5 year old Bernese had acquired a sudden limp - for no obvious reason?

[hmc]

Took her for a walk on Saturday morning and she was fine after that. Fine thereafter for most of the day....then at around 7pm after a short spell outside, she came back in with a pronounced limp left front paw. We checked for thorns etc - nothing obvious.

She is still limping today but not so severely. I will phone tomorrow for a vets appointment if it is not resolved by then.

In the interim, any thoughts regarding possible causes? Could it be athritis / rheumatism rather than an injury?

One more thing - when she came back in from outside she smelt smoky! My dh thinks I am a fantasist for questioning whether someone took a pot shot at her over our fence with a BB gun. Probably am being a bit over imaginative there....

Probably just a sprain. If there's no obvious injury then I'd rest her for a day or so and see vet if it hasn't improved.

HTH

Okay thanks, I'll review tea time tomorrow and make a decision. Feel sorry for her though, she must be bored since I can't walk her atm

Big juicy bone? Stuffed kong?

She could have been stung by a wasp, trodden on something awkward, caught a nail, or could even be a sneaky drama queen who has worked out that limping gets extra attention/cuddles/fuss? One of our crafty family dogs used to do this, and was very good at limping when he thought you were watching. Unfortunately, if he got excited at a squirrel, he forgot

Hope all goes well with the vet, if no improvement today.

Actually yes - she has been rather lavished with love since the limping....

My dog developed a sudden limp in the middle of the park. In fact, he was in a lot of pain, yelping and whimpering and could not walk at all. I ended up carrying him, but it was hard work (he is a cockapoo, so it was just about possible).

I checked for thorns, but could not see any. After about 5 minutes he was able to limp, so luckily I did not have to carry him all the way home. He was fully recovered about 5 hours later. I think that he probably stood on a wasp or bee. There are lots of them on the ground at this time of year. I was mightily relieved that it was nothing serious. I hope that your dog is as lucky.

Has your dog fully recovered?

Aw thanks for asking - yes! no discernible limp today

I'm pleased to hear that. We do worry about our dogs .