I truly believe it. Years ago we took our dog Snuffy, cat, and kids to a new Maine house. Snuffy ran away and we spend a few days desperately looking for him. We found him and he was acting limp and sick. This went on for days, he wouldn't walk or look at us. Took him to vet, he found nothing. We carry Snuffy to the van and go home. We open the back door and he JUMPS out, runs in circles wagging his tale, and was normal again. He was acting sick.

She may have learned the response, if she was getting "ooh, poor baby, does your paw hurt?" and snuggles. But yeah, I'd get a second opinion. And it might not be the paw, could be further up or even a pinched nerve?

A non-displaced (hairline) fracture many times does not show up well on an x-ray. But, as a person or an animal continues to move it/ walk on it/use it, the fracture/break starts to separate more. Which causes more pain.

Just out of curiosity, has her paw pad been checked? Is it possible that coincidentally she has a burr or something else in there?

Bestyears, her mom cleaned up her feet and face before we picked her up. She mentioned that two of her pads were very dry and rubbed some aquaphor on them. I put a tiny dot on my finger and tried that but she just licked it off. She did yelp at me when I was looking at her paw/lower arm yesterday.

And yes Bpath, she does get carried and babied by me when she is hopping around on 3 legs. Hummm, learned response smart girl?

I would find another vet for a second opinion and definitely let the owners know everything that has been going on. Different dogs are more or less vocal about pain so I would exclude an injury just because the vet can't elicit a response from the dog. A soft tissue might not be visible on an X-ray.

Also, I would be very reluctant to have the pup on Rimadyl. My beloved old dog (who passed away several years ago) was experiencing some hip issues so the vet put her on Rimadyl. Within a few months, she began growling at us and even bit both my husband and I, in very uncharacteristic behavior. We took her off the Rimadyl and she returned to her own self. I've also read about dogs dying from internal bleeding after being on Rimadyl. I understand the drug maker also spent massive amounts of money marketing the drug to vets across the nation. It's not a drug I will ever give one of my dogs again.

Also suggest another vet. I would not take her walking as long as she's limping or not using all of her feet/legs. Would not give her Rimadyl either.

You've received great advice, I'll only add I hope the grand-dog is better soon!

We have laid low today. She only goes out here to do her business as she needs to be on a leash with us. She has an Invisible Fence at home but they have a smaller yard with limited areas for running.

She sporadically favors that leg, probably 75% of the time. We had been outside and came back in and she ran to my DH normal. We ran into town and she stood on me weight bearing equally on all legs. She's working on a Kong now standing normally.

Crazy dog!

Could be a soft tissue injury. Molly occasionally has neck problems. We go to a doggy chiropractor and do laser therapy to resolve. Agree on no Rimadyl!! We give yucca root extract, curcumin, and fish oil.

RNmomof2, it is totally possible that she is faking it! After having dogs for years, we just witnessed this recently. One of the dogs was genuinely injured/ getting extra attention, etc.

I could not believe that Olive picked up on that and started fake limping! She is also very vocal in case that applies. Divas!

Good luck!

My black kitty fell from our barstool and he sprained his right paw. We took him in for x-rays, though he continued to limp and did not seem to get better after more than a month. However, it was his other paw that actually had an osteosarcoma. They didn't x-ray his other paw, so be sure they look at BOTH paws, would be my recommendation. This initial injury was last March, he was diagnosed with the osteosarcoma in June, and he is still here, although in his final days. I thought I was going to have to make the call this week. He is 16, but osteosarcomas can happen in younger animals.

gscience, sorry about your black kitty. I hope your final days together are good and pain free. Never easy to lose them.

Poor kitty!

My dog was on Rimadyl for a short period after rupturing his CCL. It really helped him get through the swollen misery of the first few days and we were glad to have it. His vet requires rather detailed blood and urine tests to keep a dog on it for long due to the possible side effects.

I'd rather have an actual diagnosis before giving it to a pet because it has risks.

Beagles, is there a curcurmin supplement that your dogs actually like? I haven't found any that don't have to be disguised for my dog to eat. :)

We have a dog who mimics the injury of our alpha dog, limping goong down stairs. It is an obvious behavior that is clearly not causing any pain; he simply learned it when he was a puppy by watching her. While I believe dogs are capable of many things I don’t think they have the executive planning ability necessary to fake an injury for profit (treats, praise) and don’t do that unless they have been deliberately trained by a human. I’d definitely not just get another opinion, I would change vets at the first opportunity. If the vet thought the dog was “faking” why did he prescribe rimadyl?

Rimadyl is an ibuprofen that has to be dosed carefully. It is sold under various other trade names and the effective dose is based on the injury, age and weight of the animal. We have a dog with profound arthritis and some other forearm problems who has used rimadyl as necessary for several years without any problems. It’s not inherently dangerous unless your vet doesnt know what s/he is doing or unless a particular dog has a bad reaction to it.

I won’t go into the advisability of supplements generally but circumin has been been studied to the tune of over a hundred million dollars (supported by the US government) and there are no proven results for it as it remains largely bio-unavailable when taken orally. The Uof Texas researcher who started a company based on his “research” into the compound has had all his papers retracted by the university for fraud. It won’t hurt you or your dog but be aware that it is not a pain reliever if that is what your dog needs.

Our yorkie poo tore both ACL's (not at the same time). The first time was worse and she had surgery. Thankfully it was at a time I was off work a couple of weeks. It was a hard recovery. The second time, she was able to do PT (including water treadmill). Both were "lunging" incidents. If the dog is yelping when paw is touched, I would definitely have that checked. Our baby would often get a piece of this or that, once had a puncture wound and even a bad scrape to her paw pad. Very painful and they will hold it up and not want to walk on it. I hope ya'll find out soon what is hurting your grandbaby.

You can do your own research into circumin. There actually are many (non-discredited) studies that support its use as a natural anti-inflammatory. Anecdotally, I have also seen the effects in my dog when she injures her back/neck (she gets very high quality medical care from the best veterinary university practices in the country and she does receive conventional medications when necessary and safe).

We give human curcumin supplements when they are needed and I wrap them in butter to get her to take them. We generally prefer to use human stuff for the dogs b/c I don't always trust that veterinary stuff is as high of a quality as the supplements made for people. We get ours from Carlesons or Mercola.

Thanks Beagles. I was hoping for something easy, but I guess I'll stick with peanut butter coatings. I've noticed human stuff is often cheaper as well!

I did look into circumin when seeking a non nsaid anti inflammatory to take for chronic bursitis. The latest “roundup” research paper from MD Anderson in Houston basically concluded that further testing is needed. Its definitely the supplement du jour, not unlike the chondroitin / glucosamine taken by so many people (and pets) who swear by it. Lots of substances have anti inflammatory properties. Getting them in the right concentration to the therapeutic target is the challenge.

i hope the grand dog is better by the time the parents collect her, RNmomof2! I would not want to have to report an injury of our DD and SIL’s much loved dog or cat.

DD checked in one night and I got scolded for playing into the dog's quirks. It is just very random when she favors the leg. Can jump and scoot thru the house one minute, hop on 3 legs the next. Who knows whats up?

My dog tore her acl last fall. it was only noticeable when she would get up from sleeping. Then she’d do the 3 legged walk for a few steps before putting her back leg down again. She didn’t seem in obvious pain, more like the leg was unstable and loosey goosey. We opted for the surgery and it was a complete success.