I have been noticing for a while that my dog's hind legs have been getting weaker. But now she's stumbling almost daily - either when coming up the back stairs to the door, or when gets in the kitchen and is excited about treat time after being out..her legs just go out from under her. She doesn't seem to be in pain and gets back up on her own. She's still very playful and eating good...but I'm getting worried about what's going on with her. I think she is the last of her litter to still be living.

Have any of you had issues with this type of thing before?

Sounds like some sort of knee or hip dysplasia to me. You should go to your vet and get her checked out. There is some steps you can do to help her out. Most of the time I hear it is a surgical procedure, but there are pain med's and vitamins you can give her to help make her bones and joints stronger. But as I said, go to your vet, get their opinion of what you should do.

I agree. Sounds like hip dysplasia or arthritis. Your vet can do x-rays to determine which and also the severity of it. My mutt has severe hip dysplasia and after a long walk or rough play it's like his hind end just doesn't function properly and he might not be able to get himself up in the car or he takes all his weight on his front legs to lay down or get up. I have him on a glucosamine condroitin supplement as well as choloidal silver and have seen some improvement with that combination. If you can take the stairs out of her routine or limit them that could help as well. We have lots of stairs off our back porch but none out the front so we take Keno out the front often times. I would also suggest if you know anyone who had one of the litter mates, potentially quizzing them on if their dog had similar issues. Hip dysplasia is genetic and passed from parents to pups and that's why testing before breeding and getting from quality breeders is so important.

I think for this you really need to seek the advice of a vet who can physically evaluate her.

My mother in law has a 14 yr old Chihuahua whose front legs give out all the time. He also doesn't appear to be in pain and gets right back up but every few steps the poor dog collapses to the floor. After many trips to the vet, they have no answer as to the reason although the dog does have numerous other non-related health concerns.

So here's the furry skinny - Shey is doing amazingly well for her age. The Vet found back pain which maybe contributing to her hind end weakness and stumbling. She also has muscle tone loss in the back just due to her age. Her range of motion is great and we are starting her on medication for joints and pain control. Blood work has been sent to the lab to check liver and kidney function to make sure she can handle the medication. She will then be checked every few months to make sure it's all still going good.

Tidbit they think has an upper respiratory infection. Her blood work came back normal so we caught it very early. She has some discharge around her nose that isn't usually there so that's why the vet thinks it might be upper respiratory. She is on an antibiotic and I will be monitoring her temperature for a few days to make sure it stays down. When it gets up to 105, they don't like to send the dog home. When they put her in a cage with ice packs, her temp came down to 103.

So 3 hours, 400 bucks and two medications later...we are all home!