My little border terrier loves walks, but because he is aggressive to other people and of course the busy roads he is always on his lead.
Now he has no problem with his lead, he dosn't pull or anytihng and is vey well behaved, but recently over the past few months, he has decided to try and scrat at his collar. So i stop to let him scratch but he just stands there, he just lifts his leg up and hops
i was getting lots of people coming over to me and telling me off for not taking him to the vets because they think hes got a poorly paw on his back leg
I got sick of people telling me off so i bought a harnas, so that the lead wasnt pulling on his collar thinking he would stop. But he still carries on lifting his leg up and hopping
I think its a habit now but i dont know how to stop him from doing it

Any advise would be great -x-

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Keep Dreaming Smudge! HAHAHA

have you checked the obvious things such as his collar for anything that may be sticking in him sometimes they are stitched with something that looks like cat gut or clear fishing line and as it comes un stitched it pokes outand can be quite pointy , have you checked him for fleas , have you checked him for any signs of irritation under his collar ? thats the obvious over with ! the more obscure Hmmmmmm im at a loss he could just be doing it for effect as it gets him attention try ignoring it once you,ve assertained that there are no physical reasons for this display of behaviour , and once he walks again after scratching give him a good boy and a treat , but only if he walks properly again .
Andrea

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this reminds me of my oh's auntys staffy - she runs round in the garden limping on 3 legs with her back paw off the ground and theres nothing wrong with her at all!! shes been to vets loads of times and hes put it down to her wanting attention and to just ignore her. its so funny to watch tho! sometimes she forgets then the minute you look at her its back up again!lol

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Mucky pup!!

I think its a terrier thing, I know a lot of terriers who intermittently use just three legs, no idea why they do it.

my parents used to have a shitzu that did the same thing this was her way of saying she'd had enough and wanted to go home. the limp disappeared on the way home

i have checked and double checked for injuries and the collar is new and has no pointy bits on it. i walked him 2day and i totally ignored it and i even took sum treats but he didnt walk properly so i cudnt give him any

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Keep Dreaming Smudge! HAHAHA

Thats ok as long as you dont reward bad behaviour he will have to wate for his treat then lol stick with it .

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thanks andrea i will carry on and hopefully he will stop

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Keep Dreaming Smudge! HAHAHA

I am not an expert but my jack russel did exactly the same thing and so did my friends jack russel , i took my dog to the vets and he told me its a condition called luxating patella its a bone condition to the back of the knee joint. The ball slips out of the socket which causes them to hop untill it goes back in, it is a painful condition but only momentarily. You can have it operated on but it depends whether Your dog is lame more often than not. Dogs that have this complaint should not be used to breed with, it is also common in bull terriers although my bull terrier is fine. I suggest you get a second opinion at your vets. Hope this helps you. carol v

thankyou carol i never thought of it as possibly being a condition, i will have him checked asap

thanks again -x-

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Keep Dreaming Smudge! HAHAHA