My puppy growls and bites when I touch her hips. Is it pain or trust?

Alaska-what an awesome name! I bet she is a pretty dog! It sounds like Alaska may be experiencing some pain in her hind end. She is coming into her senior years as a giant breed dog, they age more quickly than smaller breeds sadly. I would recommend having Alaska evaluated by your veterinarian. They can do a thorough physical exam, manipulate her hind legs and palpate her spine. The vet may recommend X-rays to check for hip dysplasia, spinal arthritis or degenerative joint disease. They may also recommend blood work in preparation for starting Alaska on anti-inflammatory medications. A good quality joint supplement can also be used to help support joint health. Until you are able to have Alaska seen by your vet I would recommend restricting her activity and making sure that her bed is nice and padded.

It sounds as she suffered a trauma, either to her back or her hips, you will need to take her to the vet as soon as you can in order to get it checked, if it is nothing too serious she will need some rest and pain killers for a few days.

This is a sign of pain/discomfort which commonly can be commonly due to anal glands problems (inflammation/impaction for example), or to hip or spinal pain. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Unfortunately without more clinical informations it is going to be difficult to give you more specific advices. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

I am not sure how old your pet is but if there are no external punctures or rashes to be found, then it is possible that his bones are the source of pain. Arthritis is the number one reason for pain in the lower back and hip area. Also the armpit area is the shoulder, which is another source of arthritic pain. If he is a younger dog than some inflammation of the bone is possible (i.e. Hypertrophic Osteopathy or Hypertrophic Osetodystrophy, Degenerative joint disease). All of these conditions are diagnosed with a radiograph that your vet can perform in the hospital. If your pet is older you can try some joint supplements to see if this makes a difference. My top brands are Dasuquin and Cosequin.

It is possible that the hip joint is painful. That could happen with acute arthritis, a soft tissue (muscle or ligament) injury or possibly more severe disease like necrosis of the femoral head. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Anti inflammatory meds may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I'm sorry to hear you puppy is having trouble. I would suspect he has shoulder, elbow, or even neck pain from your description of him yelping after picking up near his shoulders. Puppies this young can have some congenital deformity that result in instability and pain, panosteitis (bone inflammation), growth plate problems, or could have potentially had a soft tissue injury or bone displacement (luxation) in that area. I would recommend you take him to your vet for an evaluation, possible x-rays, and to get anti-inflammatory pain medication for him.

He may just be overdoing it and therefore his hips hurt. However , since German shepherd dogs are notorious for having hip dysplasia, he may have an early onset problems related to a possible hip dysplasia issue, although that is extremely rare at this young age. I suggest you regulate his playing time in such a way that he does rest sufficiently and monitor his pain. If the pain does not subside or gets worse, then you should have him checked by your veterinarian,