I own a 12 year old Springer Spaniel called Robbie, who within the last few months has been incredibly clumsy on his feet.

I noticed him tripping a lot when he is out on his walks and sitting with his paw bent over, resting the back of the paw on the floor a lot. He doesn't seem to be aware he is doing it and will stand up, putting weight on the bent paw causing him to fall over. He has had a few bad falls because of this or purely from tripping as he runs, and i am hoping to find a way to help him.

We have consulted a vet who has confirmed that it is neurological, and most likely related to the ongoing spinal problems he has had for the last few years. In basic english he said that the messages from his brain are not quite reaching his feet and has resulted in lack of control in his limbs.

At the moment he is coping and it is generally not affecting his quality of life. He is a very happy and active dog, and we hope he will remain that way for a long while to come. Unfortunatly the vet made it clear that these problems will persist and only get worse with time. If anyone has any advice that will help improve his condition and prevent it getting worse, i would be very greatful.

Suggestions such as hydrotherapy, massages and acupuncture have been made but i do not know how effective they are or even how to go about getting it.

So sorry to hear about Robbie Our dog has spinal problems, arthritis & HD, he has accupunture which has realy helped his mobility untill recently but he now needs an op on his neck Hydro is realy good to, the one we go to his a treadmill in a tank your vet should be able to refer you to both

There is a drug called Gabapentin which our dog has just started takeing which is suppose to work well on nerve pathways that might be worth asking your vet about to.

A Bioflow collar may help & suppliments such as Glucosomine or Green Lipped Muscle if you arnt already giving it.

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All my children have paws!

thanks for the suggestions the accupunture and hydro? does it have to be done as a regular treatment to have an effect or is it a one time thing? he's already had a taster of hydrotherapy by throwing himself in the lake the other week :P but somthing tells me it wont have the same effect lol.

hope your dog is ok after his op

They are both regular treatments, the accupunture was 2 sessions a week for a month I think he now goes every 3 weeks but it depends on how it works for your dog

& thank you

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All my children have paws!

okay. thankyou for your help

My 8 year old whippet Owen has some sort of neurolagical problem. He would stand with his feet turned over when you turned them over yourself he would not correct it for a few seconds. The vet also tried putting a paper under his foot and pulling it away he did not pick up his foot. The vet thinks his problem is affecting his left side.

He is being treated with steriods nd has been on them since the beggining of february. He is a lot better now than he was. The vet did tell us that it could be soemthing such as a traped nerve in his spin or as sinister as a brain tumour forming. Whichever the treatment was the same short of sending him for a MRI scan which as he isn't insured there is no way I could afford. He is however responding to the steriod treatment but the vet did warn us that this was most likely the start of the end for him and how much more time we had with him would depend on how he responded.

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Sammy you may be gone but your sprit will always live on in the sunbeams R I P Sammy

William- 6/11/03 - 24/3/10
Midge - 8/2/11 - 10-2-11

sorry to hear about Owen sounds very similar to Robbie at the moment. the vet did the same with his paws and he did not correct them himself, it was like he didnt realise anything was wrong.

our vet didn't seem to have any suggestions to help improve his condition, which im now thinking isn't quite right as your dog is responding well to steroids, and Dally Banjo mentioned something called Gabapentin.

ill definatly ask about these treatments on our next visit to the vet hope Owen gets better!