Doggy Worries

Tika's left hind leg has been shaking lately, the whole leg has tremors in it, unpredictably and inconsistently. It tremors when her little stubby tail wags, and shakes when she simply stands alert in the kitchen eyeing our table scraps. Other times it's fine. Erik and I skied with her yesterday, with Tika in the ski-joring harness, and I was able to watch her hind legs pretty closely. She doesn't seem to touch down very heavily on her left leg when she's trotting along at an easy gait, but when she's running all out, she seems fine. She doesn't limp when walking or running, and eagerly sprints and springs around the yard.

We took her to the vet on Friday, a nice guy who has an American mother himself, and he kindly speaks English with me. (These things are important when it comes to stuff I really want to understand). He is concerned about hip dysplasia, and we'll have her x-rayed on Monday to check this out. This is weighing heavily on my mind, what this could mean for Tika's future. . . her activity level, namely. She loves to run, loooves to ski with us, and I just can't imagine spending the rest of her days taking her on leisurely walks.