My Frenchie started yelping out at around 7-months-old whenever he woke-up from taking long naps. It appears that he is very stiff upon awakening. It also appears that his neck is very stiff and difficult to move after extended periods of sleep. However, the strange thing is that once he gets up and moving around, he wants to play and run and act like a normal puppy. He also yelps sometimes when we pick him up to love him. It seems that the pain comes from his chest or neck. We cannot tell exactly. We took him to our vet, who we believe is excellent, and she has put him on a Chinese herb called Chin Koo Tieh Shang Wan for acute neck pain. He also had a session with her rehab. specialist who performed deep tissue massage to the neck area.
Anyway, I am concerned that because my vet is conservative when it comes to using traditional “Western” medication and she mostly utilizes acupuncture, herbal therapy and massage, perhaps my Frenchie is not being helped. I am afraid that he may have disk problems that I have read about all over the internet. I don’t want him to be a pain killer “addict”, but I want him to enjoy a pain-free life.

Have you ever heard of such acute neck pain at such a young age? What do you think of my vet’s approach?