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Last night the potlickers had a frenzied bear race. A real fast one mile run with a nasty but quick bayup which Buffy got manhandled a bit. When I got to the tree which was about 100 yards from the bayup Buffy had little to no control of her back legs. Staggering and falling down. This went on for about 10 minutes until I rubbed her back for a while and she took off with the other hounds when the bear jumped the tree. This is the second time I have seen this the first time was with My Black and tan Rudy. Has anyone else seen this happen???

I have a dog the same thing happens to. He loses control of his rear end, cant stand, kind of acts like a seizure but he doesnt lose control mentally, he's cohearant the whole time. With him it happens a couple times of the year but its never happened on a hunt.

I dont have a clue what causes it.

Sounds like Tick paralysis to me. It can hit em fast and go away just as fast.

Dont have a tick problem where I live.

If the dog had ticks in the past (more than 4 yrs ago) could it be a re-acuring from ticks bites that long ago?

Some dogs are just sensitive to ticks. All it takes is one tick, and one bite.

The tick can bite the dog then fall off, and the dog can still have partial effects from it... Its a weird thing. I've seen dogs have it for a day or so, pull the ticks off, and within and hour, they are up and walking.

sounds like an electrolite/blood sugar imbalance sort of thing to me

It was not ticks I checked right away. The chase was way to fast and only a mile or so long, thats a walk in the park for my dogs.So exhaustion or dehydration is out. I witnessed it with my neighours dog when my walker steamrolled his Australian shepard. That dog was completely paralylised for about 15 minutes. After massaging its back for a while the dog was back to normal in about 30 minutes. I think the bear smoked her or jumped on her, this morning she was so stiff she could hardly get off the floor. That was buffy's eighth bear tree of the week, five on her own and 3 with the hounds. She is my breeding stock so I would hate to loose her perminately.

are you giving Ivomec for heartworm prevention?
I have seen some that it caused a case similar to that... if that is the case switch to something like "Interceptor"
one hound I knew of would be leading the pack and just fall out..... then they would find him wondering around stiff and "lost" they changed and he never had another episode.

lactic acid build up, any type of neuro swelling. overload of adrenaline,tick/flea/worm medicines, a fall,mauling the list is long the most common one I've seen is with medications in extreme heat it gets worse. old age can cause it also but that doesn't seem to be a factor.

Sounds like a back injury to me, if there is a chiropractor or acupunturist around you that works on dogs (or horses) I'd call and ask them what they thought. I have seen both work on dogs. Its usually not really that expensive and can help keep the dog from getting worse.

Yup, sounds like a nerve impingement, or vertebral disc problem, along with an inflamitory process. The stiffness along with pain upon rising the next day is key, if it is unusal for her.

Might want to pony up for an x ray to rule out skeletal complications.

Did she sustain an injury that you know of when first noticed?

At the very least, rest is in order and perhaps some anti inflamitory med and observation.

The only thing I could be sure of is the bear did get a hold of her, or belted her a good one. I did not see it but heard the fight and she definately got hurt. The strange thing is how fast she recovered. The second day after she was back chasing bears again and did not miss a beat.

I no this oaf a old post but I just wanted to add on.maybe she king had like a dead leg kinda think in her lower back.i no that when I get like a dead leg it takes a good ten minutes o re so for me to walk no re mal again. Jusr my .02