Lower back problems are unfortunately common in working dogs. It is the #1 reason why a working dog is retired early.
These dogs sprint, jump, climb, search, apprehend, and repeatedly push their bodies in ways that most pet dogs never have to. All of this places tremendous stress on the lumbosacral (LS) region, where the lower back meets the pelvis.
One condition we commonly see is degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS), sometimes called LS disease. It can cause lower back pain, hind leg lameness, weakness, and compression of the nerves that form the cauda equina (the nerves of the low back).
In working dogs, LS disease can do more than cause pain. It can end a career.
A case report that I recently co-authored, Christie et al. (2026), describes a working dog with this common problem, but from a very uncommon cause.
A working dog that started limping
The patient was a 6-year-old, 38-kilogram male Dutch Shepherd who worked as a dual-purpose detection and apprehension dog.
He developed an intermittent left hind leg lameness. At first, the problem looked like it might be coming from his knee. A partial cranial cruciate ligament injury was suspected.
But the story did not quite fit.
Eventually, CT and MRI were performed to look more closely at his lower back. The advanced imaging revealed the real problem.
He had LS disease and compression and inflammation involving the nerves of the cauda equina. But the underlying cause was unusual. He had osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) involving his sacrum. A mineralized fragment was sitting within the spinal canal and contributing to nerve compression.
A rare cause of a common problem
Sacral OCD is very different from the OCD we more commonly think about in joints such as the shoulder.
In this dog, the abnormality involved the sacrum, part of the spine at the LS junction. The lesion contributed to narrowing around the nerves and inflammation of the left sciatic nerve root.
Sacral OCD is considered an uncommon and probably underdiagnosed cause of LS disease and cauda equina syndrome. It can produce signs that look very similar to more typical LS disease, including back pain, hind leg lameness, weakness, and poor performance.
This case is also a good reminder of why advanced imaging can be so important. CT and MRI helped us identify a problem that could not have been diagnosed from the dog’s lameness alone.
The goal was more than making him feel better
For a pet dog, success may mean comfortably walking around the neighborhood, climbing stairs, and playing with the family.
The expectations for this dog were much higher.
He needed to sprint, jump, search, apprehend, and perform all of the other physical tasks required of a working dog. Our goal was not simply to make him less painful. We wanted to see whether we could get him comfortably back to full duty.
Surgery was discussed, but at the time it was considered likely to end his apprehension career. We therefore chose a less invasive option, a series of epidural steroid injections.
Treating the inflammation around the nerves
An epidural steroid injection delivers a corticosteroid into the epidural space around the affected spinal nerves.
For this dog, we used methylprednisolone acetate and performed a series of three epidural injections. The first was followed by a second injection two weeks later and a third several weeks after that.
The response was excellent.
By the second treatment, his LS pain had resolved and only mild lameness remained. Between the second and third treatments, he was pain-free with no observable lameness. He gradually returned to training, completed rehabilitation, and returned to full duty.
Importantly, the epidural injections did not remove the OCD fragment. Instead, the goal was to control the inflammation and pain associated with the lesion and nerve compression.
Keeping a working dog working
What I particularly like about this case is the long-term story.
This was not simply a dog who felt better for a few weeks after an injection.
He remained clinically sound and working. When signs eventually returned, we were able to treat him again.
After a later flare, a single epidural injection produced about 90% improvement according to his handler. When his LS pain and lameness returned again months later, we repeated the full three-injection series.
Following that series, he returned to work in December 2024 and continued in full duty and deployment. Rehabilitation and core-strengthening exercises were also incorporated into his ongoing training program.
Instead of a diagnosis immediately ending his career, targeted treatment and rehabilitation helped keep him comfortably doing the job he was trained to do for years.
Why this case matters
One dog does not prove that every dog with LS disease should receive epidural steroid injections.
It also does not mean that surgery is the wrong treatment. Some dogs with LS disease absolutely need surgery, especially when there is severe compression, progressive neurologic dysfunction, or inadequate response to conservative treatment.
But this case shows another option.
Epidural steroid injections are minimally invasive and target inflammation close to the affected nerves. In this dog, recovery following treatment was short, and the treatment could be repeated when clinical signs returned.
The case also reinforces something that I think is particularly important in sports medicine.
We are not just treating an MRI or CT image. We are treating the individual dog and considering what that dog needs to do.
For this dog, success meant returning to a physically demanding job and staying there.
And he did.
The takeaway
LS disease is common in working dogs, but the cause is not always the usual degenerative changes we expect.
When the clinical signs do not quite fit, advanced imaging with CT or MRI can help us understand exactly what is happening.
In this case, imaging revealed a rare sacral OCD lesion causing cauda equina syndrome. A targeted series of epidural steroid injections, combined with rehabilitation and appropriate conditioning, allowed this dog to return to full duty and continue working comfortably for years.
For me, that is the most important part of this case.
Sometimes successful treatment is not about curing the underlying abnormality. It is about controlling pain and inflammation, maintaining function, and helping a working dog continue doing what he was trained to do safely and comfortably.
Full paper: Christie KM, Barnhard JA, Blasso J, Brunke MW. Utilization of a three-part epidural steroid infiltration series for management of degenerative lumbosacral stenosis and cauda equina syndrome secondary to sacral osteochondritis dissecans in a working dog. Open Veterinary Journal. 2026.
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