what are the symptoms of a German shepherd that has spinal problems?

My German shepherd is now 4 months old, but when he runs his hips sway to the right a little too much. When should I be worried and take him to the vet?

Get her to the vet now before it gets worse

my dog happens to be a german Shepperd with this problem. the symptoms can be sever or none sever but they worsen with age. as a pup they would be farly alright but as they age they get leg paine and bone pain witch could cause aggression, so sometimes it is better to let them rest my veterinarian said to only let him run four an hour a day. you might notice if he has the symptom when he starts running like a horse to relive pain when running also that the dogs back is humpted.

Without seeing him, I cannot say - but to answer directly, a dog with spinal problems can be ataxic, or paralyzed. It can be very painful (slipped disk) or in the case of paralysis, no pain - but the dog is unable to "tell" his feet where to go.Hips swaying to the right - that is not something I can comment on. Some puppies undergo growth "spurts" and they become awkward and rangy which makes them sloppy looking. The most telling sign of a dog with hip problems is a dog that chooses to bunny hop - rather than trot.A shepherd's natural gait is a trot (or lope) and he should fall into this naturally. That is also the best way to evaluate movement - so have him trot on lead beside you with someone watching.You could be worried about nothing - your vet would have examined the dog for vaccinations?

With my previous GSD he started having trouble laying down and getting up and he hunched his back, this was constant and x-rays showed arthritis of the spine. At the time he was not quite ten yrs. of age. It never hurts to check with your vet if you have questions. Good luck

You have a 4 months old German shepherd who can run??? Fantastic! See, just like a Welsh shepherdess, a German shepherd is a PERSON.My breed's real name translates as German Shepherd Dog - 3 words in the proper noun, so 3 capital initials needed, with GSD for short.• Spinal problems.MOST unlikely before old age. But in the first group below click Links, then Diseases_&_Disorders, then Spinal_Problems, to see what is possible.PAIN is the most important symptom.• Swaying.· My first thought is that you are looking at a GSD that crabs - most of them do, because it takes exactly the right co-ordination to time the gait so that the pastern on one side rises at JUST the right microsecond to allow the rear paw on that side to slide under it before contacting the ground, and thus allow the dog to keep its spine in line with its travel over the ground. Most modern dogs - especially the over angulated-behind AlsatiOns and NAmerican Ski-Slope Dogs - have hind feet that reach too far forward, and too soon, so they have to place their hind-paw to one side of the front paw that is still on the ground. If I'm right, your pet is placing his right rear paw outside his right fore-paw, and his left rear paw BETWEEN his front paws. And this results in his spine being angled slightly away from his line of travel.· My second thought is that you have raised your pet in a closed crate, and so he gets too little continual exercise to develop adequate muscle tone. Too many pet owners think they should make a young pup run for an hour, then they crate it for the next 9+ hours. No. A crate is fine, but it should stay open except to protect the pup while travelling in a vehicle, or to protect it from a visiting brat. Lack of muscle tone is about the 2nd-most-common cause of hip dysplasia.◙ Add http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_GSD_Source to your browser's Bookmarks or Favorites so that you can easily look up such as rescue groups, feeding, vaccinations, worming, clubs, neutering, diseases, genetics.◙ To ask about GSDs, join some of the 400+ YahooGroups dedicated to various aspects of living with them. Each group's Home page tells you which aspects they like to discuss, and how active they are. Unlike YA, they are set up so that you can have an ongoing discussion with follow-up questions for clarification. Most allow you to include photos in your messages.Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly"In GSDs" as of 1967