Limping and eating sand

[Toby the Puppy]

Toby is 10 months old now and he weighs around 50 lbs. Now that summer has arrived here in Canada we spend most weekends up at our cottage on the lake. Toby loves going up there, but he never stops all day long!! He is constantly dropping the ball at someones feet and then running off gleefully after it whether it is in the grass or floating in the lake. He would seriously do this for 12 hours a day non-stop if I didn't make him rest occasionally (he sleeps very well at night ). This past weekend I noticed a small limp as he was returning with the ball, but it would disappear after 5 minutes or so. I noticed it a couple of times and started refusing to throw the ball for him and made him rest a bit. He was fine for the most part but I am not sure whether to worry about the small amount of limping that he was doing. Is he still too young for this much activity perhaps?

My other question is about his ingestion of sand. We have a large sandy beach and some of the lot is in sand as well. When he runs for the ball it is full out and he doesn't slow until he has the ball in his mouth and he is turning to come back, so you can imagine how much sand this can kick up. I have noticed a lot of sand in his poops for a day or two after we get back to the city. He also ate a small pebble this weekend, I tried to throw it in the water and he jumped up to grab it in his mouth and apparently swallowed it. Will sand and small stones hurt him?

[Guest WoobiesMom]

I can't speak to the sand/stone issue, but my 9 mo. old BC mix showed a bit of favoring of his leg just today. His tiny limp, etc, goes right away when he rests as well. The first time it happened, I took him to the vet because I thought that I was letting him run too much. He told me that some growing pains were common for puppies and that they would stop running if it really hurt too much. When I see the tiniest bit of hitch in his giddyup, we go home. I want to eventually do agility or flyball, so I don't want to risk it. I think sometimes, Woobie may pull a muscle or something because he really likes showing off how fast he can run and how sharp he can cut to keep away from dogs chasing him. If a dog can catch him, he stops and acts like the other dog ruined his fun.

[ZoZo]

Zoey seems to eat a ton of sand at the beach in her efforts to get the ball, no idea if that's a problem. On the limping- Zoey had a limp on and off for over a month (she's 1 year and 3 months old) and it seemed worse after an especialy long, fast run from the day before. Off leash, she is very active to say the least. It seeemed to get better, then worse over and over. I keep her on the leash more, restricting some of her activity and it didn't seem to help much. I started getting worried she might have problem with her hips or whatever and finally took her to the vet. After an examine and hip xrays, the vet said she's perfectly healthy, maybe a minor sprain or just growing pain, who knows? She has gotten some pretty amazing dog muscle the last few months. Just knowing she has no signs of hip dysplasia or other problems made that vet visit a good investment.

[Darci]

I am not a vet, so I am not an expert, but I do know from experience, that rock and sand ingestion can cause some very serious problems. Impactation, is the first one that comes to mind. Best to ask your vet for all the gory details. And the costs for sugury.