Articles with dog lameness

Acute Hind Leg Lameness in a Dog: Are you thinking knee injury—Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie

Do you think it is easy to figure out what is causing your dog’s lameness? Sometimes it is. And sometimes you can easily fall into the assumption trap. The most common cause of an acute hind leg lameness in a dog are knee injuries. These injuries are common in dogs. But that doesn’t mean that is the answer every time.…

by Jana Rade

Root Signature Pain in Dogs: Elbow Problem Or Root Signature?

When your dog becomes lame, the first suspects are muscle or joint issues. Did you know, however, that lameness can have a neurologic cause? Figuring out whether the problem is orthopedic or neurologic can be challenging. Jasmine’s story As soon as Jasmine improved after her neck issues, without any break to speak of, we were dealing with sudden severe front…

by Jana Rade

Acute Front Leg Lameness: Jasmine’s Sore Leg

Front lameness can be challenging to diagnose and treat. There are straightforward causes and daunting ones too. The causes of front leg lameness include anything from: nail injuries paw injuries and foreign bodies insect bites and stings snake bites infections elbow injuries, arthritis or elbow dysplasia carpal injuries shoulder injuries neck and spinal injuries Lyme disease (shifting lameness) Shoulder injuries…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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