How to detect signs of nerve damage in your dog’s back legs

Symptoms suggesting nerve damage, such as hind leg weakness, collapse, or knuckling, can be alarming to see and often indicate the need for emergency veterinary care. It’s natural to want to ease your dog’s symptoms at home, but when signs like these appear, emergency care is often necessary.

The best way to understand what’s causing your pet’s symptoms and how to help them is to work with a veterinarian. There are many health issues that cause symptoms affecting the back legs, and the risk of permanent nerve damage may increase when diagnosis and treatment are delayed. We’ll discuss what every dog owner should know, including:

• How neurological diseases can cause symptoms in a dog’s hind legs
• The most important changes to note at home and share with your veterinarian
• How vets diagnose and treat nerve-related problems
• Why prompt veterinary care is so important when a dog’s back legs are involved

As a pet parent, you see things at home that no one else does. Specific details, such as when symptoms began, what makes them better or worse, and any other signs of illness, can be valuable clues. Noticing these changes and describing them clearly to your vet helps them with their assessment. Waiting too long to involve a vet can allow a problem to worsen, so it’s important to talk to a veterinarian right away if your pet is having problems with their back legs. Symptoms such as collapse, paralysis, sudden weakness, and loss of coordination often indicate the need for immediate in-person care. If you’re unsure whether your dog’s symptoms are an emergency, an online veterinarian can help assess your dog’s symptoms and offer professional advice on what to do next.

Nerve pain, damage, or dysfunction can appear in different ways:

• Legs wobbling, buckling, or unable to hold weight (weakness, paresis)
• Knuckling over on the paw(s) (proprioceptive placing deficit)
• Dragging a foot or leg (partial or full paralysis)
• Walking off-balance and loss of coordination (ataxia)

While these are signs of possible nerve-related problems, other health issues —  like infections, toxin exposure, heart problems, and musculoskeletal conditions — can cause similar symptoms. Working with a veterinarian is the best way to sort through these possibilities, since vets have access to diagnostic testing that helps determine the cause. Even though the symptoms appear in the legs, nerve issues are often caused by damage in or around the spinal cord rather than in the legs themselves.

Since there are so many possible causes of hind-leg symptoms in dogs, like weakness, stumbling, and knuckling over, it’s important to discuss any symptoms with a veterinarian. An accurate diagnosis is essential for determining the most effective way to help your dog. Owners can contribute valuable insight into what’s going on by looking for certain details at home that a vet may not be able to observe during an appointment. Things to look out for include:

• Surfaces: Weakness is worse on slippery floors vs. outdoors
• Knuckling: The paw folds under and whether the dog corrects it
• Gait changes: Swaying, scuffing nails, crossing legs, or circling
• Symmetry: One or both hind legs are affected
• Onset: Symptoms were sudden or gradual
• Associated behaviors: Pain (yelping, reluctance to move), incontinence, or collapse

It’s also important to mention if anything out of the ordinary happened leading up to the symptoms, such as:

• Possible injuries, even if your dog seemed ok right after the event
• Potential toxin exposure
• History of other health problems

Videos taken at home can sometimes be especially helpful, since they capture details that may not be visible in the clinic. In urgent situations, however, seeking immediate veterinary care is far more valuable for your dog than gathering video.

In nonemergency situations, a virtual appointment can be a fast and convenient way to share recorded or live footage of your dog’s symptoms with a veterinarian. An online vet can give you professional advice on what steps to take next based on what they can observe over video.

Because many different health issues can share similar signs, diagnostic testing is usually necessary to determine the underlying cause of any symptoms affecting a dog’s back legs. Testing may include:

• Physical and neurological examination
• Blood tests
• X-rays
• Urinalysis
• Advanced imaging, such as MRI or CT scans
• Spinal fluid examination

One part of a neurological evaluation for a dog with hind-leg symptoms involves firmly pinching a rear toe. This tests for two different things: the withdrawal reflex and conscious perception of pain in the brain.

Pulling the leg away from the pinch is called a withdrawal reflex. It shows that the message traveled from the toe to the spinal cord and then back to the leg muscles. The withdrawal reflex does not involve the brain, and it can still be present even if there is serious damage in the spinal cord.

To know if the signal is reaching the brain, veterinarians look for signs that your dog actually notices the pinch, like turning their head, vocalizing, trying to move away, or showing another conscious reaction. This is called conscious pain perception. This is why veterinarians pay close attention to whether a dog notices the pinch, not just whether the leg pulls away. Pulling the leg away from a toe pinch only confirms that the local reflex is working, not that the whole spinal cord is healthy. Confidence that the signal is reaching the brain comes when the dog shows a conscious response, such as turning its head or trying to bite.

In addition to pain perception, proprioception is also evaluated in a neurological exam. Proprioception is the body’s ability to tell where the limbs are in space, and it relies on a functioning spinal cord. One way a veterinarian may test for proprioception is by using the knuckling technique. The vet gently places a back paw so the top of the paw rests on the ground in a knuckled-over position. A dog with normal proprioception quickly flips the paw back into the correct position. If the dog leaves the paw knuckled over or is slow to correct it, this can point to dysfunction affecting the pathways that control coordination and limb awareness within the spinal cord.

