Oji is not showing any pain at all, but in reading this and a few other threads regarding legs, this one mentioned and outward swing. I don't know if I understand what was meant by outward swing, but I'm posting this here.
I've begun to slowly notice problems with Oji's hind end.
Let me state upfront that I know some will say "Just take him to the vet." I may have to do that, but I am observing for now. Honestly, I have never found a vet in all my years of dog ownership that has seemed to be able to do much good. They are quick to prescribe medicine, and I just bet that is what they'd do here. I'm sure I could drop many hundreds of dollars, or into the thousands very quickly on x-rays and other procedures.
Let my lay a foundation by saying that I have had a theory for some years now that Oji lacks strong neuropathways (that's a term I picked up years ago when I was into weightlifting) to and from the back half of his body.
It may sound strange, but he has always lacked very good control of his pee. We're not talking about accidents historically, but he will pee on a walk or in the yard, and the flow will continue after he has started to trot away from the spot where he peed. In addition, there is a secondary squirt that happens about three seconds after he pees and he's walking. (This may be unrelated to the issue at hand). Sometimes, he'll pee on a walk, then continue walking and you'll notice a wild scatter trail of pee along the sidewalk where we've walked.
More: I"ve noticed for most of his life that he will not "fix" his hind legs after turning. He'll let the hind legs remain not rotated to his new position. It's similar to the second picture, but it's more extreme in this pic and I'm seeing this more extreme extent recently.
I've had a few events where, on walks, he has been stubbornly pulling and bracing in place to sniff and lick a urine smell and I will finally win the tug of war and he might lose traction and slip, and then I'll see his back end lowered maybe half way and he shakes a bit and struggles for a few seconds to stand back up. It's like when his hind legs are bent, there is a weakness.
More: I've noticed his hind legs at the hock joint moving out to the side as he walks. It's dramatic as he descends stairs. The point of the hock leans significantly out to the side as he steps down the stairs.
He has had a few accidents in the house in recent months. This may be related to a prostate problem, I theorize – this, in addition to my not making sure he really goes potty when I let him out in the backyard sometimes. We have had a dispute with the neighbor over his barking (which is not excessive!) but the neighbor is distressed by the brief fence-fighting that occurs from time to time between Oji and their elderly female dog. So, as crazy as it sounds, I have not felt comfortable letting Oji have the backyard time I used to (which was not too much anyway, as he WILL find stuff to bark at). I used to walk him late at night, but I've been trying to streamline my nightly routine to get myself to bed earlier, so I have cut out that walk. Still, it's a strange almost lacking control of the bladder and bowels.Yes, he has pooped in the house twice now.
I have considered that he may have a torn ligament in the knee or something, but there is no pain response exhibited. He sure has always exhibited pain or at least keen sensitivity in the hind (and front) paws when I trim his nails. So for him to be so very stoic about pain doesn't seem to be plausible.
Last: He has exhibited some knuckling over of the hind paws. I was bathing him in the shower after he had peed in his crate, and he was not fixing his knuckled over rear paw. I tested this later, and he is slow to fix the knuckled over rear paws when placed in that position.
Oh, also: He is slightly dragging his hind legs sometimes, I think, as he walks.