toys and food dispensing toys like the wobbler can help entertain him.

[fr4nnie]

It is super hard, specially because he has a lot of energy, and he won’t stop barking/crying/screaming when inside his cage. it is breaking my heart, I hope these week goes by really fast.