Hip dysplasia in my dog

[Tahr]

My much loved 10 year old GWP has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia, I have to say I feel totally gutted to see such a fit, strong, proud, loyal, intelligent dog now struggling to get to her feet,it is heart braking for me. I worry about how much pain she is in.

Her history is that at 3 years old I had her hip scored and she came back with a very low score for her breed so I thought that this would not affect her in later life. In August this year she started struggling with a stiff back end and couldn’t run as fast as she used to. I took her to the vets, they said they could find no major problems. I did cut back her exercise hoping she would get over it. Over the next 4 months she didn’t seem to get much worse or better, on Thursday 19th December she was jumping about when I went to take her daughter out for a run so I took her with me and we ran 4 miles which she seemed fine with. She seemed just the same on the Friday and Saturday, no problems just a bit stiff with the back end as before. Sunday morning she was just the same, I went out with the younger dog at 2:00pm when I came home after 6:00pm she couldn’t get to her feet.

Monday morning I took her to the vets; she has had a steroids injection and is on a 14 day course of anti-inflammatory drugs. I have order a orthopaedic bed for her and a some Glucosamine. I am trying to give her two 10/15 minute walks a day, shorter if she is struggling and her legs give way too much. I am trying to get her weight down, not that she is fat but perhaps could loose a few pounds to be whippet thin.

Apart from not following me absolutely everywhere which she did before, she seems ok in herself, her eating is fine esp tip bits, her tail wags and has no problems with her bowels ect.

Seeing her hips were fine at 3 years old (although I am told HIP scores are not totally reliable as they only give a static view of the hip) is it possible that running in the wind rain and cold of South West Scotland has caused the issues, although I read that exercise is good for the hips. She had no running with me until she was over 2 years old, just free play with other dogs until then.

Any advice on this welcome.

Thanks

Kev

[Flopsy]

Sorry your dog has hip displasia. Ours had it quite young, along with other problems. Takes some managing.
There are many reasons for hip displasia. I'm not sure there's any point beating yourself up over something you can never know the answer to. Did your dog enjoy running? If so, don't feel guilty. Better a fit and happy dog with a short life than a fat and bored dog with a long life.
We were told when first diagnosed that he should be on 20 min lead walks. We said, stuff that, he'd rather be dead. So we kept on exercising him. Stopped running with him and over time the walks became shorter and flatter but we let him guide us in what he could and couldn't do. With dogs their state of mind is important. Our dog just carried on and the professionals were always amazed at everything wrong with him considering how functional he was. When we eventually saw a specialist he said we had done everything right.
Continue to exercise your dog but not to extremes. Let them guide you. Hydrotherapy can be really good at strengthening muscle without stress on joints etc. Very important to keep their weight down. Doggy glucosamine is well thought of - we used easiflex. Probably end up needing pain killers. Our was on them permanently for many years and it s possible to find a level where they are not drowsy but pain relief is still effective.
We spent a lot of time, money and love. But hey, they're worth it.
All the best.

[Tahr]

Thank Floppsy, I spoke to a specialist on Friday and his view is that it might not be hip dysplasia, possible back or knee issues, so back to my vets, maybe expensive CT/MRI scans. Our lovely titled floors are covered in rubber mats, new orthopaedic beds purchased, new insulated heated kennel nearly finished for her when we are at work. So much money will be spent, and she is getting lots of love and attention.

We are keeping with the little walk every day, here are a couple of photo’s of us when she was well.


On top of Scar Fell Pike.



Both of us cooling the legs down after a hard run.


ATB

Tahr

[CL]

My much loved 10 year old GWP has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia, I have to say I feel totally gutted to see such a fit, strong, proud, loyal, intelligent dog now struggling to get to her feet,it is heart braking for me. I worry about how much pain she is in.

Her history is that at 3 years old I had her hip scored and she came back with a very low score for her breed so I thought that this would not affect her in later life. In August this year she started struggling with a stiff back end and couldn’t run as fast as she used to. I took her to the vets, they said they could find no major problems. I did cut back her exercise hoping she would get over it. Over the next 4 months she didn’t seem to get much worse or better, on Thursday 19th December she was jumping about when I went to take her daughter out for a run so I took her with me and we ran 4 miles which she seemed fine with. She seemed just the same on the Friday and Saturday, no problems just a bit stiff with the back end as before. Sunday morning she was just the same, I went out with the younger dog at 2:00pm when I came home after 6:00pm she couldn’t get to her feet.

