Limping puppy- Help!

Hopefully you have not been walking your Basset for more than a few minutes each time because we have always been told by breeders and vets, never to take Basset pups out walking on a 'proper' walk until from about 10-12 months of age because of the way their leg bones/plates are developing and they don't knit together properly for a long time.

When we have had pups, we have found (especially having two together) that their playing and running around in the garden several times a day, followed by periods of resting, has been sufficient exercise until they are older. We have always walked them gently and for about an increase of five minutes for every month of age and they've not done 'proper' walks until almost a year old, having built their walking time up as they age.

I remember meeting someone who told me they had walked their eight month old Basset for far too lengthy walks and when she was limping, the vet told her never to walk a Basset 'properly' until getting on for 11/12 mths and she said she had to keep her dog in for almost three months and to curtail walking or the vet said she would have suffered arthritis etc as an older dog.

I think some uninformed people/new Basset owners, think they can walk Basset pups like they could a young Collie/Terrier/Husky etc that has what I call a springy/bouncy body, but you have to be patient and make it gradual until they are grown! Mikey T will correct me if I am wrong, but it's worked for us and we have always had fit, sturdy Bassets with no joint problems.

I disagree with Smitte21 and I would keep Charlotte on puppy food until she is a year old as she has a lot of growing to do. How heavy is she? Another thing you probably already know, is never to exercise a dog for an hour or more before, or after feeding!

I have to say that walking a puppy that is only five months old for 45 minutes is far too much, especially if you have been doing it for some time! She probably won't have let you know it was too long for her to be walking, until the damage had been done! Did your breeder or your vet not tell you that Basset Hounds have to be restricted in their walking time whilst young?

My family have had Bassets for many years and have never walked a puppy for more than a few minutes of gentle exercise on a lead (or better still, natural play in the garden when they choose how long to play) and to meet other dogs for socialisation, by driving pups to the local park or beach and sit on a bench and meet passing dogs or just a few minutes walking around on the grass.

Due to the terrific growth rate of young Basset Hounds there is a huge pressure on the puppies' ligaments, muscles and bone development, so it is recommended to avoid long walks with a puppy, especially under 6 months of age. With this in mind it might be worth carrying out the collar and lead training in the garden or a restricted place where the puppy isn't tempted to walk too far.

If you don't want to take Charlotte to the vet, if it was me, I would very much restrict her to the garden or a few minutes gentle exercise on a lead for three or four weeks and see how she does. If you take her to the vet, she will possibly be put onto Metacam or something like that and too much of that sort of stuff isn't good for them at such a young age!

Just my opinion of course, but from experience of two generations of my family owning Bassets!

Edit: Another thing is to not let Bassets go up and down stairs - going downstairs is particularly bad as the full weight of the dog (might be 65-75lbs when grown) is pushed onto the little front legs and can cause joint problems!

Unfortunatly our vet doesn't seem to have much basset experience and the breeder we got her from is not very responsive now that we have brought her home. We thought we were getting this show quality AKC registered basset hound from good healthy parents but she has had health troubles litterally from day 1. We took her to the vet on her second day in our home and she was underweight and already had Giardia. By the time she was done with antibiotics for that then she had ear infections in both ears. Four days after she finished up her ear ointment she wakes up one morning with cherry eye in both eyes. She had to have surgery in both eyes which didn't take in her left eye so that required a second surgery. Now she is limping and her right eye looks like it will also require another surgery. I just can't imagine how much stuff one little baby puppy has to put up with! We love her to death, she is my best friend already, but with my husband losing his job and all the money we have put into her vet bills I don't know how much either us or our baby can deal with. I just want her to be a happy healthy puppy.

I have to say that walking a puppy that is only five months old for 45 minutes is far too much,

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That state could not be further than the truth. There are too many factor to be taken into consideration in making such a determination.

