Puppy's Hind Legs - Page 1

Hi All,

Need some help with my pup's hind legs, when we first got him I noticed his back legs seemed very 'weak' and he seemed to walk funnily, I was scared about HD and contacted the person we got him from and he told us it is a problem caused because when the puppy was born he was kept inside on mainly uncarpeted floor so when he first started walking he slipped a lot which resulted in his back legs becoming cow-hocked...

He told us that as it is not genetic he would grow out of it but to help him heal faster we could try to strengthen his muscles but without pressurizing his joints, so we take him to the beach as much as possible, we exercise him often on grass (but only slow walking to not stress his joints) and we keep him on carpeted flooring as much as possible.

But he is now 4 1/2 months old and we haven't really seen any great improvement.

What should we do now? I am not only worried about the hind-legs but also scared it'll develop into HD?

Should we continue how we are? Possible also giving a joint supplement (as suggested by a friend)?

Is there any hope we can fix this problem?

Thanks everyone for the help!!

My advice would be to take your dog to the vet. Get everything documented. In my opinion it sounds like the breeder is making excuses. The breeder should have changed the puppy's surface if the poor thing was slipping a lot.
That may have caused the hind leg problems, or it could in fact be genetic and he/she is trying to cover it up. A vet would better be able to help you with a diagnosis.
Good luck
Stacy

I am not really worried that your pup has HD but I would like to see what the muscles are doing,  pups can grow so fast, and like children they need to be able to run a play not just sit in a crate. Please see your  orthoped specialist , and have them check your pup.

dont worry about it.my dog also had the same problem.but we consulted our vet and with the help of proper medication.
u will be lucky enough if u hapeen to get a vet who will be really anble to diagnose the exact problem.
best luck......

 If you can post some photos, or better yet, some video, it would be easier to help you. Based only on what you say, it is highly likely that the pup is just gangly at this point. It may or may not be cow-hocked, which may or may not get better. Depending on the severity, it likely is not a big deal. You cannot determine whether a pup is dysplastic from just looking at the pup. Many pups move very awkwardly at such an age as your pup is. Certainly, by now, your pup should have already been at least once to the vet for a checkup. Though many vets do not know much about conformation, if there was a gross abnormality, hopefully the vet would point that out. I suggest there is probably nothing wrong here and you simply have a growing pup. You must be careful about what you do to supplement the diet of the pup and if you are feeding a quality diet, there is likely no reason for supplements in the first place. 

It could be that your pup is simply over angulated in the in the rear, especially if he is from Am. show lines. This has nothing to do with HD. I have seen adult dogs so extremely angulated that the term "egg beater" is used to describe the rear action.

It is impossible to diagnose over the internet, but just having an extreme rear does not equal HD. Most of these type do improve some with maturity. I would not go to the expense of x-ray at this age.

Excuses aside, 99.999% of what a puppy is at that age is genetic.

Best,
Rik

The problem here, as I see it, is you can spend lots of money on something that might not be a problem, or you spend the money and find out there is a genetic problem, with no good outcomes. It CAN be a genetic issue, I did have a dog who was PTS at 14 months, who started ever so slightly dragging his toes. Within weeks, the whole backend was paralyzed, after about two or three more weeks with no diagnoses despite spending a small fortune, he gave up and we let him go. I remember he had a litter mate that the rescue mentioned had a wobbly hindend. I had no idea what that could suggest, at that time.

Let's hope what you are seeing is just a big old gangly pup who needs to grow into his bones. If you notice any toe dragging, that would be the time to worry. And if he starts doing the bunny hop, that can indicate HD, then you might want to pay for those xrays.

Meanwhile, I would be adding  yogurt to his dinner bowl. 

 For what it is worth, in my experience most pups at a young age bunny hop and it is not a sign of dysplasia......

But I agree with Beetree's post otherwise. I suspect what you are seeing is a gangly pup. Depending on bloodlines, and angulation and tendon and ligament and muscle development, some pups look like heck early on and grow up to be just fine.

Your puppy most likely has no problems other than being a normal growing German Shepherd.

I have a puppy buyer who emailed me 4 weeks after taking their puppy home and all was fine she was happy with her and no problems.

Six weeks later they emailed again their puppy was now 20 weeks old,  and this was what had happened after a vet visit *************  THEY  had her DESEXED, PENN HIp X-RAYED, BLOOD TESTED for Osterochrondroma, Toxoplasmosis and Neospora Caninium. *************  All of this was done to see WHAT was WRONG with the puppies GAIT ******** The end result was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING at all *********** She was a perfectly NORMAL growing gangly puppy.

These people were distraught and thought that they had bought a puppy with lifelong problems, I did offer to take her back but they refused.

I was extremely upset because I always ask puppy buyers to contact me first if they feel that their puppy might have any kind of problem and NEVER have any surgery performed on their puppy without a second opinion.

Any way they were a few thousand dollars out of pocket only to find out that they have a normal puppy and I could have told them that for FREE.