Potential causes of nerve-related symptoms in the back legs

Possible neurological disorders that can cause symptoms in the hind legs include:

• Intervertebral disc disease
• Degenerative myelopathy
• Myasthenia gravis
• Spinal or brain tumors
• Stroke

Other conditions that can cause one or both hind legs to buckle, knuckle over, tremble, move abnormally, or drag behind include:

• Traumatic injury (cruciate ligament injuries are common)
• Heart conditions
• Toxicosis
• Musculoskeletal conditions, like osteoarthritis or luxating patella

It’s important to seek an accurate diagnosis from a veterinarian rather than attempting to diagnose and treat your dog’s condition at home.

Because many different medical problems can cause back leg symptoms, the right approach for treating your dog depends on the diagnosis. The most effective way to help your dog is to have them promptly evaluated by a veterinarian so the underlying cause can be identified and treated as accurately and quickly as possible.

“Even with the best of intentions, trying home remedies before getting veterinary guidance can make things worse,” explains Dr. Jo Myers, a veterinarian on the Vetster platform. “In cases of intervertebral disc disease, for example, any delay in seeking care can increase the likelihood of permanent paralysis. Home remedies, such as supplements, massage, or exercises, might be popular, but they fail to address the real problem and may prolong your dog’s discomfort.” Evidence-based care under the direction of a veterinarian gives your dog the best chance for recovery, comfort, and safety.

An online veterinarian can be a valuable resource when your dog is having nonemergency symptoms. Through a virtual appointment, a vet can review your dog’s history, observe visible signs on video, and offer professional guidance on next steps. This may include advice on whether your dog’s condition can be safely monitored at home, whether an in-person exam should be scheduled soon, or which tests or treatments may be needed.

In some cases, if the veterinarian feels it is appropriate, they may be able to prescribe medication or recommend other treatments. The ability for a vet to legally prescribe during a virtual appointment to a pet owner they haven’t already seen in person depends on the regulations where you live.

Virtual visits are often more convenient and faster to arrange than an in-person appointment. While online consultations are not appropriate for emergencies, they can help you make confident, timely decisions and get your dog the right care as quickly as possible.

Symptoms such as collapse, loss of consciousness, loss of coordination, weakness, or sudden paralysis of a limb are considered emergencies that require immediate in-person veterinary care. Other symptoms affecting a dog’s back legs may not seem as serious but can still be a sign of a serious underlying problem. Waiting to seek veterinary attention can cause the condition to worsen, possibly making it more difficult to treat safely or successfully. At-home treatment methods are unlikely to help, may make things worse, and will delay proper care.

Having your dog seen by a vet promptly not only gives your vet the best chance to identify the true cause of symptoms and start treatment before irreversible damage occurs but also helps your dog feel better as quickly as possible. Some conditions, such as spinal cord compression, can progress rapidly, and outcomes are far better when addressed early. Even in cases that turn out to be less urgent, prompt assessment provides peace of mind and ensures your pet doesn’t suffer needlessly. Seeking veterinary care sooner rather than later protects your dog’s health and gives you more options for safe, effective treatment.

How do you treat nerve damage in a dog’s hind legs?

There isn’t one single treatment for nerve damage because “nerve damage” can mean many different things. Some cases involve inflammation or compression of the spinal cord, while others are due to injury, degenerative disease, or other problems affecting the nerves in the legs themselves. The best treatment depends on the underlying cause. In some situations, options like anti-inflammatories, pain relief, surgery, or physical therapy may help restore function. In other cases, the damage may be permanent and the focus shifts to supportive care, such as mobility aids, harnesses, or wheelchairs to maintain quality of life. Working with a veterinarian is the most effective way to learn what’s causing your dog’s symptoms and what can realistically be done to help.

What does nerve damage look like in dogs?

Nerve damage in dogs can cause many different signs, depending on which part of the nervous system is affected. Common changes include weakness, stumbling, dragging or knuckling of the paws, trembling, loss of coordination, or even paralysis. These problems may affect the back legs, front legs, or multiple areas at once. Because other conditions that aren’t related to the nervous system can cause very similar symptoms, the most effective way to help your dog is to work with a veterinarian who can identify the underlying cause and provide the right treatment.

Can I treat my dog’s nerve pain at home?

There isn’t a safe or reliable way to treat nerve pain at home on your own. Because many different conditions can cause similar signs, the best way to help your dog is to work with a veterinarian who can determine what’s really going on. Giving pain medication without a diagnosis can be dangerous and may only cover up the symptoms instead of treating the underlying problem. By sharing what you notice at home and combining that with a vet’s expertise and diagnostic tools, you give your dog the best chance at safe and effective relief.

Disclaimer: This article, its content, and its related references do not constitute veterinary advice and should not be considered a substitute for veterinary care. If your pet is showing any symptoms that could indicate a medical emergency, please seek immediate emergency care.