Young Dog Skipping

Hi! I have a question and was wondering if a vet could please give me their opinion. It’s not urgent but just curious if we should get a second opinion. I have a 15 pound 1 year old chi mix. When he was about 8 months we noticed this skip that randomly came on. he doesn’t do it when he’s walking or running at high speeds. He has a ton of energy and it doesn’t seem like it bothers him. We have brought him to our vet 3 times to be examined and he said everything is fine. X-rays were done and everything looked good. luxating patella and hip issues were ruled out. The doctor thinks it could be maybe he sprained his ligament, but other than that he says everything is fine. He has had it for months now and it is staying the same. I don’t know if I should get a second opinion. I don’t want to be overlooking something and it be something that could affect him as he becomes an adult. Any ideas would be appreciated. I can provide a video but not sure where to upload it. Thanks!

Hello!  My immediate thought was also, 'luxating patella' so I am pleased to hear that this has been ruled out.  If you have videos of this slip then your vet must have seen it; do they agree that there is an abnormality there?   This sounds to be a good starting point. Other possibilities may include muscle weakness or pain or a neurological abnormality and I think the next step in getting to the bottom of this may be to ask your vet to refer you to a canine orthopedic expert. Thankyou for offering to include the clip - the comments of a random vet who may be no more skilled in orthopaedics than your own vet, is probably not helpful!  However I would be interested to view it for my own curiosity if you'd be happy to upload it.  I will try and tag someone technical in who can help with the uploading part! Otherwise, I would be interested to hear what happens next in this case.   Wishing you both all the best.

Hi! Thank you for responding. Yes, I showed the vet the video and he even saw it in person. He said he was stumped because his examination and X-rays was perfect. He thought it could be a sprained ligament, but it still hasn’t healed. I would love to show you but I am not sure how to upload it. I asked people in a chi Facebook group and some people said their dogs had a little skip like that and their vets never found anything either. Do you think it could be like a little thing he just does? When you say neurological  - what are some things it could be because I thought of that as well? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer!

Also, I doesn’t do it when he is walking or running - he just does it at like that in between where he is picking up speed if that makes sense.

It seems unlikely to me that a dog would just decide to skip on the same leg, repeatedly and sporadically, for no reason, but obviously I have no experience of yourself or your dog.  I have however, known skeletal / neuromuscular cases where whatever is causing a difference has simply not been obvious to me from palpation (feeling), history or radiography; it's worth bearing in mind that some differences are sporadic i.e. not present all the time (for example, relating to such things as neurological function and muscle strength) and that x-rays only check out the bone.  As a vet, if I cannot explain a pattern that I am seeing, I will suggest that a specialist in that area double-checks, in case they know something that I don't.  After all, there are five species that I - as a small animal vet - have seen regularly in clinic, each with at least 6 distinct body systems that could go wrong.  An orthopedic specialist for example, will commonly focus on one or two species and only specialize in one or two body systems, so has much more room for knowledge and skill in detecting such problems.  They will have a much bigger relevant past case-load of experience available to them than I do.  If anyone can diagnose a tricky case appropriately, the specialist in that field should be able to. In cases where I cannot see a problem but the owner is pretty sure that they are seeing something 'not quite right,' a check-up with a specialist is often my suggestion. Best of luck;  and if you do get to the bottom of your dogs' skipping, please do let us know!

Thinking about this (I'm sorry not to be able to see the video), you don't mention whether your vet agrees that there is an abnormality in the first place.  Sharing the video with them may help to settle this question.   It is frustrating that in most veterinary surgeries, there isn't really scope to get a dog running and observe their gait as they speed up or slow down, which sounds as if it may be ideal.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I showed my vet the video and he even took him outside to see the skip in person. He said that he doesn’t think that is normal but that he checks out perfectly so that is why he is stumped. He thinks it is related to a sprained ligament and that in time it would heal, but it’s been a few months and it is still not better. My dog is incredibly active so he is continually jumping even though we try not to make him jump.

I hope this is okay to ask, but charlieandnicole, did you ever get to the bottom of what was wrong with your chi mix? My 1 year old terrier sounds very similar - a very pronounced persistent intermittent skip (seen by vet on video, and in person), but no patella luxation detected when the vet manipulated. We've got a follow-up consultation with the 'practice vet with an orthopaedic interest' next week, and I expect it will be x-rays after that.... Thank you so much if you happen to see this and can update!