Front leg lameness
To ascertain if there is lamness in either of the front legs, the dog needs to be trotted towards the observer as lameness is harder to detect while walking unless it is very severe.
Trot the dog slowly in a straight line on a relaxed lead. If your dog scrabbles, pulls or leans to the side it can be impossible to see the lameness clearly.
The dog favours the sore leg by taking less weight on it. The impression given is that the dog “nods” downwards with its head ON THE GOOD LEG. The sore leg is the opposite one to the one which is nodded on.
Top Tip: Its a good idea to have the dog filmed as you trot him as the limp might be very descreet and require 3 or 4 viewings to be absolutely sure. It also means that you can video him again a couple of days later and see if there has been any improvement/deterioration in his motion rather than relying on your memory.
Tomorrow: hind leg lameness.
