Developmental issue in Labrador's Elbow

[Iamblossom]

HI,

My 9 month old black lab starting limping a bit, not in pain as was running quite happily, but seemed to start lolloping so took him to the vet. Who has said he may have a developmental issue with his elbows so now he has to have short lead walks for a while instead of the long runs he adores.

26kg of black muscle who I can't really exercise is going to be a nightmare for both of us.

Does anyone have any experience of this? What are the chances of him growing out of it or it sorting itself out do you think?

I think I would want more investigations to see exactly what was wrong if they really suspect and developmental issue unless your vet is hoping that the rest from exercise is to rule out just over doing it.

yes I have an appointment for a further check up next friday and the next step would be xrays. Supervet only down the road so we may use him...

Were his parents elbow scored?

I don't know his dad, mum was rescued from a puppy farm

I have some experience of having a working lab on lead rest. Mind games are your friend - there's a FB group called Canine Enrichment which is good for ideas.

If you feed dry food scatter feed it in the house or garden to make her work for it, for example.

With unknown elbows your most likely culprit is going to be elbow dysplasia - which depending on which form it is doesn’t always show up on x-rays...

Tbh I’d be looking for a referral to an ortho specialist.

And yep enrichment games, different feeding methods and extra training are what you’ll want to be doing.

Definitely get a referral to a specialist. But remember with large dogs, don’t exercise too much anyway while young or joints will suffer. Sniff and explore walks are better than pavement pounding. Games of fetch with lots of twisting also to be avoided. There’s some good videos on you tube for training and games for exercise restricted dogs - google crate rest games.