SG Indiana vom Wildsteiger Land (born 07.07.2003) - Page 1

Son of Xenos and Nanda (VA6 in 2004) Hello you all, my daughter and I are devastated! At the age of 14 months, we took our dear friend Indiana to the vet to take x-rays. One of the hips was a beauty, really perfect. The other hip however looks like a Greek ruin. (Worse than qualification: "E".) Our dog needs to be excluded immediately from all sports, exhibitions and of course breeding. We can only take him out for a small walk, we can not cycle with him like we used to do, let alone train with him very hard for SchH or other disciplines, etc, etc. We are confronted with the possibility of having to put him asleep, as nobody can tell if he hurts and in how much pain he might be. We still cannot realize the impact this had made on us. We are sure however, that German Shephard Dog-fans like you can relate, and that you can understand our grief. Can anybody advise what we should do? Some of you might have experienced similar cases. We welcome any comments you might have. Jan and Lisa

Hi I once had a female, very beautiful and purchased as a foundation breeding female. She was very unsound as a youngster and when she went for hip x rays, both sides were diabolical, the highest(worst) score obtainable under the UK BVA scoring system. I loved her and kept her, she lived an absolutely full life until she died at the age of 14 1/2 years. I never regretted my time with her for one minute and still miss her today.

I sympathise too. I have simalarly gone through the pain only to realize that the disease and its pain can be managed. You need to be able to understand all the movements that contribute to the disease and prevent your dog from doing them. One thing I never was able to do however, was to stop my dog from climbing up the steps to the bedroom at night. My best and most wonderful shepherd had the disease. But she did not die of it. She turned 12 1/2 years of age and participated each day in our lives. Breeders please try to breed dogs that do not have this heartbreaking disease! It is so sad when families such as Jantie have to cope and find the way forward when breeding sound dogs could eliminate this heartbreak.

Don't keep him too "quiet", getting overweight can have serious effects on a dog with HD. Did your vet advise you that you could only take him on one small walk a day? Find a place to swim him, keeping his rear muscles in shape will be good for his hips. Your dog sould let you know when he's in pain, slowness in getting up, reluctance to go up/down stairs or jump, limping, etc. My vet told me HD pain can be managed pretty well with medication. And if that isn't enough surgery is always an option. I don't feel putting him to sleep should even be considered, especially if he is not in pain yet. Start using a glucosamine supplement, it isn't scientifically proven to help with HD, but it is widely used for keeping joints in good condition.

I've had 3 dogs with various degrees of HD. I agree wtih GSDfan. I gave plenty of exercise. I agree you must keep the muscles in shape. As they got older and I started to see some stiffness and range-of-motion loss, I gave Rimidyl which really helped. I ,too, gave glucosamine and Chondrotin. All of the dogs live well past 13 years. My male with both hips moderate to severly dysplasic is now 13 and 1/4 years old and still happy and loving life. I see nothing wrong with doing some agility and some schutzhund work as long as he is not limping or showing pain. Mine did not show signs until they were closer to 5 years old, then I began to nice stiffness..all dogs are different so you'll just need to observe him.

I've had 3 dogs with various degrees of HD. I agree wtih GSDfan. I gave plenty of exercise. I agree you must keep the muscles in shape. As they got older and I started to see some stiffness and range-of-motion loss, I gave Rimidyl which really helped. I ,too, gave glucosamine and Chondrotin. All of the dogs live well past 13 years. My male with both hips moderate to severly dysplasic is now 13 and 1/4 years old and still happy and loving life. I see nothing wrong with doing some agility and some schutzhund work as long as he is not limping or showing pain. Mine did not show signs until they were closer to 5 years old, then I began to nice stiffness..all dogs are different so you'll just need to observe him.

Hello Jan and Lisa, I am so sorry to hear about your dog. I am puting a link on here that you need to check out. A friend of mine Imported a dog with bad HD{he found out when she did the prelim on him. THis stuff "Prevention" as its called has done wonders with a dog, rebuilding cartllidge and the bone, beats Glucosamine. He had the male on this for 7 months and there was so mych improve- ment. They have been using in on Bulldogs{which HD is really bad in as a bred}and have seen all kinds of wonders with it. You can go to Joshua Kennels website and scroll half way down the page if youd like to check it out Go to" JoshuaKennels.Com Best Regards JD Hicklen

I would never suggest putting your dog to sleep at 14 months because of the hips - the University of Minnesota Hospital has great orthopedic surgeons - I am sure where you are - they have good ones - do a consult with one and then give it some time - as a puppy ages things happen.