Health
A paw on tiptoe after training, slow to get up in the morning, a leg held in the air. Three levels of urgency, and none of them is fixed with a pill from your cupboard.
Caution. Not putting the leg down for over an hour, a deformed or swollen leg, an open wound, a hot joint with a temperature, a crying puppy, a dog who cannot get up at the back or has stopped weeing: your vet today. Never human painkillers.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
Your dog jumps out of the car after a training session and puts his front paw down on tiptoe, as if the tarmac were sticky. Another story: for two weeks your six-year-old Labrador has been slow to get up in the morning, lame on a back leg for the first few steps and then "warming out of it" after five minutes, so you assumed it would pass. A third: he will not put a leg down at all, holds it up and whimpers when you touch it.
Three situations, three levels of urgency. The first is most often a bit of glass or a thorn in a pad, which you can find yourself in two minutes. The second needs a booked appointment, not one a month away. The third needs the vet today. Below: what to check at home, how to tell which leg it is when a dog seems lame "all over", what your vet will do and, above all, what not to give him for the pain.
It sounds simple. It is not. A dog lame in front drops his head as he steps onto the sound leg and lifts it as he steps onto the sore one: the head bobs up exactly on the bad paw. When it is a back leg, he drops the hip on the sound side, while on the painful side he hitches the hip up and shortens his stride. He often shifts weight forward too, so it looks as though something is wrong with his front legs as well.
Film him walking and trotting on a hard surface, from the front, from behind and from the side. Twenty seconds of video show the vet what cannot be reproduced at the practice, where your dog, full of adrenaline, walks perfectly.
On the first steps after rest, then better: typical of arthritis. All the time: typical of a fresh injury. After exercise: typical of a ligament or joint slowly wearing out. Only on certain surfaces: his pads. Only on stairs or getting into the car.
From "something's not quite right with how he moves" to "won't put the paw down at all". Give it a score from 1 to 5 every day, at roughly the same time.
Turn it towards the light. On the pads, look for cuts, cracks, burns (July tarmac), a splinter of glass or a thorn, a small stone caught between them. On the toes, look for swelling, redness, a broken nail or one grown into the pad, a grass seed between the toes. Compare with the other paw: is it warmer, thicker? Press gently on each toe and watch how he reacts.
Run your palm slowly up both legs, from the bottom, and compare. You are feeling for heat, swelling, a spot where he pulls away or turns his head to you. Do not force the joints. If a light touch hurts, you have learned what you needed to know.
What he has done in the last 48 hours: jumped out of the car, played rough, chased a ball on hard ground, been out in cold and wet, gone on a much longer walk than usual. Falls. Ticks in the last few weeks. His age, his weight (extra kilos press straight onto the joints) and his breed, since some carry hip, elbow or kneecap problems in the family. Old operations, earlier bouts of lameness on the same leg.
Note whether he has a temperature or seems flat, how he is eating, whether other joints have swollen and whether he has lost weight lately.
On the trail, when a dog starts limping we stop. There is nothing heroic about finishing the trail; the scent will still be there tomorrow. Most of the time it is a pad cut on a bit of glass hidden in a bush, which the handler finds back at the car. Sometimes it is the first sign of a ligament slowly giving way, and then he goes to the vet before it gives way completely.
| What you see | What the vet thinks of first |
|---|---|
| Sudden, one leg, otherwise healthy dog, after a walk | Cut pad, thorn, glass, broken nail, sprain |
| Back leg, adult dog, sudden or after exercise; holds the paw up or barely touches down; after a few days puts some weight on it but limps when getting up | Cranial cruciate ligament rupture in the knee, the most common cause of hind-leg lameness in adult dogs |
| Back leg, small dog who "skips" a step or carries the leg for a few strides, then walks normally | Kneecap slipping out of place (patellar luxation) |
| Young large-breed dog, between 5 and 14 months; lameness moving from leg to leg, sometimes with lethargy | Growing pains in the long bones; developmental joint problems (elbow, shoulder, hip) |
| Front leg, young large-breed dog; worse after exercise | Developmental elbow or shoulder problems |
| Older dog; worse on getting up and in the morning, better once moving, worse after hard exercise | Arthritis |
| Older large dog, front leg, getting steadily worse, with swelling above the wrist or at the shoulder | Bone tumour; vet as soon as possible |
| Several joints, temperature, lameness moving between legs, with or without ticks in the history | Tick-borne diseases; immune-mediated inflammation of several joints |
| Weak, dragging back legs, poor balance, no obvious pain | Spine or nerves, not joints; prompt vet visit |
Ask how long the rest should last and what it actually means. Usually: short lead for toilet trips, no stairs, no jumping on the sofa, no play. And when the check-up is.
Rest does not mean staying indoors and leaping on and off the sofa twenty times a day. It means five minutes on a short lead for the toilet, on flat ground. No stairs (carry him if you can), no play with other dogs, no ball. Block off the sofa and the bed, or put a ramp up.
For a young dog that is hard, so give his nose a job. Hide his food around the room, give him something to chew, have him search for tasty treats for ten minutes, no running. A tired head stays calm, and the leg gets time to heal.
A limping dog is telling you the only thing he can tell you. A daily score and a twenty-second video turn "he's been limping for a while" into something your vet can work with. If you do not have a regular vet yet, our page on related services explains how to choose a practice. For big dogs, an orthopaedic vet nearby is a real asset.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
In an adult dog, sudden or after exercise, the most common cause is a partly or fully torn cruciate ligament in the knee: he holds the paw up or barely touches down, then puts a little weight on it but limps when getting up. In small dogs, a kneecap slipping out of place causes a skipped step. In older dogs it is often hip or knee arthritis, in young large breeds developing joints. An orthopaedic exam and X-rays sort it out.
Look at the paw first: a cut pad, a thorn, a broken nail, a grass seed between the toes, all of which you can see in good light. Then age matters. In young large breeds, developing elbows and shoulders. In adults, sprains, tendons, arthritis. In an older large dog, a limp that keeps getting worse, with swelling above the wrist or at the shoulder, needs checking quickly, because some bone tumours start that way.
No. A leg held completely off the ground for more than an hour means serious pain: a fracture, a dislocation, a torn ligament, something embedded deep, a bite. Keep him completely still on a blanket, do not try to put anything back in place, and ring your vet today. If the leg is deformed or there is an open wound, go straight there without ringing first.
Yes. Dogs do not whimper with chronic pain. They show it in how they walk, how slowly they get up, refusing stairs or the jump into the car, lying down carefully. Limping is itself a sign of pain: a dog does not change his gait for any other reason. The idea that he is not hurting because he is not complaining delays arthritis treatment by years, and arthritis can be treated.
Nothing of your own. Human painkillers can wreck a dog's stomach, kidneys or liver at doses you would think small, and they are among the most common medicine poisonings in dogs. Not another dog's medicine either. What you can do: strict lead-only rest, a soft warm bed, and a same-day appointment if he is visibly sore. The vet prescribes by weight, after examining the leg.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
Up in two stages, refusing the stairs, bunny-hopping at a run. Joint pain shows in what the dog stops doing, long before he whimpers.
You can no longer feel his ribs, the waist has gone, he pants after three flights of stairs. Fat creeps on and hides up close, but your hands find it in two minutes.
Something soft under the skin, a pink button on the eyelid, a swelling that has grown since Easter. You cannot identify any of them by touch. The needle can.
He paces at night, stands with his nose in a corner, waits at the wrong side of the door, wees indoors. Some of it is age. Some of it can be treated.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.