My Dog Is Limping: When to Wait and When to Go

Limping ranges from a thorn to a ruptured ligament, and the difference is not always obvious from how dramatic the dog looks. Some dogs scream at a grass seed and others walk on a fracture.

Go today if

The leg is hanging, swinging or clearly at a wrong angle.
Your dog will not put any weight on it at all.
There is an open wound, obvious swelling, or heat in a joint.
Your dog is crying out, panting hard, or will not let you near the leg.
It followed a car impact, a fall, or a fight — internal injuries hide behind an obvious limp.
Your dog is very young, very old, or has a known joint condition.

You can usually watch overnight if

The dog is bright, eating, weight-bearing but favouring the leg, and there is no swelling or wound. Rest properly — that means lead walks for toilet only, no stairs, no jumping onto beds or into cars, no ball. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours of genuine rest resolves a lot of soft-tissue strains. If it is no better after two days, or worse at any point, book.

Check the easy things first

Look between the toes and pads for a thorn, a grass seed, a devil's thorn or a split pad — South African gardens and veld are full of all four. Check nails for a torn or overgrown one. Feel gently up the leg comparing left to right for heat or swelling. Check for a tick in the armpit or groin causing pain that reads as a limp.

What not to do

Never give human painkillers. Ibuprofen and paracetamol are genuinely dangerous to dogs and paracetamol is lethal to cats. Do not massage a suspected fracture. Do not apply heat to a fresh injury; cool is better for the first day.

The one that fools people

Cruciate ligament rupture often looks minor at first — a dog that limps, improves with rest, then limps again after exercise, over and over. Large active breeds are most affected. If a limp keeps coming back, it deserves an examination rather than another week of rest.