Hey all
Short story: Achilles has a leg problem. He's 26.5kg and 14 months old.
Long story:
On the weekend Achilles was at the dog park playing with a GSD, both play rough and have done for months now. The thing is when he came over to the water bucket he held his right hind leg up. I thought maybe he had a piece of glass or something in his foot so I checked and nothing so then I thought maybe it was like a cork or something (cause he was getting thrown around quite a bit). He seemed ok and started to play again, after a while though he came back to drink... same thing. So I decided to call it a day just to be safe. He was fine over night and the next day there wasn't any problem so I took him back to the park in the arvo and he played with different dogs and was the one on top this time. All was well and we went home etc. On Monday however he was in the hall lying down (the tiles are nice and cool for him) and I'm working in the other room then I hear a yelp. Serious one. I go out and he's holding the leg up....after a minute or so he eases it down and seems ok again. I decided to keep him indoors cause outside he likes to jump on the BBQ and look over the fence. Nothing that day. Then on Tuesday I walk outside and I thought he was peeing... but once I got closer I realised he was holding it up again (might of been peeing before though). I took him to the vet and she examined him, manipulated the joints and couldn't find a problem. She suspects it might be a small muscular tear. Gave him an injection and pain killers and said if it continues after 7-10 days bring him back for possibly an X-ray. I've been giving him the pain killers as directed for 3 days now and every day he still has 1 or 2 moments when he holds it up... this morning he woke up and yelped, held it up AND managed to jump on my bed.... Has anyone had anything like this before? He's ok one minute. Holding it up the next. Then ok again... I've never seen anything like it before...

This sounds exactly what happened to my second husky, Tasha, when she was ten.
She tore a ligament in her hind leg jumping from the car.
My vet said no jumping or sudden tearing around until it healed.
It took about a month.
Because your dog is younger, if it is a tear, it will heal faster.

It's been over a week now and he seems to be mostly over it, I haven't caught him holding it for almost 3 days now so here's hoping it's the last time it happens... Hoping it was muscle rather than ligaments cause I don't want him to have a ligament tear this young...but even so it's better a tear then a rupture I guess

Beka has a tear on  her ACL I was told 8-12 wks to heal. She was good one day then evening she held it up.Vet said that dogs will play if given the opportunity even if hurt. They had us use a homeopathic drug Traumeel.  It is used for ACL surgery recovery and suppose to be great. 16-51 lbs is half tablet once to twice a day. Pm for single doses. I got it a Whole foods. You have to get it at a homepath store or health store usually.

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty concerned that it might be a ligament tear now...he was fine for 4 days but today he was holding it up again...Will have to take him to the vet early next week for a more thorough examination....will be a pain in all sense of the word it's a ligament tear =/

Just got back from the vet and she's diagnosed a Luxating Patella

Aw I'm sorry to hear that! Try not to freak too much tho because it can be quite manageable without surgery depending on the severity. My girl has it in both hind legs and she is doing very well. It presented itself prior to her first birthday. Granted we keep a close eye on her weight and do have to limit her exercise/craziness somewhat. She takes a hip/joint supplement daily and we do have pain meds on hand in case she overdoes it, but honestly we rarely need it. I don't think she is in pain and we take it a day at a time. I can tell when one or both have luxated because she walks in a goofy bowlegged way until they pop back in place. She used to draw them up like your pup, but stopped doing that and just keeps going like it's no big deal. If/when she starts showing she's hurting or it is getting worse, surgery may be considered. From what i have researched it is at least $2000 per knee. What has your vet recommended? Don't be afraid to get second opinions either. You can read our experience and those of a few other members who have dealt with LP here Luxating Patella

Yeah I've read your luxating patella topic and there was alot of good info about non-surgical options thanks
But I'm going to opt for surgery. He won't be able to walk for 2 months at least but I want him to be able to play rough with the other dogs like he always has done rather than limit it for the rest of his life. And it's covered by pet insurance so won't be too bad financially. Just a pain it's happened so close to Christmas. I was quoted 3-4K for the surgery on one leg but it's by the best surgeon in Australia so not that concerned about the price. The vet recommended surgery, she said if he didn't have surgery he'd grind the cartilage down fast and it'd be painful/is painful whenever it pops out.
They're also going to check his other side and hips in the x-rays so hoping nothing else is wrong

Do they do laser therapy there as well? That has helped our leg surgery patients great in healing. Just remember that when they tell you to keep him in his crate please do, I've seen dogs that had to be re-operated on because they weren't kept immobile.

The vet hasn't mentioned anything about laser therapy but I'll ask about it. I booked him in for early January - the day after the surgeon gets back from holidays. Yeah I'm still trying to work out the best way to confine him. He's crate trained. And it's a fairly big crate (48"). But at the same time theres like a 10-15cm lip which I'm concerned he may catch on his way in or out....so I'm looking at getting a small play pen type thing that he won't be tempted to jump at when he's over his post op tiredness/pain and doesn't have an entry he's got to step over

Just venting. Everything was going ok until 2 days ago. He was leaning against me while I was scratching him and he tried to move more into me then started holding it up. Made an appointment with the surgeon ASAP, was hoping it was maybe a twinge or some one-off but he got up real quick today and same thing, I'm no professional but pretty sure that all but confirms a relapse. Surgeon is away for 2 weeks though so I'm hoping it doesn't become a 1-2 times a day thing...Really sad to watch him in pain, especially when he turns around to look at me with those eyes that say 'help me'