Dog Limping Front, Hind Leg

Limping in dogs may occur on account of an injury that has not been noticed for a long time and has gradually become worse or even on account of the onset of long term diseases such as arthritis. Hence it is necessary to do a thorough preliminary check to determine the exact cause of the limp.

Initially, as soon as you notice your dog limping, gently inspect the concerned limb and check for any signs of a cut, insect bites, splinters, unusual swelling or ingrown toenails. Excessively short or long toenails in dogs also result in the dog limping on its front or hind legs. Those pets that are relatively less active will have longer toe nails which over a period of time break off and expose the quick which is highly sensitive. This is an extremely painful condition which may get aggravated on account of licking and infections. Such ailments if not attended to at the earliest may manifest into major dog leg injuries. If a foreign object is suitably visible then you may try and extract the same gently using some tweezers else immediately take the dog to the vet. If there are no visible injuries and the dog is still limping on his front leg or hind leg, then gently massage each limb keeping a look out for any sign of discomfort exhibited by the dog on touching a particular area. Once it has been established that no external element or body is responsible for the dog hind leg injury or the dog front leg injury, then the next course of action would be to determine if the dog is suffering from any internal sprains or fractures which are making it unable to put weight on the concerned limb. Additionally there are also diseases caused by external parasites like Lyme disease and tick fever which if not diagnosed and attended to immediately will weaken the bones and ligaments of the dogs making it unable to walk properly.

Many large dog breeds on account of their genetics are prone to growth related limping such as that arising out of Pano, Hypertrophic osteodystrophy, Arthritis and hip Displaysia. Dog Arthritis pain can be minimized or avoided by ensuring that their toe nails are trimmed from time to time, their body weight is under control and they are not obese on account of overfeeding or lack or insufficient exercise.