bunny hop - Page 1

Is a bunny hop ok at the age of 8 weeks ? When can I get him X-rayed ?

any clue

You can have your pup's hips x-rayed at any time. Bunny hopping isn't normal. I had a pup x-rayed very very young (I forget what age) and he had severe hip dysplasia which was evident at that young age. At least I knew what I was dealing with and had more options for treatment available. By the way, my guy is still running around at almost 11 years of age. Your pup may not have bad hips but it's best to find out what it is early on so you can deal with it. Good luck. Judy

Depends on what gait the pup is trying to achieve--if the puppy never trots at all, but only moves in this 'bunny hopping' fashion, then I'd be concerned. If, however, you only see this type of movement when he's trying to run, that's not uncommon in very young pups (and I'd classify 8 weeks old as still in the 'very young' catergory). You can have x-rays done at this age, but the question then becomes, "what will you do with this information?" If the pup is already dysplastic, it's too young to have anything done for the problem surgically, since he still has most of his growth to attain yet...and dogs which are noticably dysplastic at this young an age often fare better with the condition than those which develop the affliction at a later point in their growth, because the muscles tend to compensate for the poor fit of the hip joints at this age, and will continue to do so as the dog matures. But a bunny hop in a puppy doesn't automatically signal bad hips...it can also be the result of uneven physical development, such as the pup's torso being too short to adequately handle the additional length of the growing legs. In those cases, the odd gait usually disappears as the pup continues to grow and his proportions even out. :^)

What about a notable arch in the back of a pup around 16 weeks?

hello hexe - gives some good guidance -- but i would like to add .. how , when , why and where about the bunny , hops ??? i have had a couple of pups bunny hop -- but that was all that the behavior was .. just a bunny hop which [ aside from the pup also running and having otherwise normal locomation / gaiting /trotting ]. and when they saw something diffedrnet duroing socialization .. that was there response a bunny hop -- however one is a Larus v. Batu daughter and you should see her gait as an adult now -- absolutely magnificent -- but then again she at times does this little behevioral move .. a bunny hop .. i think this is genetic / an innate expression of a behavior for her .. -- i also had another female , just passed away -- in her play as a pup she loved to bunny hop and then that behavior developed into a crouch and stalk and ambush and pounce .. so watch the how when where and why -- but id the natural gait is off then you may have a structural problem in your pup -- good luck