Dave -- Sorry to hear about your sinking at Liberty Landing, and glad you're working it out.

If one if your dogs starts to experience lameness or limping or lifting of the foot, check the toe pads for corns (look like warts). My dog just had an episode with this for about 5 weeks and I was told by one vet that pit bulls and sight hounds are more vulnerable than other breeds. It's like walking with a large pebble in your shoe.

What made it hard to diagnose is that the dog didn't respond to manipulation of the pad during exams. It went six weeks and I went to three different vets, all of them noticed the corn but they didn't think it was the issue. The 3rd vet, a surgeon, said there was a soft tissue injury in the shoulder and suggested general anesthesia so a steroid injection could be placed deep in the shoulder, along with confinement and leash restraint for 4-6 weeks. I requested he treat the corn just in case, and he wanted to do surgery. I said I'd think about all that. Of course -- the web is your friend when you want to investigate medical options.

If you Google: greyhound, corns, hulling you'll find out more about this. I found a "how to" article for hulling the corn and removed the hard center core last night. No pain, no cutting or bleeding. The dog didn't even pull his foot away (less challenging than removing a splinter). Immediately after, no more limping! It's almost like it never happened. Still not ruling out the shoulder but he's greatly improved.

I spoke on the phone with a 4th vet tonight who said this is also common in pit bulls, so I'm passing on the info. This picture shows Nike ready to play at Port Jefferson harbor, the day before he suddenly became lame in one foot. Very happy to report he's recovering nicely.