The following symptoms, when seen in the dog, are usually caused by subluxations (skeletal dislocations):

  1. Roached back - weak back - sore back
  2. Head is held lower than normal (Lifting the head causes the nerves to be pinched harder in the sacral area.) Most people believe there is a cervical (neck) problem.
  3. Difficulty stacking (Pulls rear leg in and/or sits-Show dog)
  4. Cow hocked
  5. Pacing (both legs on one side go forward at the same time.)
  6. Tail dead (Some kick the tail with their hocks.)
  7. Tail crooked or off center
  8. Tail wags poorly if at all
  9. Hip dysplasia (I have yet to see a radiograph of hip dysplasia that the sacrum was not subluxated. The nerves supplying the hip musculature are pinched allowing, the head of the femur to displace. These dogs can be helped, including those with hip replacements.) see <Hip Dysplasia>
  10. Difficulty handling steps
  11. Resists or refuses to jump
  12. Short stepping with one or both rear legs
  13. Bearing weight unevenly on rear legs
  14. Partial paralysis of one or both rear legs
  15. Drags toes on one, or both rear legs
  16. Prefers to sit on one side of the rear end
  17. Elbow problems (Weight is thrown forward, using the front legs as crutches, the elbows are hyper extended. In time the elbows will turn out & the paws in, like a bull dog.)
  18. Not lifting leg to urinate (Adult males only)
  19. Squatting unevenly while urinating
  20. Incontinence (Due to pain, the dog will not voluntarily urinate or defecate)
  21. Panosteitis (The dog throws their weight forward, and uses the front legs as crutches, causing inflammation of the bones, periosteum and marrow)
  22. Foul breath (Pain causes the continual secretion of adrenaline which greatly reduces the neural impulse, and blood supply to the skin, mucous membranes, reproductive system, and digestive system. Food begins to putrefy, and ferment in the intestines causing the foul breath to occur. The breath sweetens within 2 days of realignment.)
  23. Food Allergies (Food putrefaction causes this. Bland food like Lamb & Rice produce less toxins when putrefied.)
  24. Bloat (Food fermentation produces the gas that bloats.)
  25. Dry itchy skin and associated diseases (Adrenaline reduces the blood supply to the skin. This stops the oil glands from working causing a Dull Hair Coat as well.)
  26. Foul skin odor (Once the oil glands stop working, the oil left in the glands becomes rancid.)
  27. Hot Spots (On rear legs of dog acontinually slightly pinched nerve causes a continual itch to occur. Even though, the neuron is pinched within the cauda equina, the brain perceives the itch to be at the nerve endings.)
  28. Perianal Fistulas (I do not know why this occurs. I have one patient who develops perinal fistulas when his sacrum is dislocated. When I realign the sacrum, the fistulas clear up. It may be due to the immune system working better.)
  29. Hyper thyroid (Caused by the continual secretion of adrenaline.)
  30. Hypothyroid (The continual secretion of adrenaline eventually exhausts the thyroid gland)
  31. Pancreatic insufficiency (The continual secretion of adrenaline reduces the neural impulse, and blood supply to the pancreas, causing a reduction in digestive enzyme production, and a reduction, or the ceasation of insulin production, leading to sugar diabetes.
  32. Sugar Diabetes??? (see Pancreatic insufficiency)
  33. Addison's disease - Hypoadrenocorticism (?????) (The continual secretion of adrenaline eventually exhausts the adrenal cortex)
  34. Reproductive problems(Due to pain, paralysis, and the lack of neural impulse, and blood supply to the reproductive system.)
    a. Some males refuse to mount the female due to pain, and paralysis.
    b. Some females have difficulty bearing the weight of the male due to pain and paralysis. c. Low sperm count.
    d. Cycling problems in the female.
    e. Some of the embryos that implant into the wall of the uterus will resorb.
    f. Some of the fetuses will die, and resorb or mummify.
    g. The pup last in line for nutrients from the mothers blood who makes it through the pregnancy will most likely be a runt.
    i. Abortion.
  35. Weak immune system (Adrenaline suppresses the immune system.)
  36. Neural myelatrophy (Caused by a lack of neural impulse, and blood supply.)
  37. Muscle atrophy in the rear legs (Caused by a lack of neural impulse, blood supply and paralysis.)
  38. Spondylosis (Caused by the spine being forced to bend laterally every-other-step.)
  39. Disc problems (Same cause as Spondylosis.) See <Treatment of Osteoarthritis>
  40. Degenerative disease "The old dog syndrome" (Caused by the degeneration of muscles and organs, and the buildup of toxins in the body due to petrification of food in the intestinal track.)
  41. Guilty look (This is how a dog expresses pain.)
  42. Hyper or restless for no apparent reason
  43. Not acting to form when no other problems are evident.
  44. Unhappy.
  45. Withdrawn.

A dog with a subluxated sacrum may exhibit one or any combination of the above symptoms. Every year many dogs are operated on, or euthanized because of these symptoms.

If you are interested in what happens physiologically to a dog with subluxations, see: <Canine Theory>

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James Scanlan

Page updated Jan 25,2002 .