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Old April 22nd, 2011, 11:28 AM
cassingermany cassingermany is offline
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Puppy run?

My cocker spaniel puppy who is 9 weeks almost has a very funny run. She walks just fine but her run goes a bit sideways and she does a hop. When I google this, it's half and half as to what people say. Did your puppy do this and grow out of it? Anna and Sookie were never this young when we got them.
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 11:31 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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A lot of pups run a little sideways...and as they grow and get leggier, sometimes the front can't keep up with the back and they roll themselves, so it may be nothing other than normal puppy clutziness. What do you mean by a hop, though? When she runs do her rear legs work independently, or is she doing a bunny hop type thing, with rear legs in synch all the time?
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 12:21 PM
cassingermany cassingermany is offline
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It's a bunny hop. Both legs are going up at the same time where the front run normally.
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 12:36 PM
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If you think it looks abnormal, it's worth getting checked out at the vet. A conversation with your vet about the possibility might, at the very least, set your mind at ease. You hear a lot about 'bunny hopping' being a sign of hip dysplasia, but 9 weeks would be pretty early for that to be showing up already. We had a dog with severe hip dysplasia who never did a bunny hop; and some pups that used to bunny hop, but outgrew it as their legs got longer and their coordination improved.

If the hop persists, a good orthopedic veterinarian specialist would be my choice for an evaluation. We're always amazed at how much more the specialists can see in an xray than our regular vets can--even though our regular vets are pretty good!
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Old April 22nd, 2011, 06:24 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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A bunny hop movement persisting into later months of life is one symptom of a growing problem in Labradors, Central Neural Myopathy, CNM. I'm not aware of other breeds having it. It is a devastating diagnosis. I'd be checking the spaniel boards but many puppies do a bunny hop. Mine did but not always. We meet an adult 5 year old Lab who still does it, has nothing wrong with him, it is not CNM. It does really slow him down though, how come rabbits are so fast? LOL.
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Old April 23rd, 2011, 08:09 AM
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"Our"Cocker Bailey who is about 10yrs old,always runs sideways,but she does not bunny-hop.
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Old April 27th, 2011, 02:38 PM
cassingermany cassingermany is offline
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We are leash training Lily. She fought HARD putting a collar on her or with a leash. Pulling and yipping even though nothing was hurting her. She just plain freaked out! But now that she is finally walking on her leash, she stops about ever 20 feet to sit and whine. She will whine while walking as well. I'm not sure what's going on with her but I'm going to go ahead and have the vet check out her hips when we go in on Monday. I'm not what could be going on.
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