# Cracking joints in 4 mo old pup?



## wobschall (Feb 4, 2003)

I've got a female lab pup who is 4 months old. Since I got her, her joints have been cracking (sounds like cracking knuckles) when she walks. It's not constant, but happens frequently enough to notice. I thought this was something she would grow out of, but its been a couple months and now I'm getting a little concerned. Is this normal? Should I have her checked out somehow before investing a lot of time and money into training?
Thanks for any input.


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## Lil Dikens Kennels (Mar 30, 2006)

Take her to a good vet and have her checked out.I have never hear a puppy with cracking joints


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## caesarlabrador (Jun 26, 2006)

Hi, the one experience that I had with a Golden Retriever that I owned. Her hips would crackle everytime she would get up from lying down. If you put your hand against her hip you could feel it crackle as she got up. At 5 months had her xrayed and her hips were dysplastic. Hope you have good luck and it is just nothing.

Danielle


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## wobschall (Feb 4, 2003)

It doesn't seem to be just hips. Sounds more like knees or wrists as she's running. Any other thoughts? I'm thinking of having OFA prelims done with the ISU vet clinic to get her checked out. Is 4 months old enough?


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## Aussie (Jan 4, 2003)

Bearing, not only in mind, for peace of mind and you are planning to spend dollars, in sending the dog training. I would start with a good vet appointment, one who focuses on sports dogs. Might be an idea to go to a vet who performs Penn hip radiographs, who can also check the other seemingly loose joints.


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2007)

Do you have any orthopedic vets close to you? Cracking joints can be a sign of OCD. Does your dog show any lameness? Were the puppy's parents cleared of ED and HD? Some puppies suffer from Pano, but I've never heard Pano causing cracking in the joints. I hope it's nothing serious with your pup.


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## gdluck (May 27, 2005)

Not trying to scare ya but. my dogs joints crack and always have. it comes and goes. Diagnosed bilateral FCP. Surgery about a year ago. Still crackin.

Are the 2 related? I don't know. I thought it was strange that his joints would crack but if you think about it my joints cracked when I was younger too. Now they pop and moan if they move at all  .

Really though cracking of the joints is caused by gasses in the joints and/or tendons adjusting when moveing. So it is normal in humans I don't see why it would be any different in dogs.


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## wobschall (Feb 4, 2003)

She's not in any pain or discomfort that I can tell. She's got a ton of drive and desire to retrieve. Both parents were OFA Good on hips. No elbow grade that I know of. 
I've got an appointment with the orthhopedic group at ISU next week, so we'll see what they say.


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## frontier (Nov 3, 2003)

Concur with other comments. Get it checked out. Many years ago, I had an FC-AFC sired male out of an AFC female FT prospect, and at about four months when the pup rose from resting, I heard popping. Ended up the pup had severe elbow dysplasia (both elbows) and OCD when xrayed at 10 months. Wish I had it the pup checked out before spending a couple thousand in training fees with pro. Lesson learned.


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## wobschall (Feb 4, 2003)

We just got back from the vet. He was able to get a pop out of both front elbows when he manipulated them. He thought the left hip was popping a little bit but wasn't any sublaxation. I had them do the standard elbow and hip radiographs, looked like there was good coverage on the hips. We'll see what OFA thinks in a few weeks...


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