Hot Rod bolted out into the back yard, chased a squirrel away, and came back in a little more slowly than usual. He’s obviously in mild-to-moderate pain–walking gingerly, back slightly hunched, a little trembly in the hindquarters when I go to touch him. Still interested in food and still up and around, but something is not right.
Ideas? I’m thinking he pulled or strained something during his romp, but also want to make sure that I’m not missing something serious. Poor guy.
Sounds like a muscle pull but best bet is to go to the vet. Most areas have a vet clinic open on weekends if you don’t want to wait until Monday.
Hunched posture is often spinal pain. If he’s not obviously limping or favoring a leg like he strained or tore a ligament, I would worry he’s slipped a disc. While I might tell someone “wait and see” with kennel/cage rest for a day if the dog is favoring a leg, if it sounds like it might be spinal, the sooner to the vet the better in case surgical intervention is called for. It could be something less alarming, but there’s no telling without x-rays to start.
Veterinary advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
For surgery your best bet is your local vet school if they can do it quickly. If not there are usually vets around who do nothing but surgery so they are a good choice too.
He just went outside and trotted around a bit. Ran, actually, much like his normal run. But still walking a bit more slowly than usual. I’ll take him to the vet in the a.m. if he isn’t back to normal…on call tonight and can’t get away from it to take him to the emergency clinic. 
Maybe hip dysplasia? Usually it’s a more gradual process, but maybe Hot Rod bashed his back-end and there’s some inflammation going on.
I hope that isn’t the case. Hip dysplasia is an expensive fix, and a painful way to go.
Update for any boxer lovers: Hot Rod appears to be back to his normal self today. 
Walking normally, eating like a champ, and pooping just fine. I think he took a curve too fast when he was fence-racing the dogs next door or something. At any rate, all looks good now. Thanks, everyone.
Yay, good news! 
I bet it doesn’t stop him chasing squirrels, though.
Excellent!! Glad to hear he’s better. 
There’s a severe lack of pictures of good-looking boxers in this thread …
Hmmm…
Does that work?
And just because he is so beautiful, here is my Tucker:
And that’s 2/3 of my pack!
You said he’s not limping, but the first thing I usually check for is thorns or other sharp things stuck in their feet.
His hair is short enough that you’d see an animal bite, but maybe not a bee sting. It’s probably too cold out for bees at this point, but it’s a thought.
He doesn’t have any visible injuries, and although we’ve been through the whole allergic-reaction-to-yellowjackets thing, I don’t think he had any stings either. I suspect he pulled something when he was running. Still acting fine this evening, so I think he’s okay. Thank goodness–he’s always been That Dog–the one that stupid, expensive things seem to happen to. (Heartworm. Lacerated tendon on the foot. Allergic reaction to yellowjackets. The other dogs? Nothin’.)
Glad he’s doing fine. You know he has that stuff happen to him just because he’s a Boxer! They’re, um, special - you know? Only in the best way, of course, but really all the Boxers I know always have something going on. They’re great dogs.
He’s a runty Boxer too…he weighs 43 pounds, about half the size of the two boxers next door. Once in a while he forgets himself and climbs the fence to show them who’s boss, and about the time his feet hit grass he suddenly seems to realize that they are actually…sorta…big. Then he has to play nice until I come to rescue him. He’s a hoot.
He’s a pretty, sweet-looking hoot, too!