Clumsy Dog

[lehughes]

I am treating a 4 y.o. GSD who came in for clicking in her joints and inability to sit, reduced activity level.
We fixed the sitting problem and activity level problem by fixing her SIJ. The clicking started to resolve but returned and the vet feels she has fluid in her joints from a polyarthropathy of some kind.

The other owner complaint is overall clumsiness since she was young. In the corner of my feeble little brain I thought I remembered you referring to clumsiness as a symptom of something but can’t for the life of me remember what…Looked through my notes in your advanced spinal stuff and couldn’t find it either…..

Am I hallucinating?
JP

[lehughes]

Hmmm... I'm not recalling exactly the context either.
Off the top of my brain:

Hip dysplasia
Neospora (in the spinal cord)
Wobblers
Cerebral palsy (not yet recognized in dogs... but it's gotta happen)
Sensory integration disorder (tactile hyposensitivity)
Weird cerebellar stuff

???


Laurie

[jb4dogs]

Has anyone checked this dog's vision? I'm working with a friend's Irish Wolfhound who is sure (the IW) she cannot jump, though she is very fast & agile. Also had trouble with stairs - spent a weekend at my house, now does stairs & we will be doing cavalettis, walk over ladder, etc, expect she just needs to learn she can do all these things.
Another incredibly clumsy dog is a young Newfoundland - 10 months old, has no idea where any of her 4 feet are, nor does she care. Will try the above exercises & see what happens? thanks, Jill

[lehughes]

Eyes is an interesting and credible suggestion indeed Jill! I too had a clumsy great dane (with some other weird undiagnosed neurologic stuff), and his descending of stairs was awful! When we tested it in clinic, I noticed how he lowered his head down as far as he could to try to 'see' the next step. That was the first clue that the owners (or I) had that there was a vision issue.
Laurie