My Smart Puppy Minute Episode 14 Three Signs of Hindquarter Pain in Your Dog on PetLifeRadio.com

When we live with our dog everyday, it can be hard to see subtle changes in their posture and movement. Here are 3 signs you can learn that will alert you to your dog's discomfort and allow you to get him the treatment he needs to feel better. You can see pictures illustrating these symptoms at Sarah's blog on the subject or you can ask questions at her forums.

Blog link: http://mysmartpuppy.com/seeing-pain-hindquarters Forums: http://mysmartpuppy.com/forum

Questions or Comments? Send them to: [e-mail].

More details on this episode MP3 Podcast - Three Signs of Hindquarter Pain in Your Dog on Pet Life Radio



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's Talk pets. Welcome to

(00:26):
the My Smart Puppy Minute. This is Sarah Wilson, and
today we're going to talk about three signs of hind
quarter pain in dogs. Dogs sometimes hide their pain pretty
well from us, but when you know what to look for,
you can see it. These three signs are of severe discomfort.

(00:48):
If you see any of them, or you think you
see any of them, please see your veterinarian as soon
as possible. No dog needs to live in discomfort anymore.
The first sign is that as dogs stand in one place,
when their rear end hurts, they throw their weight forward

(01:11):
over their front legs to take the weight off of
the rear ones that hurt. And to do that effectively,
what they do is they put their head forward and lower.
What will happen over time is that they will build
muscles up on the back of their neck because of
this posture. So you will see a roundness and heavy

(01:32):
muscling over the shoulder area, and you will see them
carrying their head forward and low. The lower they carry it,
the more pain generally is in behind, because the lower
they carry it, the more they're can't levering the weight forward.
Anytime you see a dog carrying their head routinely lower

(01:52):
than their spine. So if you took a line or
a ruler in your mind and put it on your
dog's back, if the head is even with that or
lower than that, then they are protecting themselves from some
sort of pain in the back. Well, that's your second
sign the head is low. The last sign you will

(02:13):
see is if you take that same ruler in your
mind and drop it from your dog's hip to the floor.
If their feet are their hind feet are in front
of that, then they probably are protecting themselves in some way,
because again, as that head is thrown forward, the weight
is taken off of the rear feet, those feet come

(02:35):
forward underneath the body, and that's all part of the
same protecting themselves from pain. Picture. If you would like
to see photos with arrows and explanation, go to mysmartpuppy
dot com go to my blog and you will find
it there. And I have everything explained in pictures, but

(02:56):
I want you all to know the sorts of things
to look for. There is so much medically available to
dogs now. There is pain medication, there is surgery, there's acupuncture,
there is canine physical therapy, canine chiropractics, massage, supplementation, nutrition.

(03:16):
There's so much we can do, but we can't help
them until we recognize it. And I hope that by
looking for these three signs the head is low and forward,
the head is lower than or even with the back,
and the hind feet are underneath the body farther than
they normally would that when you know those three signs

(03:37):
to look for, you will know when to get your
dog help. If you have any questions or comments, or
if you'd like to show some pictures and get some commentary,
go to mysmartpuppy dot com forums. We are there to
help you. Until then, have a great time with your dog.
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Pete

(04:00):
Radio dot com MHM