Ask Dr Claire

I woke up and my Border collie is limping but she doesn’t seem in pain. Should I be worried?

A limping dog hurts.

She is just too sweet to make any extra fuss about it. Like us, there are many causes for sore legs, dogs can break bones, sprain muscles, tear ligaments, slip discs, and get inflammation or degeneration of their joints (arthritis). They can also get burrs in their paws, foreign bodies like grass seeds in their skin, cracks in their pads or tear their nails.

Neck pain and injury can also be responsible for limping with a front leg.

A hands-on examination from your local vet would be a great place to start. Imaging of the problem area (particularly radiography) is often used in cases of lameness to diagnose the cause of the issue.

If you’d like to chat in person, you can get a vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail now.

We’re here to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire