The Vet Practice

Embarrasing? Maybe.

But don't worry. We see this happen quite often and the reasons are very simple.

Dogs, like most animals are survivors. They're careful about communicating signs of pain as this shows up their weaknesses and vulnerabilities to the rest of the pack or - in the case of prey animals - their predators.

In the wild - the weak and injured are abandoned or eliminated quickly.

In the comfort of their own home dogs are more likely to display their true feelings. After all, they're comfortable with you and feel they can "be themselves". So it's easy to know when Fido just isn't himself or he's done himself an injury. He trusts you not to do him harm because of it.

However, take Fido out of his "safe" zone in the car and into a totally unfamilar place such as the Vet and that's when his survival instincts kick in. Fear and apprehension, even excitement trigger the release of powerful chemicals which can temporarily "cover up" the signs of pain until such time he feels safe again - (usually when he arrives back home and settles back into his routine)

What this means is that that for the duration of the visit to the vet, Fido seems surprisingly well.

On examination though, the painful areas can usually be determined no matter how hard he tries to cover them up so it's always worth following through with the visit.

Limps can vary according to their cause. They could be temporary, intermittent, sometimes worse then - not so bad. In any case, all limping does warrant your attention and a checkup by your vet.