Help! I am really worried. I have no idea what is wrong. I was sitting here on my laptop facing the living room. My son(6) is gaming with his friend and my youngest (4) is watching them. Of course my oldest isn't here. She is usually my informer. Yaz was taking turns sitting next to all the kids. I can see them from where I am at. They didn't even pay any attention to her. All of a sudden I see her hobbling across the floor. Her right rear leg being held up off the floor completely. She was walking on three legs. Scared the bejeezus out of me. I jumped up, ran over and she laid down. I got on the floor and called her to me but she wouldn't come. So I went and got a treat and made her follow me arounf the room to get it. She is walking now but it looks awkward. What do you suppose it could be? I mean really I was scared. Okay...I need to go feed my kids now but I'll be back right after to see what you all say. Thanks.

I made her walk around the living room a bit and that seemed to help. Took her out to pee and she went up and down the stairs. She seemed okay after that. Even kept jumping up to get to the platter of turkey I had out for dinner. Then after supper she jumped up onto my bed and that was it. She started holding that same right rear paw up. I left her there to lay down and rest. Of course she didn't want to be alone so she jumped down and followed me. Limping but  the paw was touching the floor. I know that I should try moving the leg but I am scared of hurting her. When I left the bedroom I did my vacuuming. This usually gets her going. She chases the vac and tries to attack it like it is some wild beast. Not this time. She hid under the table. Errrr! I am scared because if this is something big, we don't have the financial resources to do anything. I cannot imagine what happened. I was right here! I didn't see anyone touch her. Please help! Any opinions please!

Hello?????Anyone??????Help please.........

Thanks Maggie. She is curled up sleeping next to me right now. I petted her hip with a very firm hand, gently rotated the leg and looked closely at the underside of her paw. She let me do all this w/o a complaint but she does not want to get up. I will see if I can find that post on meds and try to keep her immobile. I just wish I knew what happened. It has to be an injury right? I mean what else would it be?

I thought I posted to this but then the browser crashed so I guess not. Don't dismiss a break - they can and do put weight on small fractures. My guess is she either jumped funny or one of the kids held her paw too hard when she was trying to get away (typical kid thing to do). So it's either a pull/sprain or a break since she keeps limping. I agree with Maggie - evaluate how she is when not putting weight on it - is she in pain (acting odd, quiet, needing love, whiny)? Try to get her to stay put and settled - do you ever crate her? Not a bad time for it. Or give her a bully stick or something to keep her still for a while.

Our vet has had us do children's liquid something before. I'll see if I still have any in the cabinet to confirm that. My dogs shake off minor sprains and bruises fairly fast so if she's still sore by morning (not sure where you are but it's 7pm here already) then you need to get her in.

(note, edit to take out med name so no one accidentally reads it and makes a decision based on this post).

Nope I was wrong it was benedryl we have on hand (not pain med) which our vet has had us give to our one very allergic girl.

We had something similar with one of our dogs.  We had the vet check her and it seems to me he said it was her knee cap.  We couldn't let her jump for a week and she had to take an anti-inflammatory.  If you checked the paw for a foreign object and did not find anything, I would try to keep your baby from jumping (I know that's a toughie) and have the vet evaluate the leg.  Just my opinion.

Thanks guys. I checked between her paw pads thinking something got stuck. Nothing. I swear the kids were paying no attention to her. The boys eyes were glued to the tv and hands glued to the controllers. My daughters eyes were also glued to the tv with hands on her stuffy to ensure Yaz would not get it. I was thinking maybe she jumped off the furniture wrong because she was going back and forth from couch to recliner. I checked the meds post and saw buffered or baby aspirin. None on hand since we use Motrin on us humans. Hubby is at work and skin kids are in bed.

If she is still like this in the AM I will definitely call the vets.

Yaz was favoring her leg a lot last night and was really pitiful. When we got up this morning she seemed fine. Was even much more playful than usual. Then hubby and I were in our sons room changing his bed sheets and Yaz kept trying to come in(she isn't allowed in the kids rooms)and we kept telling her "out". All of a sudden she is hobbling around again with that leg up in the air. Once we both came back out into the living room she was fine again and wanting to play. Could she actually be smart enough to fake injury to get attention?! "cause when this all started yesterday she wasn't getting anyones attention. I think she's nuts.

It's her rear right leg. I love our vets office. I have been taking my pets there since I was a little girl. Problem is if I call they will say they need to see her. $$$$$$$ So I am just keeping a close eye on her for now.

If it's not something in her foot and if you don't think it's a sprain or break then it may be a luxating patella.  That's a fancy word for her kneecap is sliding out of the groove that it is supposed to sit in.  This is not uncommon in our breed according to my vet.  They tend to hop around on 3 legs until they can get it to go back in.  Rattagan just had surgery to correct his, so maybe Philo or Janie could help you out.  A vet will definitely be able to tell you if Yaz has luxating patella's.  Tinkerbelle supposedly has one, but hers has yet to slip out on it's own, but the vet can manipulate her leg to the side and make it happen.  I hope that is not the problem although many dogs have this and they go about their life just fine.  If it's really bad(like Rattagan's) surgery can fix it, but it is expensive.  We'll keep Yaz in our prayers.  I hope he is OK.

Ok, i just saw Janie beat me to the reply.  She knows all about this.

Thanks for all the info guys. Especially Janie...I was hoping to hear from you since I knew One of your pooches had leg issues. She doesn't cry when I manipulate her leg so I don't know.Tinkerbelles Mommy.....how is your baby doing?

This sounds alot like what happened to Lucky.  He was fine one minute and when I came up from the basement one day, he was walking on three legs.  He seemed fine after a while so I didn't think much of it.  Then, while outside chasing a squirrel, he yelped and went down.  He got up and walked on three legs again so I took him to the vet.  He diagnosed a strain or partial tear of the knee ligament,(he wasn't sure) and gave me a weeks worth of rimadyl and recommended rest for two weeks.  No running or jumping, no walks, and only take him out on a leash for potty breaks. (It would have helped if Lucky was crate trained, but he's not.)  He seemed to be back to normal after the two weeks rest but I still held my breath every time he chased a squirrel.  The vet also diagnosed a luxating patella and said Lucky needed to lose a few pounds.  I took what he said to heart and Lucky has lost almost 9 pounds, down from nearly 29.  How much does Yaz weigh?  I firmly believe in keeping dogs on the thin side, especially if they have joint or ligament problems.