This isn't me complaining about how I've have 4 vets now show 0 concern for my situation, it's to see if anyone has had a pup with similar issues, and what their diagnosis was. I live in a small town and have now exhausted all vets in driving distance, so I've kinda given up there.
First off, my dog is only 3, and she's had these issues her whole life. This has led me to conclude that it's a genetic issue. I have no idea what in the world her breed is; people often try to tell me she's part beagle, but she's like 68lbs...
First thing I noticed was off about her was that she, even as a tiny puppy, could barely move after exercise. I'd have to lift her into my car after a run at the dog park, then out of my car, then up the stairs to my apartment. I thought it was cute, that she was just playing so hard she had no energy left, until I realized it wasn't a lack of energy. It was her hips. At one year old, I had a vet confirm that she did, indeed, have weird hips. He told me they "clicked," and that he usually doesn't see this in dogs younger than 8. I cut her exercise time down by a lot so I didn't accidentally hurt her (because she literally can't move if she runs too much), and I've started giving her hip and joint supplements. She's recently stopped playing with the other dogs much. She'll run with them for maybe 10 minutes, then she'll just stand next to me waiting to go inside.
Second thing I noticed is that she seems to have a lot of pain associated with her arms, legs, and ears. Most dogs like a little ear squish, but if I try, she cries. The same goes with the area around her shoulders and hips. I know she hasn't gotten hurt, and surely wouldn't continually be getting hurt in the same places for 3 years. I overall have to be careful how I handle her, because I'll sometimes hurt her on accident by just petting her. I don't think it's a "she's just sensitive" thing like my vet told me it was, because I've seen this dog run face first into a brick wall and not flinch.
Third is how stiff she is. She's constantly so tense. It's not a stress thing, it's as if her bones and muscles just don't move properly. Even as a small puppy, she wouldn't let me pick her up too often. So here's a scenario: She'll be laying on my bed, and I'll pick her up. Her spine seems unable to move in the way it needs to for this to happen. By contrast, my 7 year old dog has no problems with me picking her up; all she does is lick my face, maybe slap me every now and again. But my younger dog seems to have limited mobility. I'm not sure if it's malformed bones (she has a weird ulna and radius deal going on and a misformed canine, so maybe?) or something more musculoskeletal, but it's concerning. She also has a ridiculous looking barrel chest and a head that looks too small for her body, but I'm not sure if those are related to anything or just make her look silly.
Fourth is the fat. She's been on a low calorie dog food for over a year and gets at least an hour of exercise a day. No matter what I do, she doesn't lose the fat. And it's in a weird place, too. It's in a ring around her neck/shoulders and on her sternum area. I had a vet tell me he's never seen far distribution like that in any animal but a horse. She's also very sensitive if the fat is touched. She doesn't bite or anything, but she's clearly not happy when I take her to a vet and they poke around the fat.
She also gets skin infections constantly. We'll have been off the meds to clear the infections up for a week before she has another infection. One vet had me do a thyroid test that showed she had minor hypothyroidism, but said it wasn't enough of an issue for me to put her on meds for it. From the way they described it, she was a single point below normal levels, meaning it likely wasn't the cause.
I've spent so much money going to vets only for them to tell me things like, "Yep, that's a fat dog," as diagnosis. But it's more than that. Fatness alone isn't a big issue for me as long as she doesn't seem to be in bad shape. But this dog is just recently 3 and has had weird issues her whole life. Based on these first 3 years, I'm terrified I'll have to have her put down at a really young age. Like, it can only get worse from here, right? Besides all this, she's a really good dog. I just think she was a mix of 2 dogs that should not have had puppies together. But no vet will listen to me when I ask them to look into why all this might be happening. I want some sort of answer so I can go about treating it and making sure she's not in pain.
First off, my dog is only 3, and she's had these issues her whole life. This has led me to conclude that it's a genetic issue. I have no idea what in the world her breed is; people often try to tell me she's part beagle, but she's like 68lbs...
First thing I noticed was off about her was that she, even as a tiny puppy, could barely move after exercise. I'd have to lift her into my car after a run at the dog park, then out of my car, then up the stairs to my apartment. I thought it was cute, that she was just playing so hard she had no energy left, until I realized it wasn't a lack of energy. It was her hips. At one year old, I had a vet confirm that she did, indeed, have weird hips. He told me they "clicked," and that he usually doesn't see this in dogs younger than 8. I cut her exercise time down by a lot so I didn't accidentally hurt her (because she literally can't move if she runs too much), and I've started giving her hip and joint supplements. She's recently stopped playing with the other dogs much. She'll run with them for maybe 10 minutes, then she'll just stand next to me waiting to go inside.
Second thing I noticed is that she seems to have a lot of pain associated with her arms, legs, and ears. Most dogs like a little ear squish, but if I try, she cries. The same goes with the area around her shoulders and hips. I know she hasn't gotten hurt, and surely wouldn't continually be getting hurt in the same places for 3 years. I overall have to be careful how I handle her, because I'll sometimes hurt her on accident by just petting her. I don't think it's a "she's just sensitive" thing like my vet told me it was, because I've seen this dog run face first into a brick wall and not flinch.
Third is how stiff she is. She's constantly so tense. It's not a stress thing, it's as if her bones and muscles just don't move properly. Even as a small puppy, she wouldn't let me pick her up too often. So here's a scenario: She'll be laying on my bed, and I'll pick her up. Her spine seems unable to move in the way it needs to for this to happen. By contrast, my 7 year old dog has no problems with me picking her up; all she does is lick my face, maybe slap me every now and again. But my younger dog seems to have limited mobility. I'm not sure if it's malformed bones (she has a weird ulna and radius deal going on and a misformed canine, so maybe?) or something more musculoskeletal, but it's concerning. She also has a ridiculous looking barrel chest and a head that looks too small for her body, but I'm not sure if those are related to anything or just make her look silly.
Fourth is the fat. She's been on a low calorie dog food for over a year and gets at least an hour of exercise a day. No matter what I do, she doesn't lose the fat. And it's in a weird place, too. It's in a ring around her neck/shoulders and on her sternum area. I had a vet tell me he's never seen far distribution like that in any animal but a horse. She's also very sensitive if the fat is touched. She doesn't bite or anything, but she's clearly not happy when I take her to a vet and they poke around the fat.
She also gets skin infections constantly. We'll have been off the meds to clear the infections up for a week before she has another infection. One vet had me do a thyroid test that showed she had minor hypothyroidism, but said it wasn't enough of an issue for me to put her on meds for it. From the way they described it, she was a single point below normal levels, meaning it likely wasn't the cause.
I've spent so much money going to vets only for them to tell me things like, "Yep, that's a fat dog," as diagnosis. But it's more than that. Fatness alone isn't a big issue for me as long as she doesn't seem to be in bad shape. But this dog is just recently 3 and has had weird issues her whole life. Based on these first 3 years, I'm terrified I'll have to have her put down at a really young age. Like, it can only get worse from here, right? Besides all this, she's a really good dog. I just think she was a mix of 2 dogs that should not have had puppies together. But no vet will listen to me when I ask them to look into why all this might be happening. I want some sort of answer so I can go about treating it and making sure she's not in pain.
