hi im sorry about your doggie having HD. ive recently put some stuff on my own website as i have been accused of using a dog knowing it carries HD. im pretty clued up on this i have an 11 year old gsd bitch who has had it for 7 years she was on metacam but i took her off it as she was showing symptoms of depression. all the advice given ie devils claw, yucca, gluc capsules are brill. a client of mine has a 7 month pup that is unble to have the op's and is doing hydrotherapy which is really helping but i have suggested to them they get a bioflow collar or find somewhere that offers magnatherapy. my gsd has one now and to be honest she couldnt do without it!!! i was a sceptic but ive seen the improvement. she still has some worse days (if she has slept on the cold floor or too muh exercise) but she looks like she will around for many years to come!!

Glucosimine is something vets prescribe for this condition. one of our dogs was bein prescribed this thru the vet and the very same was bein sold in tesco for half the price for humans.. same drug,same strendgth.. our dog is much improved on this.

the senior partner at the practice I use does a lot of hip scoring and he was the one that made the diagnosis as the vet I usually use did not feel that she was qualified to do so. I was shown a set of hip x-rays to compare Kel's to so that I knew that they were giving the correct diganosis.

I agree completely. The idea of restricted exercise for a dog with a hip problem is outdated and these days the advise seems to be more along the lines of keeping the dog fit and increasing muscle around the hips to help support them. I do not understand why there are still some vets that tell people to do this

My vet told me that teagan had spurs on her hips, and thats what was causing her to limp.

In fact, her hips didn't have spurs on, and she had a problem with her hock - which was causing her to limp - the orthopaedic vet showed me her x-rays.

Teagans hip score is 86 - which is quite severe. You can tell she has something wrong with her as she swings her bottom when she walks, and bunny hops when she runs, but thats the only way you could tell!

I agree with that. My orthopaedic vet, and my new vet told me not to change teagans exercise, in fact, the more she got (sensibly), the better, as it will keep her muscle tone up!

Er Your bitch didn't have HD for the first 4 years of her life ? I don't think that is possible if she has HD now. There are indications that there are external influences linked to HD but these wouldn't mean a 4 year old bitch would develop HD, but could infleunce the development of the hips in a growing puppy

I do believe Bio Flow collars do help with joint problems though

hi thanks for all your advise it put my mind at rest . im going to talk to the vet in 2 weeks when roly has to go back to be weighed hes on a diet now got to loose abit of weight too!Will be watching how i walk him and when he goes lame. been out 2day with him for his walk down the canal but let him off the lead for 10 min then back on for 10 mins just too see how he is later.thanks again for all your help this is a great site. glad i found it

joedee no my bitch witch is a dog did not seem too suffer from hd for the first few years of his life but after having x rays done and my vet telling me this i take his word for it!!!but thanks for your opion anyway!

I had one of male BC's X rayed & scored at 3 1/2 because someone wanted to use him at stud He had a hip score of 6(3:3) He would have had this extremely mild HD at a year old & didn't develop it just because he was scored at a later age Just as my GSD who had perfect hips would not develop HD as he got older.

I do think some vets aren't clear about HD & how it develops which is why I use a specialist hip X ray vet rather than my GP one

Vets are not yet sure about the mode of inheritance for HD, what is known is that if a dog has a genetic predisposition to develop HD then other factors such as environment, exiercise, nutrition and trauma all play a significant part in deciding whether or not that dog will go on to develop clinical HD and how severe the condition will be.

A dog that does not have the gene(s) for HD will not develop it regardless of other factors.

Such things as early over nutrition, incorrect or inappropriate exercise and trauma can all lead to a susceptible dog developing the condition, especially excess weight during growth, by excess I mean what would be considered normal condition for pups and young dogs, there is a tendancy for people to want to see roly-poly pups but I firmly believe that pups and young dogs should be kept very lean in the vital stages when the skeletal system is not yet matured. Some vets and nutritionists advocate feeding 25-50 % less of a growth food than the amount stated on the packaging.

A dog that is kept on the skinny side of lean will still achieve the same size as a more freely fed adult but will get there at a slower rate and in a much healthier contition.