It appears obvious to me because I have seen literally hundreds of hip Xrays, although of the human and not canine skeleton.

Just looked again.
Can you talk me through it please.
On looking at the x-ray I think I can see the left hand side (as you look at it) is not tucked as far into the hip socket as the right.
Is that correct?

Would the dog show signs of this as a puppy?

Also this Spondalocis thing, how prevalent is it in Boxers in the UK. How do you test for this in an adult dog you are breeding with, is it just x-rays? Or can you test in some other way?
From the looks of the spine it seems there are pieces of bone going under the vertebrae in front of it. Surely this would stop the dog moving around.

I am sorry but I do not know anything about HD in dogs. The hip knowledge that I have is in humans, but you are correct, the head of the femur on the left of that Xray is not properly seated in the socket.

Thanks, I am grateful for your help.

Hopefully someone else will come in and help me understand what it is I am looking at a little further.

I think we need to be a bit careful making statements like " the Boxer breed is screwed" it is far from screwed... No most breeders here in the UK don't hip score, and because I have stated this fact, it does not mean I like it, but the facts are if you want to buy a Boxer from a UK breeder, it's unlikely they will hip score.

We live in the UK not Germany or anywhere else, so unless you import , you will have to go with what breeders here do test for.

Heart and JKD , are the killers in our breed....HD , is no more common in Boxers than any other breed.

Both of mine were from different breeders, neither breeder hip scored, my boy lived till he was 11, he had spondylitis and mild HD, was it genetic or environmental , I have no idea it.

My girl, is 10 , her hips are fine, with no problems at all.

I know many breeders of boxers here, and I can tell you none of there dogs past and present have been screwed due to not being hip scored....

Screening for HD does not guarantee your dog will not develop it, all it does is hopefully reduce the odds of your dog developing problems, it's a precaution , not a guarantee .

As I said , lets not go over the top in suggesting our breed is screwed, it's far from the truth..as many a boxer owner will testify.

Sorry, didnt mean to upset you, but Boxers are certainly not doing okay due to these problems.

If breeders do not try to eradicate a hereditary disease through selective breeding ie, using only dogs and bitches who do not have these problems then eventually the breed will become so bad they will effectively not be the dog we all love.

Whilst I grant you this is not Germany, why is it not possible for UK breeders to follow their lead. It isn't so hard surely to find a good dog, put it to a good bitch and continue in this vein, checking along the way for heart problems, hip problems etc etc.
I know I would certainly pay for a pup from such a breeder without qualms.
Why aren't the KC insisting only sound stock be used for breeding.

Perhaps you could put your questions to the Kennel Club ?

Spondylosis in dogs

http://www.vetinfo.com/overview-spondylosis-dogs.html

Bala's Mum

When we were looking for a companion for Rosie we went through all the right channels, asked the right questions and got referred to a top notch breeder/exhibitor. As Azz says we did everything right. How then did we end up with a little bitch with hereditary renal (kidney) failure. At least you know that your dog will live hopefully a long and good life. There are four stages of renal failure, our little bitch is in stage 3. She has good and bad days, we never look too far ahead, just enjoy what time we have with her. She was diagnosed just months after we lost our older Boxer to Liver disease and the news was absolutely devastating

Do I blame her breeder - no, why should I. At the time this chronically deadly disease was just becoming known in the breed and blaming people solves nothing

We took part in a research program carried out by an eminent Genealogist who is also a Boxer breeder/exhibitor to try and identify the gene responsible. The results were inconclusive although there is still research ongoing in Europe. Her breeder did everything he could to help with the research and was very supportive towards us.

Sometimes these things just happen x

Velvetboxers, I am so sorry to hear about your girl, it is so unfair she is plagued with this problem.

Whilst I appreciate your viewpoint I personally feel that any kind of hereditary problem can be avoided through selective breeding. Now whilst your girls breeder has been very supportive is he/she actively doing something to prevent it happening ever again. By this I mean has he/she found out which side of your girls parentage (if not both) are (for want of a better word) responsible for the kidney disease and has he/she stopped breeding with them?

As for the Kennel Club, having read the pre-amble prior to the programme on pedigree dogs I doubt very much they will actually admit that they are as responsible if not more for the state of not only Boxers but GSD's English Bulldogs etc, etc. Why? Because they have in the past failed to penalise breeders who are breeding more and more exagerated examples. But instead they have in fact rewarded them.
Granted that may not be the case now. But for some of our wonderful breeds it may be too late. I hope this is not the case for Boxers.

Going back to this post [I have only used the pertinent comment as I have done in yours:

You asked about the hip Xray. I answered you and told you what I saw was an incorrectly seated femur head. You asked whether what you saw was what I was talking about [I do not intend going back through the thread to find your exact words] and my response was

Your latest post: that you personally feel that any kind of hereditary problem can be avoided through selective breeding, is, I feel rather unfortunate.

Had I or my husband been "hip scored" way back in 1967 we would both have shown perfect hip scores. And yet my daughter, born in March 1968 had not just HD in her right hip but she had a severely deformed, almost non-existent left hip socket and a femur that was two inches above where the socket should have been.

No, there were no ultrasounds/scans in those days, but both parents with perfect hips produced an infant who spent the best part of the first four years of her life having major surgery after major surgery, to build a hip socket and to re-form her femur to fit in it. And stay in it. She was only finally discharged from the RNOH in Stanmore at the age of 17½.

As Dawn said. These things happen.

If two human parents with no history of hip problems can produce a child with severely crippled hips, then so can a dog.

For that reason, as well as other reasons which have no relevance on a dog forum, the words "selective breeding" do not sit very well with me.

These things happen, and believe me, I have seen far far worse hip Xrays than the one shown in this thread.

If the Kennel Club do not require hip scoring for Boxers it is immaterial how you feel about it personally. KC rules are KC rules and until they insist on hip scoring for Boxers I do not know what you expect Dogsey members to do.

No, I do not own a Boxer and never have. My dog is a mutt who I rescued from the local shelter when she was ~6 weeks old. She is a perfectly healthy mutt who just happened to develop epilepsy when she was two years old.