The mysterious skipping of Sophie

by Ana Cláudia Levin
(Berlin, Germany)

Sophie recently began to skip with her right hind leg on the street, as though she had a leaf stuck or something. But, this did not stop and we had an X-ray taken for possible Patellar dislocation, there was a very slight amount but not enough to show any serious problems or danger. She took two different anti-inflammatory medications but it did not stop. The weirdest, and craziest-making aspect to all of this is that it seems to have become more frequent on the street but she shows absolutely NO sign of this pattern, or any pain whatsoever, in our apartment, where she runs, hops, and jumps like a puppy (she will be 3 in January), or on the street if she is otherwise distracted, chasing after something or having her name called. She DID have problems last year after a jump and then she took medication and it healed, and she also showed AT HOME that she was experiencing discomfort, not now. The vet that did the X-ray talked about an eventual surgery, (our main vet said no to that) but she seems to be in otherwise perfect shape. Have any of you experienced anything like this?

Is it possible that this very intelligent and eccentric dog has developed some kind of "mental problem" or tic just while walking on the sidewalks of Berlin? Please help us. Your comments would be welcome.