[4NGI3]

I've noticed on Nelson that when he walks, his back legs are really stiff like they don't bend but his front legs bend when he walks. It looks like he uses his hips to move his legs. I took him to the vet at his last check up and the vet did notice it and got me to take nelson for a walk while he watched and he seems to think its ok but its hard to tell because nelson is only 8mths old. are his back legs supposed to bend when he walks?

also when you look at nelson walking from you, it looks like the length of his back has 3 parts and they all move seperately. hangon wait i don't know how to describe that so forget that one.

i'm worried because when we first got nelson, we put him on commercial dog food (because we didn't know any better) for the first 7mths but now he's on a good natural dog food that has all the good stuff for large breed dogs. and i'm afraid that becasue we didn't put him on good dog food from when we first brought him home that he might now have problems with his hips and legs. should i be worried because i am.

also nelson stretches his back legs a lot like he leans forward standing up and stretches his back legs out. don' tknow if that means he's having probs with his hips or whether hes jsut stretching. he does it a few time a day.

forgive me if i sound stupid and all these are normal dog behaviours but nelson is my first dog and i worry about him so much :?

 

[Chrisnjen]

I noticed this same thing with Maddi the first day we got to take her out and play with her at the pound...the back legs move kinda like a pendulum at the hip rather than bending at the knee. She was about the same age, maybe a couple months older (don't know for sure). I don't know if it's the age or the breed or just the individual dog.

She doesn't do it anymore though. Very fluid, if not still somewhat uncoordinated .

 

[Chico.Heidi]

Chico is the same exact way. It seems as though his midsection moves at a completely diferent rythem than the front and rear. Sorta like how a tiger walks. I hope that makes sense. Also his rear is really stiff. He used to limp after we'd go on walks but he hasn't done this in a couple of weeks. I've noticed since we started giving him glucosamine and esther-c vitamins, he's been doing much better. You may want to give it a try if you aren't already feeding it.
This is a link to a thread on the old forum that tells all the doses. http://www.bulldogbreedsforum.com/forum/viewthread?thread=4591#39690 I just copied a recommendation by Carrie to make it easier for you. This is what I follow and have seen results in just a matter of weeks.

I give all human supplements for the most part. The first one I give is a Glucosamine/Chondroiton/Msm all in one. The other is Ester-C and lastly, I feed Fish Oil. The glucosamine(750mg),chondroiton(600mg), msm(750mg) supplement I feed is made for humans and is in pill form. I give one pill daily. The Ester-c is also for humans and is in pill form. I give approximately 2000mg daily to my ABs (between 65-95 pounds) Ester-c pills come in 500mg pills or 1000mg pills. The fish Oil is a gel capsul, and comes in 1000mg. I give 1 pill daily to my dogs under 65 pounds, 2000mg daily to dogs 65-85 pounds and 3000mg daily to my dogs over 85 pounds.

 

[cfhoftampa]

Scarlet is like that too...she shakes her but to bring her back leg forward...so when she walks it looks like her backside is going back and forth. Vet never said it was a problem...thats just how she walks!

 

[vodka6483]

you should try joogging with him and see how he trotts,

 

[kogeki]

Loki walks similar too. Her back legs dont bend at the knee. I think this is pretty normal if Im not mistaken. I have seen videos of ABs and some pits and payed attention to their walk. It was similar.