Hi WE had the same problem with our 7 month old choc lab Oscar in march.Took him vets on a Sat morning at the first sign of a limp.The vet (Who only looked about 18 and couldnt wait for us to go) said it was OCD and he was overweight (didnt weigh him!!) and we were exercising him too much (we had researched both and thought we were within the guidlines).We left with anti inflamitries and were told to come back in a week and prepare our selves for him to have a xray and possibly a opperation We decided that a 6 months we wanted to do niether and reasearched natural suplaments as if he was going to be having "flair up" of inflamtion and limping from time to time we wanted to do as much as we could for him.We took him back and requested that we saw a senior vetinary surgeon,who gave him a thorough 30 min examination and walked him round the car park at a jog,the diagnosis he was neither over weight (he did weigh him ) nor did he have OCD or any swelling fliud in his joints it was probably just a pulled muscle as he had only limped once.I asked the vet about a joint suplament as labs are prone to these sort of problems and he agrred with me that they were a good thing and prescibed us one. My advice is always get a second opinion

stephanie,
I have two choc labs (Will and Benson) who are now nearly 4. Will developed a limp on his left leg when he was about 9-12 months. Eventually the vet recommended an operation. My wife and I elected to pay for the operation after long thoughts. However, the vet surgeon cancelled the operation on the day he was due in as he felt after 6 months, he might just be back to limping after the operation as he was before. But after having 6 months of restricted exercise and leader walk. We are pleased the vet-surgeon was open and honest. And now whilst Will limps occasionally, especially after a long long run with his brother, Benson. Its does seem to bother him too much.. . . . . .
David

My heart goes out to you when hearing that your little choc boy has OCD. I have spent the last year haveing my lab oscar treated for this. It has been a lot of hard work and whatever route you choose to go down you need to think if you have the time to get through it. I had to finish work in order to care for oscar as it is a long process.
Oscar has cost £11,000 in a year for operations and treatment, he has had to spend 6 months in a cage in order for his leg to heal. He started his treatment at 14 months of age however because your little one is only tiny I have the feeling your vet wont do anything too drastic untill he gets older. Oscar has been refused an elbow replacement as he is too young (2 1/2) Oscar had lots of investigations first to determin how bad his joints are before the vet decided which op was best. Even though oscar is a spirited dog I oftern wonder weather I should have put him through so much, selfish me really as I dont want to part with him.
Please dont hesitate to get intouch and ill help all I can, sorry to sound so negitive but if someone had told me what Id have to go through id have mabye thought twice. I love oscar to bits but there is only so much him and me can take.
x x x