[pulley27]

My four year old lab Sam developed a limp after a long walk on Tuesday. It is two miles to the dog park on hard surfaces, he then ran hard on the uneven pasture at the park. He then developed a slight limp while walking home. By the next day, he was fine on both of our walks etc . Yesterday, we went back to that dog park and he developed the same limp. The difference this time is he is still limping this morning on our walk. I noticed this morning he does not limp when walking on soft surfaces like grass etc. He only limps while walking on hard surfaces like concrete. His leg does not bother him at home at all. I live in WA state and the temp has gone up the last few days into the mid to upper seventies. I looked at his leg/paw and see no sign of cuts, torn nails etc. Both times after running hard in the pasture the limp developed but then only seems to affect him on hard surfaces. I touch his leg and paw and he has no tenderness and does not mind at all. Anyone have any ideas or thoughts? Anything would be helpfu. Thanks for your time. Jeff

[Yogi]

I see you are in the Seattle area, only about 45 minutes from me. Yes the weather has warmed up the last couple days and for the dogs and joints in general this is usually a good thing. Consider the wear on our joints when compressing on a hard surface as opposed to a soft one. It is similar in dogs.
hard surfaces though great for their nails is generally not good on the joints.
You did not say whether it was a front or rear leg. If it is the front, this can be related to the normal compression generated on the shoulder joint and neck area when walking on surfaces that have no give to them. Hindquarter, this could be early stage arthritis or hip dysplasia. I went through that some years ago with a big breed dog I had. On grass he seemed far better when on hard surfaces it showed itself to be uncomfortable. Good Luck.