Monday morning I took her to the vets; she has had a steroids injection and is on a 14 day course of anti-inflammatory drugs. I have order a orthopaedic bed for her and a some Glucosamine. I am trying to give her two 10/15 minute walks a day, shorter if she is struggling and her legs give way too much. I am trying to get her weight down, not that she is fat but perhaps could loose a few pounds to be whippet thin.

Apart from not following me absolutely everywhere which she did before, she seems ok in herself, her eating is fine esp tip bits, her tail wags and has no problems with her bowels ect.

Seeing her hips were fine at 3 years old (although I am told HIP scores are not totally reliable as they only give a static view of the hip) is it possible that running in the wind rain and cold of South West Scotland has caused the issues, although I read that exercise is good for the hips. She had no running with me until she was over 2 years old, just free play with other dogs until then.

Any advice on this welcome.

Thanks

Kev

Yes I think you can over-train dogs just like you can over-train humans. Some breeds are better at running distances than others but all dogs have their limits. Athletic owners tending to take the 'more is better' philosophy in regard to training, adopt that idea for their dogs and run them into the ground.

And because dogs age much faster than humans all the deleterious effects seen in older runners who over did it, are seen in dogs much sooner, particularly those prone to hip and leg disorders.

[Flopsy]

Yes I think you can over-train dogs just like you can over-train humans. Some breeds are better at running distances than others but all dogs have their limits. Athletic owners tending to take the 'more is better' philosophy in regard to training, adopt that idea for their dogs and run them into the ground.

Yes you can overtrain dogs but that does not mean because you have run with your dog that it was the cause of hip displasia. There are many causes of hip displasia. Over training, particularly when young is a cause. So is the wrong diet when young. So is genetic disposition. No way of knowing.

As a runner I don't think more is better and as a dog owner I don't think more is better. Balance in everything.

[IainR]

Yes you can overtrain dogs but that does not mean because you have run with your dog that it was the cause of hip displasia. There are many causes of hip displasia. Over training, particularly when young is a cause. So is the wrong diet when young. So is genetic disposition. No way of knowing.

As a runner I don't think more is better and as a dog owner I don't think more is better. Balance in everything.

Depends on the breed.. collie's will run 100 miles/day for 100 days straight during lambing..

So 60+ fell mile weeks are nothing for them..

You'd struggle to overtrain a fit collie.

[Longdogs]

May I butt in? As someone who is qualified to know.. HD is a developmental condition of genetic origin. It is totally impossible to induce HD by overtraining a dog without the gene(s)for the condition. You can only affect the expression of the genetic predisposition. Whether or not this individual is suffering from HD or not, the breed,and similar, is rife with this and other orthopaedic disease. The suffering caused is simple to eliminate- don't breed them, don't buy them. If more than 4% of people acquiring a new dog took professional advice before doing it, they could make an informed decision. I'm not having a go at Tahr by the way, he obviously loves his dog.. it's nice to hear the dog is going to get the best of everything. What a lucky dog. But I can't help think of the 9 healthy strays I admitted to a dogs home on Friday, who are as I type sleeping in damp kennels until someone wants them..

[Flopsy]

We rescued our dog and he was a cross breed. But still he had hip displasia and a host of other problems. Just the way it was with him. It was impossible to know why he had all those problems, even the specialists didn't have the answers.

I completely agree that irresponsible breeding including breeding between relations is a huge cause of genetic problems but it is not the only cause of these problems.

By the way Iain you can run a Collie to injury and even to death. They aim to please and therefore won't stop even when they need to. Working collies are not necessarily the healthiest of dogs even if they're fit, depends on the attitude of the farmer, how well he cares for them. I've certainly seem lame collies on farms I visit with work.

[Longdogs]

I didn't mean to imply that cross breeds can't get HD, they certainly can. Eddie, my dog who will be put to sleep tomorrow, is a case in point- he's collie x shepherd and has horrendous HD from the shepherd genes. And not all orthopaedic conditions are genetic in origin. But those that are could in theory be eliminated permanently if the will existed.

Agreed, working collies can be very unhealthy and poorly looked after. But there's a reason why they're chosen for jobs involving athletic performance.. that and the greyhound, whose main health hazard is being shot for being too slow !

[Flopsy]

Sorry to hear your dog is being put to sleep. Always a hard decision to make, knowing when enough is enough. Breaks my heart but best for them in the end. Best wishes for tomorrow.

As for collies, as I'm sure you're aware, the ability for endurance is just a part of what makes collies good for herding. IMO it is their intelligence that is the greatest factor though. What many owners fail to realise is that exercise will not make the collie tired for long or happy,yet mental stimulation does make them tired and happy. We can run our collie hard and he recovers quickly. Yet agility and training sessions makes him sleep like log.