Dog yelps when we touch his leg but otherwise looks and acts normal...

[SuckerForHorses]

Saturday morning my ACD yelped when my boyfriend was just patting him and ran his hand down his back and over his butt, where the tail meets the hindquarter.

When I got up, he did the same when I touched him.

It’s the right hind.

He is not limping. There is no visible issue with the leg - it’s not swollen, scuffed up, etc. He is jumping on and off the furniture to sleep, etc. All is normal - except if we touch his right hind, like near the meaty part of the hindquarter, he yelps and then gets upset with us like he blames us for causing the pain.

I have a call into the vet to see when they can get him in but it’s not exactly emergency since he’s otherwise acting normal.

Any ideas? I’m lost!

ETA: I also checked in his pads to make sure there was nothing in his foot, even though that’s not where he seems to care about being touched.

[saultgirl]

Maybe he just bruised himself a bit? Banged himself on a door or a piece of furniture, etc? He may have hit himself on something and it’s still sore and touching the spot both hurts and reminds him of being scared.

If it continues for a few days I might call the vet, but I certainly wouldn’t be bringing him in at this point.

[jetsmom]

Anal gland impaction? Check that part of him. It’s close enough to the upper thigh/meat part of the leg that it could be painful.

[Sswor]

Abscess. Palpate really carefully and you’ll find it. My dog had one on his head once from the world’s smallest bite wound that I never even knew he had–til I came home and patted him on the head and he almost split my eardrums with the scream. I thought he had a skull fracture with the amount of pain just touching the tiny spot on his head caused because there was no visible wound. It took minor surgery for the flushing and a drainage tube inserted to heal.

If it is an abscess it is kind of an emergency so you might want to take your vet up on their earliest available. Post an update when you find out, good luck to your pup.

[Romany]

Has he been swimming or over-exerting himself recently? They can tweak those muscles at the base of the tail - where it meets the body - agonizingly painfully, so much so that they’ll yelp when you touch the area, heck, when you even look at it.

Id have the vet take a look at him if he’s still sore in a day or two.

[SuckerForHorses]

This morning he let me touch all over lightly, which is a huge improvement with no yelping at all. He seemed a little cautious when I started touching but he didn’t voice any displeasure.

Analysis gland impaction? Check that part of him. It’s close enough to the upper thigh/meat part of the leg that it could be painful.

Like his anal glands? Interesting, my boyfriend said “could it be that he needs his anal glands expressed?” He has never had an issue with that before but I will keep an eye out.

At this point since he’s still acting normal and has improved, I’ll just be keeping an eye to see if anything changes and will keep touching to note any difference in his discomfort level.

Maybe he just bruised himself a bit? Banged himself on a door or a piece of furniture, etc? He may have hit himself on something and it’s still sore and touching the spot both hurts and reminds him of being scared.

Maybe, but he was fine when we went to bed, and did his first yelp at 5 AM the next morning, after sleeping on the couch all night long. :lol:

[Sswor]

Probably not an abscess then. Is your pup a bit of a drama queen?

[Ambitious_Kate]

What is an analysis gland??

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=Sswor;8308531]
Probably not an abscess then. Is your pup a bit of a drama queen?[/QUOTE]

Well, the horse kicked him in the head and gave him an open skull fracture a few years ago, and he never yelped, so I normally would say no…

but, yelping when you touch a hair on his leg with no visible issue…I’m beginning to think he might be! :lol:

[jetsmom]

[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;8308620]
What is an analysis gland??[/QUOTE]
Anal gland…stupid auto correct on my phone.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;8308620]
What is an analysis gland??[/QUOTE]

I think autocorrect may have changed “anal” to “analysis” although why I’m not sure because anal is a word…

ETA: jetsmom and I were posting at the same time :lol:

So really, an anal glad can cause that much of an issue? Never had any issues before. I will make note of the exact area the yelping occurs should it happen again; he seems okay today

[JanM]

I wonder if something bit him. A spider or other bite can be very small, and still hurt.

[S1969]

I don’t think anal glands; that is definitely a licking/scooting thing, not a leg issue. My guess would be a bruise injury (like a kick), or soft tissue injury. Hate to suggest cruciate tear but it could be possible that a sore leg would be a sign…(but if no limping it would be a good sign…not a full tear, and maybe could heal?)

I’d definitely keep the dog on partial rest just in case of something like that; maybe give him an aspirin or something like previcox for a couple of days.

[SuckerForHorses]

I’d definitely keep the dog on partial rest just in case of something like that;

No worries there, he literally holds the couch down all day long, goes out to pee when we get home, and then pretty much lounges around the house the rest of the night. :lol:

Last night and this morning he was fine, no yelping at all, and this morning I palpated it with more feeling than just brushing over his hair, and he didn’t seem to mind.