I have had my shorthair, Roxie since the fall of 2003, when she was 6 weeks old.  In April, after the loss of an older shorthair due to old age, Roxie started to drag her hind legs.  She has always been kind of a "nervous" dog, and is very hyper at times, but almost always obeys.  She, now, can not control her bowels and sometimes her jaw chatters.  I have to keep both dogs, (a labrador also) in the garage, due to Roxie's bowels and her dependence on Juneau, the lab. (She cries when Juneau is gone).  I have looked up possible symptoms on the internet, and have found a few possible answers, but am still unsure if it's correct or not.  I have taken her to two seperate vets, had her x-rayed, stools, blood, etc and they both want me to take her to a specialist in a neighboring town.  I would love to do this, and am saving up money to do it, but I can't financially do this as they have told me it could cost  "thousands" and even then, there is no certainty.

She can not control her bowels, and I take her out constantly, but she will urinate and deficate  while walking, and her hind legs will occasionally give way at any certain time.   It happens most when she runs (she is like a cheetah or a greyhound fast) and she falls down, but bounces back up and sometimes falls again.  It doesn't seem to bother her too much, as she is very playful.

She also possibly has hotspots? or some sort of abrasions on her coat, perhaps from the kennel?  I notice her jaw chatters too, and up until late, it hasn't been cold enough for me to believe that's what it could be. 

Degenerative Myelopathy sounds like the symptoms, but I notice it generally happens to other dogs (not always the case) and in breeds other than the GSP.  The two vets, have yet to see anything in the x-rays and say she has a variety of symptoms for different things, but they can not pinpoint it to a specific one.  She has always been sort of "afraid" of things, and has been this way since I first got her.  So here I sit on a Friday night at 1:30 a.m. looking for answers, and hoping someone with knowledge or advice reads this soon.  I am trying my best to get enough money, but not sure I can do so.  Any suggestions?

Thank you.

Here is a pic of Roxie: