my 8 year old staffy bitch has been limping, well not putting one of her back legs down a lot in the last 2 weeks, usually after excercise or when she first wakes up. she has no paw injury and dosen't yelp when i move her leg round in its socket, nor when i massage it....i can't figure whats wrong. i have her son who's 4 and once in a while he limps when firstwalking in the morning. i wonder is it muscle pain or should i take her to the vet even though some times she's fine especially when tearing round the woods with my other 3 staffies.

I would strongly advise you see a vet. All sorts of nasties can lurk beneath and don't show up on flexion alone. Could be O.C.D but possibly not as the Staffy is not such a big dog but it can occur in smaller dogs. Often treatable with a good success rate but only diagnosed through X ray. Since this problem has been for 2 weeks I would not delay in getting professional help. I am not a vet myself but have some basic experience of this sort of thing.Best of luck.Sounds symptomatic of something like O.C.D.

thankyou for your reply. i took cassie to the vet today, and she suspected athiritis and gave her anti inflammatry medicine. she wasn't limping tonight.
i also suspect she may have been bumping her paw while jumping in the back of my 4x4, cos i noticed today she banged her bad leg jumping in and she's so tiny as she's got older its harder for her to leap so high. i'll have to lift her in now even though she wriggles like a wild eel when i try to pick her up..lol

Thats good that it is nothing more serious!!!! I know arthritis can be bad but with the new supplements like Synoquin it can be improved. Our Wolfhound had the exact same symptoms at 9 months old and was diagnosed with O.C.D hence my obsession lol! He has been on Synoquin ever since he was operated on to rectify it and has shown great improvement. I don't envy you wrestling with a wriggly Staffy!!!!lol!
Hope all is well from now on!

Hi, Sue,
If the limping is worse after exercise, or immediately after rest, it does sound like an arthritis, maybe hip dysplasia. An x-ray would confirm.
Modern arthritis treatments are very effective. You must consult your vet before it gets any worse.
Walter