A dog shaking its leg isn’t always a health issue regardless if they are laying down, standing, sitting, or taking a break from playing. There are multiple reasons a dog's leg or legs will shake including:
- Anxiety and fear
- Dehydration (muscle spasms)
- Distemper
- Excitement
- Hypoglycemia
- Nerve damage and neurological disorders
- Pain or discomfort (muscle or bone)
- Poisoning
- Seizures
Once you identify the cause of the shaking, you can then find a way to relieve your best friend so the shaking stops and you can go back to enjoying life.
Below you'll find some of the reasons why a dog's leg may shake based on the issue above, and starting points to treat it. But always talk to your veterinarian before treating or diagnosing the issue as they’ll have your dog’s health records including bloodwork.
Anxiety, Fear, Excitement
Just like love; anxiety, fear and excitement are powerful emotions. And just like in humans, our bodies react to these emotions differently. We may get nervous and our whole body shakes, and other times we hiccup or get clumsy. And dogs are the same.
Numerous dogs are famous on social media as they dance and patter their paws when excited or anxious, and some dogs simply twitch and shake their legs. If being at a heightened sense of mind is causing the leg shaking, find something that can calm them like a CBD oil for anxiety.
Another treatment could be some pets and quiet time away from stimuli, and if natural methods don’t work, there is medication your vet can prescribe.
Dehydration
If your dog’s legs start to tremble or shake after a long walk outside in summer, or they’ve been playing indoors with a friend, they may be dehydrated. Dehydration can cause muscle spasms or tremors in dogs, although they’re not normally only going to occur in the legs, if the dog’s muscles are not able to contract because of an electrolyte deficiency or dehydration, they may begin to spasm or shake.
The first thing to do is call your vet and let them know the symptoms you’re seeing. Next get your dog to drink room temperature water, especially if they have been in the heat. As Animal Veterinary Clinic notes, putting a heat stroke ridden dog in a cold bath or cooling them down too quickly can shock their heart. And Frontier Veterinary Hospital recommends smaller amounts at a time so they don’t go overboard and vomit which may cause further dehydration. This may be effective for slight and mild dehydration.
If spasms are occurring, this could be a sign of more severe dehydration and you’ll likely want to bring your dog in for an IV drip.
Distemper
This easy-to-transmit and potentially fatal disease can cause a dog’s legs to shake as it attacks the dogs nervous systems which can result in muscle spasms including leg shaking. If your dog has come down with distemper, alert any dog owner whose dog has been around yours as distemper is an airborne virus. There is no cure to date which is why getting your dog or cat a distemper shot is important.
It can be transmitted by sharing a food or water bowl, sneezes, barking, and other behaviors. Indoor cats can catch it from a dog who was at the dog park, or who came in contact with a wild animal that has it as racoons, coyotes, skunks, foxes, and other common animals that can have or carry distemper.
Hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar can cause dogs to shake, tremble, and experience muscle twitches and spasms. In worse case scenarios, seizures. And this is most common in younger and smaller dogs. If your dog is suffering from hypoglycemia, call your vet immediately and according to the WebMD article above, they may instruct you to rub some non-sugar free honey or pet safe jam on their gums. But talk to your veterinarian first.
If your dog is facing seizures, this could be a larger issue and you may need a standard seizure medicine or custom formulated THC and CBD medication with ratios designed specifically for your dog, like the ones we produce.
This is a common solution for people whose dogs have seizures as up to 30% of dogs do not react to traditional seizure medications according to the NIH, and according to the veterinary school at Cornell University, dogs may build up a tolerance to the medicine and you can only increase so high before it may become dangerous and lead to other side effects.
Nerve Damage and Neurological Disorders
Damage to the nerves and the brain's ability to reach the receptors in the muscles can cause twitching and spasms. If you suspect there are either of these issues and the leg shaking or tremors are related, call your vet immediately.
Other symptoms may include head tilting, problems balancing, disorientation, weakness, and seizures. The Veterinary Specialty Center in Tucson has also noted that jerky, unusual, and irregular eye movements may be a sign.
Pain and Discomfort
Mobility issues in dogs can cause leg shaking, and they can range from slipping while walking, dogs favoring one limb over the other, or a senior dog who is experiencing arthritis.
Legs can shake for multiple reasons from mobility issues because the dog is nervous they’ll feel pain when they get up, or they’re anxiously deciding if they should jump off a ledge (think of a puppy exploring a home for the first time).
Other times muscle pain from overuse can cause legs shaking, and muscle weakness in older dogs can cause legs to shake which is another mobility issue. The treatments for pain depend on the cause and source.
There is CBD for joint support off the shelf, and you can get custom formulated CBD products designed specifically for your dog’s body and needs, and this is vital as they get older because there are potentially other underlying issues.
Poisoning
Tremors can be body wide, or specific body parts as a result of poisoning, and poisoning can also cause shivering, shaking, and other behaviors that may not seem abnormal. Nose bleeds, pale gums, and other common symptoms of poisoning combined with shaking and tremors mean you should call your vet immediately, and if they’re not open, call the closest animal hospital that is.
Time is not on your side, and dogs can be poisoned by eating compost while they play outside, or because someone accidentally dropped a prescription for an antidepressant. Both of these types of poisoning can result in trembles and shakes per the article from Pet Health Network mentioned above.
Seizures
Synonymous with shaking and tremors, seizures are common in dogs and equally scary for an unprepared owner. Not all dog seizures are the same, some are called focal seizures and can impact a specific shaking in a limb like the leg.
If you suspect your dog has seizures, contact their vet and find what treatments are available. We specialize in custom formulations for seizures mixing the “right ratio” of cannabinoids and ingredients to help offset the specifics with your dog’s seizures. But as always, talk to your veterinarian first, and feel free to mention you’d like to give our custom mixtures a try.
Shaking legs in dogs are sometimes nothing and other times a sign of something more serious. Pay attention to other behaviors and the indicators above, and if you suspect something else is happening, talk to their vet. They’ll know what to do as a next step. If you found this guide helpful, enter your email below for more just like it.
