Earlier this week, I woke up at 6AM cuz I heard Pooka yelp. I had left the bedroom door open (which I only do occasionally) so I had to look over the house for her. She was laying up on the couch, waving her left paw at me and licking her chops (as if she had just woken up). I then found out she did not want to put any weight on that front left leg.

Husband said she could sleep with us, which she liked. She likes to cuddle when she's not feeling well. An hour or so later she yelped again, so I think if she would fall asleep, she'd forget and put weight on it, waking her up. This is probably what happened at 6AM, though it means, the injury could've happened at anytime during the night and I have no idea what happened. Also, she managed to jump up on the couch?

Our normal vet didn't open until 3PM that day, so I called another and they said they could squeeze me in. Before we went to the vet, I put her in the yard to potty, she hobbled around tripod style and did both business, but actually walked on it a bit, it seemed. When we got to the vet, seeing other dogs and people, BAM, walkin and jumping around with just a slight limp, wriggling out of my arms. I hadn't brought a leash (cuz I figured she wouldn't go anywhere) so they let me borrow one. She acted like she had no pain. My theory is 1) adrenaline, 2) dogs hide their pain naturally, which she probably doesn't do to us, but feels she needs to hide it around non-pack members.

Doc said he didn't feel any grinding joints or notice any pain, except a little discomfort at the shoulder joint. Her neck was supple, so no pinched nerves, which can cause periodic lameness. I told him, she plays real hard and would limp sometimes, but it would switch from foot to foot (always front) and I figured it was that growing pains thing (she's 7.5 months). This was different.

He gave her some pain meds, said we didn't have to restrict her movement, just keep her from jumping down off things. Pain meds can only be for 3-4 days cuz they're an NSAID. We stopped after 2 days. The second day, she was in her crate all day, and when she came out, wouldn't put weight on it for a minute or two, then was fine. 3rd day, she was fine with no meds. We just woke up this morning on the 4th day and she won't put any weight on it. She wouldn't walk it off, either. Its been 2 hours and she still is very lame. I took her outside, she ran a little, tripod style, then stopped and vomitted twice in a row (nothing came up but spit), then she followed me some more. Has not used the restroom. She ate food and drank, chewed on her toy.

Despite what the vet said, I think our plan is to keep her inactive. But I don't know what's wrong, and if the vet is just going to do another physical exam, I doubt he'll find anything. I read the other forum posts but most people just talk about the back legs, or limping, not this full blown, holding her leg up.

We will try putting her on meds again, and if it goes away, that means it is pain related, I'd think, vs simply structural.

Don't know what to do besides going to the vet =( Worry the vet won't be helpful =(