I have a 4 month old puppy, he is part Pit Bull and Chihuahua. Tonight we had an incident where his foot got stepped on. This really isn’t abnormal because he is always walking under our feet. But tonight he yelped and whined for about 5 minutes, and now his is limping, which he hasn’t done before. I am very worried, but I can touch and put pressure on the leg and he walks on it partially and he seems to be putting more pressure on it as the night progresses. Tips?

Paige
Mooresville, NC

When a human steps on a puppy the young dog is at risk of serious injury.

I am worried that your pup may have suffered a broken bone in his foot or leg. Broken bones lead to severe pain (as manifested by yelping for several minutes) and long-term limping. Broken bones sometimes heal with splinting. In other cases surgery is necessary.

It also is possible that your dog has not suffered a broken bone. Minor injuries to muscles and joints can be very painful when they occur, but they don’t lead to long term consequences. The fact that your puppy is already feeling better gives me hope that no fracture has occurred.

The only way to know whether your dog was seriously hurt is to take radiographs (X-rays) of the affected area. You should do this as soon as possible.