We have a 7 yr old rescue dog from TN "Monte"-we think he is an Anatolian Shepherd as he looks just like them. We were told he was a Mastiff/Pyranees cross but we are not to sure on that as he is large but not even as big as a Pyranees is supposed to get-66 lbs at his heaviest. We got him as a puppy and he has always been a good dog. No real background on his parents as we got it all third hand from a "shipper"-person who went down to TN to get all the puppies. So anyway Monte has always been a good dog, he does growl at my 7 yr old daughter but it is always just a warning and we try to keep them separated anyway. But today I noticed he was limping in his back end a little and was acting a bit strange. I went to see if he stepped on something or twisted his leg and before I could even touch him he bit me. He has mouthed my hands a couple times while I was trying to figure out what is going on which he never does to me. No heat, no cuts that I can find. It's hard because he won't let me touch him when he is standing up. He will just snap at me and bare his teeth. It is very awkward he won't really limp just have this weird gate, he even hopped a few times. He will rest one leg and stand on the other but usually will sit quite quickly. He did not want to walk up the stars to the bedroom-I know it doesn't seem very nice but it is the only place the kids and other dogs will leave him alone. When he lays down he will hold up one back leg-I felt that one toes all the way to his hips-nothing no heat no cuts and there doesn't seem to be swelling anywhere. He has lost a lot of muscle in his hips it seems-it's hard to notice as he has been getting his winter coat but you can feel the lack of muscle where it used to be more round.

Yesterday I noticed something which may be nothing but normally he always sleeps next to the bed without fail every night he is there even when I am trying to make the bed he does not move-last night he was at the foot of the bed and today when I brought him up he stayed at the foot of the bed.

I don't really have the money to take him to the vet right now so really trying to feel this out so I can see how serious this is. He does not seem to cry out but after I brought him upstairs he tried to get on the bed with my husband and he cried a little. I say tried as he has always only half tried to get on the bed keeping his back legs on the floor and laying his front half on the bed.

I read about hip dysplasia but I don't know it says that it affects the dogs by 18 mnths and he is 7 and we haven't noticed anything until now. I do have to say though he has abnormal bone spurs on his front legs. The vet said it looked like a healed fracture that just kept growing but we have had him since he was 4 months old and he has never had anything like that we have not had any other x-rays done on his bones. When we got him he looked and acted like a normal puppy.

Any ideas?