I have a 8 year old pug and I've had her since she was 8 weeks old (from a breeder.) She's been too energetic her entire life and I never was too concerned but now that I can see her legs/hips aren't what they use to be, I feel really guilty that I didn't take action sooner but everyone has regrets like this and look back to see they could have done things better. Up until the beginning of this year she slept on the bed with us, and she always got on the furniture. So much jumping up and down have taken a toll on her. Not to mention we've always lived on the 2nd or 3rd floor of an apartment building and she's walked up/down the stairs. A month ago I bought her a really nice dog bed to lay on to substitute the couch. By this time I could see she had a limp but never seemed in pain. She sleeps in her cage at night and I have a towel in there for her. This morning I got up and let her out of her cage and it APPEARED her right hip/leg was dislocated. She was trying to walk with her left leg and her right leg was almost folded in and she couldn't walk on the right leg at all. After 10 minutes her leg got a lot better and now she's pretty much like she has been but I'm terribly concerned. Could it have been her leg fell asleep or her hip popped out of joint and fixed itself? She never once whined from being in pain. In fact after I took her outside (I carried her up and down the stairs) I got on the floor with her to take a closer look at her leg/hip and touch it to see if she was in pain. As I got down on the floor, she got excited and ran to get a toy out of her basket! So if she is in pain, it's not much. I recall her moving around alot in her cage I don't know if she couldn't get comfortable or what. The towel I have in there sometimes gets balled up in the corner from her moving around so I don't know if maybe she was uncomfortable with it like that and tried to stretch it out or what. If I had the money I would sure take her to the vet to get x rays done but I just can't afford it. I might would be able to charge the bill for the x rays but definitely not any type of surgery. I'm not even going to consider putting her to sleep unless I'm confident she's in pain which she hasn't shown yet. I've been reading about hip dislocations and they say it's VERY painful for dogs so I'm sure she would be expressing her pain if thats what happened.
Sounds like hip dysplasia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_dysplasia_(canine) Oftentimes it's just unavoidable. Since you don't have $$ for x-rays, maybe just a visit explaining your situation and what you can do to keep your pup as comfortable as possible.
Get a credit card to pay for a visit, there are also various low cost pet clinics in Houston. Vets are animal lovers and can work something out with you. I was in the same situation and coughed up $600 for my dog who was in pain due to some pain in his leg, he is all better now and they charge was eventually paid off.
I just took this video, this time it's happening with her OTHER leg/hip WTH is going on? Seems like if she sits/lays in a position her joints in her hips give in and they get stuck like that. <embed width="440" height="420" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://v5.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=o7124l&s=5"><br><font size="1"><a href="http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=o7124l&s=5">Original Video</a> - More videos at <a href="http://tinypic.com">TinyPic</a></font>
My parent's lab is like that. He has hip dysplasia and it started when he was just a few years old. I can tell you from experience that there is not much that vets can do. You can pay for XRays, etc...but unless something is broken how is that going to help? We spent a lot on Xrays which did not show anything than just swelling associated with the condition. We went as far as trying out the extremely expensive stem cell treatment / surgery (around $5K) which did not help at all. This dog is still alive - I think he is 11 now and the only thing which helps relieve the pain and swelling are steroids that he has been taking each month for years now.
My parent's dog gets to gimping around about every other month. They give her dog aspirin and it seems the pain settles down in a day or two. They just don't let her jump around too much still though.
I don't advise you to diagnosis the issue yourself. I know a lot of people say that their dogs have dysplasia and it's great feedback but don't assume your dog has the same issue. Biggest mistake people make with their personal lives and pets, is figuring it out online. The purpose of a doctor is to determine the issue. Hopefully your dog makes it out OK and she is back to normal in no time.
