04/23/2026
Clients often hesitate or question if we say their dog might be in pain when they see their dogs being extremely active and no obvious signs of pain (limping, yelping or whining) are visible.
To the average person there was nothing that could indicate that the inner canal of his spinal cord was tethered to a string like tissue making movement quite painful and restrictive.
Dogs in pain don’t always restrict their activity or refrain from it. They are unable to associate pain with the activity that exaggerates it. For pain to be associated to an activity the pain must happen instantly but muscle pain, soreness etc can take a few hours to set in.
Also our dogs are captive and have very little autonomy to choose when to have access to outdoor activities. The motivation to enjoy the activities can often overpower the hesitation even if there is associated pain.
TLDR: All this to say, dogs in pain will still do all the normal fun activities and can push through pain until it’s too much pain. Do not rule out pain because your dog continues to be active.
Pain is hard to identify in dogs and can be less obvious. You may need more than one vet and professionally to help identify it. Areas to investigate — musculoskeletal, GI, dental, neurology, nerve pain, dermatology, nail care and other underlying physiological issues.
Information:
Tethered Cord Syndrome (TCS) in dogs is a rare neurological condition where the spinal cord is abnormally anchored, restricting its movement and causing tension. This stretching often leads to chronic lower back pain, rear limb weakness, and gait abnormalities. It is sometimes called Occult Tethered Cord Syndrome (OTCS) when structural abnormalities aren’t immediately visible on standard MRI scans (source: Canada West Veterinary Hospital)
