Back Problems in Bernese Mountain Dogs

Pain looks like this. The dog flinches or vocalises when you run a hand down the lower back, holds its spine rigid, refuses to lift its head to eat from a raised bowl, or turns the whole body rather than the neck. Some dogs pant at rest or tremble. A normally calm Bernese who has become snappy when handled is often a Bernese in pain, because temperament change is how a stoic breed reports it.

Weakness looks different. The dog does not flinch. It scuffs the tops of the hind toes, crosses its back legs, knuckles a paw over and does not correct it, or slides on a smooth floor without seeming distressed. There is often wear on the nails of the hind feet. Nothing about this is painful, which is exactly why it is worrying: painless progressive hind-limb weakness in a Berner raises the question of degenerative myelopathy, which is on the breed's documented health list.

The lumbosacral junction, where the spine meets the pelvis, is the region that most often produces pain in large working breeds. It is also the region under the greatest load in a dog built to push forward against a harness. Signs there include difficulty rising, reluctance to jump, an unwillingness to lift the tail, and discomfort when pressure is applied just in front of the tail base.

One combination overrides all of the above. A dog that cannot use its back legs at all, that has lost bladder or bowel control, or that has gone from normal to non-walking within hours needs emergency assessment immediately. Spinal cord compression is a race against time.