# How much "fun" is too much for a 5 month old spoo?



## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

oh yeah, we have pretty consistent limping form some sliding into home base maneuver around here. I don't worry if I have a pretty good idea of how it happened, or if it walks out in a few minutes. (the car thing required a vet trip, but that was far from routine...) 

The first several times, I did panic - thought I likely needed x-rays, etc... now, it's like the 3rd child syndrome - are you fine in 24 hours??

sarah


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## Meg (Aug 1, 2010)

Thanks for the reply. I know I'm being an over-protective mom, lol. I didn't see why he started limping, I only noticed it while we were walking alone with no other dogs around. If he's anything like me ( I'm fairly clumbsy), he probably just twisted it on an uneven patch of ground and it felt funny to him. He's been such a good boy so far with very few issues. Now that he does have something odd going on I'm being hyper-vigilant. Darcy has been following me around the house this evening and he seems just fine.To be on the safe side I'm going to watch him a little closer at the park and if he seems too stressed I'll take him away from the fray. I can't even imagine the state I'll be in when I start raising actual _human_ kids. Oy vey!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

He'll be fine at the dog park at that age. It's good for him to release energy and explore.

Leroy limped once on and off, but that's cause some ornery bulldog grazed Leroy's leg with his teeth. I think it's almost like when we stub our toe. It's not going to kill us, but it sure does hurt and we need to "walk it off."

The first time I took Leroy to a whole new dogpark with a pool was a new experience. The wet gravel and concrete with intense running wasn't a good mix. He ran so hard that his paw pads peeled off (on two feet) and the skin around the nail bed got pushed off the nail. It did not look pleasant but it healed just fine. The second trip there was much better and he regulated his running.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

Raising actual human children is easier - they let you know what is wrong - you drop them on their head and they get a visible lump, etc... Besides, there are so many people inspecting and watching your human kids at all times, it is impossible for anything to be overlooked or not be scrutinized... that, and the fact that everyone, everywhere, will tell you what you are doing wrong, how you should do it right, and what they would do, if they were you, all the time... Most people place less importance on your pet parenting abilities.... (some will tell you, always, but that's nothing compared to the human kid ratio...) 
(my emoticons are gone - imagine an appropriate one here...!)
sarah


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## annadee (May 15, 2012)

I would definitely limit the play. Large dogs grow for a long time, and shouldn't do too much running until they're about 18-24 months old (not saying they can't run at all, just give some sort of time limit or distance limit depending on what activity you're doing. I'd also recommend no forced running/jogging on concrete or other hard surfaces at this age, just natural surfaces like grass). I made the mistake of letting my lab run as much as he wanted when he was a pup. He was my first dog (my first large breed dog... knew he needed lots of exercise, being a lab) and I think that may have played a factor in his weak joints later on in life.

Just watch it and make sure he doesn't over exert himself. If you notice limping, make sure to let him rest for a couple of days before letting him run again, to make sure he won't inflict any damage on his joints or hips. You don't want him getting an ACL tear at an early age (I have learnt from my mistakes the expensive way  ).


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## Meg (Aug 1, 2010)

tokipoke: Darcy does seem to have so much fun when he's at the park, it's the highlight of his day! I would hate it if he couldn't go there anymore. Poor Leroy's feet. I did kind of worry over Darcy's pads on the concrete but so far so good. He sticks to the grass a lot so that helps.

sarahmurphy: Thats probably true about little people, I forgot how vocal my 5 year old nephew is. lol . I've had conversations with my friends about our pets and dogs and I definetly think I'm on the more insane side when it comes to my fur babies. I'm sure (I mean I hope) that once Darcy grows up, I'll chill out. Maybe...

annadee: Thanks for the heads up about your experience with a torn ACL. I don't push him at all at the park. He gets excited and starts chasing other pups and doesn't realize how much he's exerting himself. It's mostly bursts of energy and pauses until Mom finally catches up (I'm slow!) We are probably going to take the day off today since it's storming out and my other dog Joey does NOT do thunderstorms, lol. My last dog was a Great Dane that succumbed to Degenerative Myelopathy (DM is kind of unrelated to this) so I'm probably more concerned about Darcy's musculoskeletal growth than I should be. I think the next time we go I'll try to go at a quieter time when just a few other dogs are around.

Thanks to everyone who replied! Darcy and I are going to try and take it easier from now on at the park.


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## dcyk (Nov 30, 2011)

Limping, yeah, give them some rest and time to walk it off.

Mack was doing zoomies at home, jumped into his bed and did a 180 degree turn backwards, he twisted a muscle or something for a moment and stopped zooming immediately to lie down. No squeak from him though.

I tried massaging down his legs and he winced a bit for a while when i touched the sore spot. Gave him a slight rub down.

After 30 minutes he's back to zooming around the house.


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