Does my teensy-weensy baby Lars have growing pains, or is something else the matter?

Oh my gosh, this has been a rough week.  So many difficulties!  But ... pehaps my biggest concern right now is our baby Lars.  Andrew thought he broke his nose in rugby practice last week, but it turns out that he deviated his septum without a fracture.  He isn't interested in having it taken care of until the season is over.  My Dad has had eyesight difficulties, but those are being worked.  My sister's in-laws got stuck in Egypt, and her father-in-law was quite ill (and hospitalized) when they got out.  He is now out of the hospital and thankfully on the mend.

And my baby Lars is suffering from growing pains ... or something worse.  Last Sunday, we were out walking, and were about two miles from home when he winced in pain, and sort of crumpled to the ground.  He refused to put his left rear paw down.  I called Curtis on my cell (thankfully I had it with me), and he came and picked us up.

Since then, Lars has been depressed, moping, not eating, and not interested in interacting with other dogs.  (Even at puppy school yesterday he ignored Gidget!)  Since last weekend, he has lost 8 lbs., and is painfully thin.  On top of it, he has grown, which makes matters worse.

Now, we suffered through this with Harley -- he had three episodes of growing pains.  Each time I took him to the vet, and  $500-$1000 later he was diagnosed with growing pains.  And you just have to wait it out.

Now, what is the "official" definition of growing pains?  Here you go:

*******************  Definition of growing pains:  *********************
"Growing pains" are symptoms most often affecting medium, large, and giant breeds of dog: those breeds that are usually subjected to rapid growth periods within their first year of development. Symptoms of pain and lameness can be the result of any trauma to bones, joints, or the supporting soft tissues, but often they are caused by specific diseases of the bone.
During normal growth and development, cartilage growth precedes bone formation. The cartilage grows and becomes calcified. Vessels from the bone marrow invade this calcified layer of cartilage. Some of the calcified cartilage is resorbed, but some remains and is used as a framework for the bone.
In instances of bone disease, one or more of these steps is interrupted and the formation of bone ceases or causes a defect if bone formation continues. Exposure of incompletely formed or abnormally formed bone to pressure and tension resulting from movement causes symptoms of pain and lameness.

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My poor baby Lars!  He weighed more than Harley last weekend, is about an inch taller than Harley at the shoulder (maybe 2" taller now), and is much, much thinner than Harley.

So -- if he hasn't improved by Friday, I will take him to the vet.  That will be 12 days.  But, I think he is improving.  He is starting to show interest in Harley and Holly again.  I also gave him a leftover pain pill from one of the dogs, and his mood seems to be better.  But there is a danger there -- he might not know when he is further injuring himself!

Hopefully nothing more serious is wrong with Lars.  So I will wait it out until Friday, unless he starts to go downhill.  Keep your fingers crossed that this will pass soon!

December 31, 2010:  Teensy-weensy baby Lars is already
bigger than his daddy Harley, who is bigger than his mommy
Holly.  The vet thinks Lars will grow to be about 120 lbs.
He is definitely our gentle giant and we love him dearly!

February 6, 2011.  Lars has really grown these past few weeks, and is quite
a bit larger than Harley.  This is about all he does these days.  Wish us luck
in getting through this, and hopefully that will happen soon!