Extra ribs.

Ok, I'm not sure whether I'm being thick on this one, and as a longdog and lurcher owner its something that I should know but I've always known that Honey has a extra rib at the end of her ribcage, its small, probally less then half the size of the one before, and the bottom pokes out a bit, from feeling it goes the other way to her other ribs, anyone know how normal this is and why? I mean she's always had it, and its never been anything to worry about, it would just be nice to know why.

I think all dogs have a floating rib at the bottom, so it shouldn't be attached to anything at both ends,it floats. Hope that helps some?

From what I can tell they are attached though

My GSP has one on one side only and it only seems to be attached at the top. I'd be interested to know what it's doing, if anything...

"floating" ribs are a bit of a misnomer, as they are attached to the spine, but not to the sternum. Not all dogs have them. Not sure that they serve any purpose, just a throw back I would think.

It is a common thing in greyhounds. My show boy had a floating rib his stuck and after his accident he lost a lot of weight it really showed up. many have them but they do not stick out but a lot do stick out. It is said that greyhounds and lurchers have extra ribs due to the length of their backs. They do tend to be common in long backed breeds I also know of a lot of whippets with them.

They are some times removed in tacing greyhounds as some thing they hinder the dogs when they are running but this has never been proved.

This is William's floating rib. This was taken after his accident when he had lost weight which made it show up so much.

They will be , at the top, I think most dogs have them, mine do anyway!

I rescued a dog off a reserve a few months back that had a rib like that, but it stuck straight out... He was a Pyrenees mix as best as I could tell. it may have been broken at some point, but it was 2" long and stuck out perpendicular to his body... on one side only.

Interesting topic. Never noticed it on my dogs, but I have a floating rib on both sides myself, lol. My family think i'm weird cos none of them have one.

Thanks everyone .

Honey's seem just the same as his, can't say I think that they hinder her running, she's still never met a dog that can outrun her (still waiting so that she can be on the recieving end of having a dog she has to work to keep up with, but so far we haven't).