This pup of mine has been limping on her right front off and on now for three or four weeks. One day the three girls were playing and it was a hot day. I sent them to run for the dog pool in order to cool-off. They usually race for it, to try to be the first one in. This time, Chris came back limping on her right front foot.

I looked it over, and could not find anything wrong. She kept limping for a good part of the day, and after several days, the limp seemed to disappear. Then several days later, her limp reappeared. This has now gone on too long, for my comfort.

I made an appointment with the dog chiropractor, and had her look Christian over. I have had good luck with them in the past. My first herding dog, Bonnie, at five years old, started limping on one of her front legs. I took her to my veterinarian and x-rays were taken. Fortunately, cancer was ruled out, but no diagnosis was able to be given. The vet wanted to do further radiographs up her leg to see if any problems could be seen.

Before I went a head with the additional radiographs, I had a local farrier, who also adjusted horses and dogs, look at Bonnie. I asked him to give her an adjustment. As soon as he was finished, her limp stopped. I was sold!

I had never had chiropractic work done on me, so later, when I came off my horse and herniated a disc, the chiropractor became my saving grace.

This time, it was not quite so simple. The doctor felt something and came up with two maybes. Either she had elbow displaysia or she hyper extended her elbow and has a sprain. She suggested an x-ray and a general check up with my vet, which the appointment has already been made. Crate rest was also recommended. This is harder for me, than it is for the dog.

Upon some research from the internet, elbow displaysia in Border collies has a percentage of 0, in a group of 250. Most of the authoritative veterinarians on the subject, state that it is not a important concern.

Since I know when, but not how, she bashed it, I am pretty sure that she has hyper extended her elbow, but of course, I am not a doctor. The chiropractor said that her right elbow had more extension than her left elbow did. That makes me think she has hyper extended that elbow. For now, she is being crate rested. She is not too happy about the whole thing either.

I had a friend come over today to work his dog on sheep, and I made sure that Chris got to watch. She sat there at the fence tied the whole time, at least a couple of hours, watching the dogs and sheep go bye.

I figure that if she is not allowed to play or work right now, at least her mind could work. Later this afternoon, I gave her a full 12" bully stick, which she has never had before. She loved it, and chewed on that for a long time. Now, when I let her out of the crate for any reason, the other two girls go over and snoop in her crate, stealing goodies inside. So the crate door always has to be shut, to prevent access to those sneaky thieves.