Dog temporarily losing control of back legs

[WeaselCheeks]

Had a bit of an unsettling situation today. Our dog was lying down in my husband's office, when my husband got up. Our dog tried to get up as well, but he couldn't seem to use his back legs. He tried, then gave up and lay down, and his tail was completely still too.

He managed to stand up and walk after a minute or two, but was a bit shaky for a while. He seems to be completely back to normal now though!

He's an elderly dog, so we're increasingly on the lookout for issues - he's 15, but very fit and healthy, and often mistaken for a puppy due to his energy. He's going into the vets for his regular health check in a couple of weeks (and obviously sooner if it happens again!), but i was wondering if anyone had experienced similar. He's a cocker cross, if that makes any difference. We're hoping he just slept a bit funny...

Our french bulldog had this out of nowhere, fine one minute then couldn’t stand up! It went on for about 24 hours, we took him straight to the vet and they were saying he could’ve slipped a disc and we may have to be referred. Fast forward 24 hours he was absolutely fine! Took him back to the vet and they failed to mention the first time it could’ve just been a trapped nerve 🙄this was 4 years ago and he hasn’t had it since. Hopefully it was just a trapped nerve/cramp for your boy!

I wouldn't want to leave it two weeks - I know he seems fine now but losing the ability to control their legs isn't normal and should always be checked out sooner rather than later.

It can be part of ageing but I’d want it checked. My old dog had a couple of episodes where she lost control of one of her back legs. She was checked by the vets both times and they thought it was a temporary nerve issue in her spine or hip. She was very old (16 ish) when it happened. We lived with it but we wanted to check she wasn’t in pain.

A friend's dog had this and it turned out to be pulled stomach muscles. It gradually got better!

Our last dog had a condition called degenerative myelopathy. It generally starts with 'knuckling' and progresses to weakness/loss of use of back legs. Some breeds are more prone to it, I don't know if spaniels are. Maybe ask you vet to assess for this.

Thanks all! I'll get his appointment moved forward, hopefully it's a one off like evianisyoung's French Bulldog though.

I thought I'd update - our vet initially thought it could be neurological, or geriatric vestibular disease (which clears up within a couple of weeks). There was no way of telling without scans, so we planned to book them once we got back from holiday.

Our boy's walking improved, but he started tilting his head and being sick a day or so after arriving at the holiday cottage. Cue visit to the vet local to our holiday cottage, who confirmed the diagnosis of GVD - the head tilting and sickness are common, as they basically feel seasick.

He was given an anti-sickness jab, plus meds to protect his stomach. Seven days later and he's completely back to normal (apart from the occasional headtilt), and (after an iffy start) has had a lovely holiday. He cost us over £300 over three days (initial vet appointment with our own vets, we saw the holiday vet on a Sunday, so there was a £150 out of hours fee, plys meds), but he's worth it!