Dog limping... any advice please or any vets around?

[rubyslippers83]

My gorgeous 9 year old border terrier is unable to weight bear on his front left paw/leg. Usually he has two good walks a day, but yesterday was unusually quiet for him (both my husband and I have a horrible virus at the moment), so he just had two very sedate walks on his lead for about 20 minutes each time and was absolutely fine.
About a week ago, he was limping very slightly on the same leg when he went out for his last wee of the evening, but was fine by the morning.
He seems very subdued in himself, although has eaten as normal and we are restricting him to the garden today for fresh air and toileting.
Should I rush him to the vet straight away? I can't bear the thought of being in pain. My gut feeling is perhaps to see how he goes today and take him tomorrow if there is no improvement.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you so much. Photo attached so you can all see how lovely he is ❤️

Sorry, I should have said there are no obvious signs of trauma etc. I have had a close look at his paw and there does not appear to be anything obviously stuck in there or wrong with it. Thanks again.

If you're worried I'd get him checked at the vet. My 8 year old Lab has elbow dysplasia. We give her a joint supplement Rhiaflex. She doesn't limp anymore. May be worth considering for your dog as he's getting older.

I would keep an eye on it for a couple of days and see how it goes rather than rush to the vets.

Ddog was limping on a hind leg a couple of weeks ago, very pronounced...we just restricted her walks for a while and you could see the gradual improvement every day. I figure that much like humans, dogs can get strains or pulls that just need a bit of rest without there being anything 'wrong' iyswim.

If she seemed very unwell or wasn't earing at all I'd take her straight away though.

Thank you. I'm definitely going to get him checked out, just not certain whether I should rush him in today or not. He's had a little limp around the garden and been to the toilet, just sleeping in his bed now.

Thanks @SuperPup86. That sounds like sensible advice and along the lines of what I was thinking.

Loxicom anti inflammatory and shoulder /leg massage. Try for a few days then vet if no better. Do this occasionally with my 9 Yr old greyhound who races round the garden as if she's still a 3 Yr old.

Assuming he's still eating, drinking and toileting normally, I wouldn't rush him the vets on a Sunday for a limp, no.

Dogs can have paracetamol so if it was me, I would probably give half and see if it makes any difference - but you might want to call your vet first for advice as I don't know your dogs' medical history.

Long-term with his age, it may be worth looking at painkillers and joint supplements as it may be that he's developing a bit of arthritis.

Animals hurt themselves all the time . Give it a day and they may be better . Prob just pulled something . The vets will just give a anti inflammatory and wait and see !

I wouldn't let him out except to go to the loo, don't let him play or bumble about. Vets will usually say to rest them as they want to know if it improves with rest or not, can help pinpoint the issue.

I would get booked in at the vets. He could have injured himself eg. Damaged a claw or pad, or got a hard to spot cut. Or it could be joint or bone related, but the vet will have a good idea pretty quickly I should think. Some dogs suffer with arthritis more than others too.