What it the speed of the walk, from the dog perspective.. a walk, trot,cantor. What is the surface, how hard is it, what is the fitness level of the dog. What is the weight of the dog. Walking is a low stress exercise. A dog should be able to walk a considerable distance but at the same time it endurance need to be worked up to slowly over time. Moderate exercises like walk can reduce fustrtion levels of pups from inadequite exercise which then on ther own will engage in much higher risk activities like jumping etc. One also must keep in mind that what most people call a wlak with a basset hound is hardly that a 45 minute walk could easily be a 5 minute walk and 40 minutes of sniffing without out seeing an exercise program is is imposible to legitimately comment on it, the best thing is to provide information and let the idividual chose to you or ignore that information,

Keeping Your Large Breed Puppy In Shape

The Role of Exercise in Preventing HOD

It is our collective experience and our opinion, the majority of growth problems, poor conformation, lack of soundness and bad movement are normally due to a lack of free exercise in the early stages of development - under 8 months

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I think some uninformed people/new Basset owners, think they can walk Basset pups like they could a young Collie/Terrier/Husky etc that has what I call a springy/bouncy body, but you have to be patient and make it gradual until they are grown

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a dog is a dog is a dog, if they need some special care one has to question what the breeder is doing in creating such an exteme body type that requires special care. A basset should be able to hunt all day. If you need to not exercise the dog for the equvilent of it childhood there is something seriouly wrong with the breeding program. Their has been tendency to promote extreme types in the breed ring which contributes to being over careful about the dog development as it grows but if this need to be done it is neither good for the dog or the breed. Recently the KC has adjusted the breed standard of the Basset Hound which should hopefully have an effect in reigning in the extremism seen in a number of "eurpean Basset hounds" This extemism was more common in the US 2 years ago but more recently more moderate and fit bassets are winning in the breed ring rather than dogs that have trouble getting out of their own way.

THE INTERIM STANDARD (WITH CHANGES)

LottesMama said:

Unfortunatly our vet doesn't seem to have much basset experience and the breeder we got her from is not very responsive now that we have brought her home. We thought we were getting this show quality AKC registered basset hound from good healthy parents but she has had health troubles litterally from day 1. We took her to the vet on her second day in our home and she was underweight and already had Giardia. By the time she was done with antibiotics for that then she had ear infections in both ears. Four days after she finished up her ear ointment she wakes up one morning with cherry eye in both eyes. She had to have surgery in both eyes which didn't take in her left eye so that required a second surgery. Now she is limping and her right eye looks like it will also require another surgery. I just can't imagine how much stuff one little baby puppy has to put up with! We love her to death, she is my best friend already, but with my husband losing his job and all the money we have put into her vet bills I don't know how much either us or our baby can deal with. I just want her to be a happy healthy puppy.

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Awww you poor thing and even worse, poor wee Charlotte! I bet her immune system is really low with all these problems!

And Giardia, how did she contract that? Isn't that something very serious and from drinking dirty water that has some kind of bacteria in it or something like that? I would think your breeders have been rather 'neglectful' and I wonder how the rest of the litter are, healthwise!

And MikeyT, maybe my breeder is fairly strict about walking young puppies for only short lengths of time and building up gradually because he has show quality Bassets with many successes from his pups and wants dogs who walk well with no joint problems and likewise with the stud dogs he uses, where the breeder also of many champions is also careful with his dogs.

Coincidentally my vet is also mindful of not exercising Basset puppies too much, too young and went to great lengths to explain how their bone structure is unlike other dogs!

Edit: With respect MikeyT, you seem often to reply to messages on here with quotes from books.... and I don't know if you are a vet or something like that..... or maybe you are a Google fan like myself at times!

At any rate, I doubt that a 45 minute stroll around the neighborhood would cause a problem.

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Percisely there is a big difference from a liesurely stroll vs jogging etc. The concept of free play is the dog will not engage in activity that cause it pain. But anyone that has watch puppy play is sure to witness activity that is far more stressfull and traumatic on the joints, tendon, muscle and ligiments, than walking is.

she recommends switching the puppies to adult formula at 4-5 months old

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Which was sound avice 10-15 years ago. It is not so clear there is benefit to doing so with the advant of Large breed puppy food, that is lower in caloric content and calcium and phosphorous than traditional puppy food and on the calcium and phosphorous font lower than adult food as well. A strong argument can be made for keep a puppy on large breed puppy food until the growth plates close. However there is vast difference between brand of commercial dog food so making a sweeping generalization is not appropriate.

you seem often to reply to messages on here with quotes from books.... and I don't know if you are a vet or something like that..... or maybe you are a Google fan like myself at times!

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Not a vet but when it comes to putting forth an argument it is important to substantiate it. So any link Is provided to Either substaintiate and argument or and more likely to provide more detail and elaboration than can be done in this type of forum. Since I know many or most are unlikely to ready said link I include a quote for the purpose of substaination.