Meet Squirtsquirthead
Squirt is a 9 1/2 year old, 62 lb, spayed female of unknown parentage who had a very active lifestyle.  She ran 15 to 25 miles per week as her owner's running partner and carried her own food on multi-day hiking trips.  These activities put hundreds of miles under her paws over the years.

At the end of last August, her owner noticed that she was slower to jump in the truck and was putting both her back feet on the same step when going upstairs.  This seemed to her owner to resolve after a few "days off."  Squirt was always willing and eager to participate in her running and hiking.

Dr. Lisa examined Squirt.  She noticed that Squirt was not putting her full weight on her right rear leg (this was too subtle for her owner to notice) and would not extend that same leg all the way back.  Dr. Lisa recommended a radiograph of Squirt's hips.     
                                       

normal hip squirthip

Normal Hip Joint-note the smooth hip socket
and defined neck of femur

Squirt's Right hip (on left side). 
Note rough joint and thick neck of femur

The radiographs showed degenerative changes to Squirt's right hip joint.  Stress to the joint caused inflammation and as Squirt ran her body tried to help itself by adding extra bone to the joint.  Had Squirt continued to run, her body would have continued to lay down extra bone causing the joint to become less functional and more painful.

Dr. Lisa put Squirt on a low dose of an anti-inflammatory with glucosamine supplementation, rest (leashwalk only to urinate) until she was sound for twice as long as she was lame.  Squirt also began physical therapy for 15 minutes 3 times/week.

Today, she is no longer painful, has recovered some of the range of motion in her hip and has resumed exercising.  Dr. Lisa thinks that as Squirt continues to improve she may be able to resume some short runs without causing further damage.  Squirt has a new exercise ritual (truck ride, walk, treat, nap while owner runs, truck ride) that she actually enjoys more as there was no time to dig, roll in the sunshine or savor a succulent horse turd as mom's running partner.

 In Squirt's case, early indentification of a developing problem lead to some simple modifications in her lifestyle thereby preventing progression to a severely debilitating state.

Long distance running, mountain biking, Frisbee, Fetch can all be very high impact sports for dogs.  What is healthy and what is excessive varys by age, size, breed and previous history.  Talk to us at your annual exam about your dog's exercise routine and get subtle signs of discomfort checked out early.  Remember, your dog wants to do what you want to do ~~~ no matter how uncomfortable.  It's up to you not to ask too much.

For additional information on the conditions discussed in this article read these articles in the pet info library.
Normal joints Dog paw