Hip Laxity? - Page 1

I have a fifteen month old male German Shepherd. I had him OFA prelimed at 8-9 months, the results came back "good". However, from the time when he was a young pup say four months old, I have heard an occasional popping sound coming from his hips. Upon further examination, my vet diagnosed him with laxity in his hips. His bone structure, which the OFA/x-rays show is fine "good" however he has loose ligaments. He is never in pain , but he "bunny hops" when he runs, but his walk looks normal. Do you have any advice on exercises to tighten up his ligaments? I am not playing tugging games with him anymore only fetch with a ball (2 vigorous sessions a day, which he really enjoys). Any advice on how to improve his condition and tighten his ligaments? Regards, Jack

The best and safest exercise for your puppy is swimming. This will allow him to use his thigh and pelvic muscles vigorously without pressing weight on his joints, which can cause the acetebelum to occassionally pop from the pelvic socket and eventually damage the joint. Of course young dogs have ligaments that are much looser than those of an adult, and this causes us to raise them with much caution. I would be careful with forcing him to run and jump quickly. Hopefully your boy likes to swim. Being a male he won't have the issues with clean pond, lake, or river water that a female can have. The GSD is a natural swimmer and has webbed toes on the front paws. Being that he seems to have good prey drive this should work well for you. The only issue with swimming is that certain water-bourne parasites get on dogs while they swim and cause them to itch. These quickly die when the coat dries though. And of course the frequently wet dog. Long before x-raying became a standard practice, knowledgeable German breeders noticed issues with hip laxity and used it a determining measurement as to the quality of a young dog's hips. It was not very precise or scientific but it was a start. With careful exercise such as swimming, the noticeable laxity may disappear with time. Just one (1) question; when your veterinarian checked the joints for laxity, was the dog sedated? If so it may have exaggerated the finding unless the veterinarian is very skilled. If he is certified for Penn-Hip, then he would definately know what he was doing.

Bob-O Thank you for your thoughtful reply. In regards to your question, the dog was not sedated during the OFA x-rays, so the joint laxity due to his muscles may not have been apparent. My vet is very familiar with both the Penn-Hip though he not certified. The laxity was daignosed with a positive "Orlani sign" so we could hear the joint popping out on each side. I will swim him more than I have been.

Jack, I either never sedate or use minimal sedation during an OFA or "a" stamp x-ray. And, I always lean over the dog's head and hold his front legs while the veterinarian's helper is stretching out the rear legs and the veterinarian prepares to make the shot. While the helper is stretching the legs the veterinarian examines the hip socket for movement. That way, I can see if the alignment is good and give the veterinarian the prompt to shoot. I'm glad that your veterinarian is familiar with x-ray techniques as many are not very good at it. Many do the x-ray with full anesthaesia and have good results because of skill. In unskilled hands a sedated dog's ligaments are very loose and if one is not careful, the acetabeli can be pulled from the socket. This will show on the x-ray and the dog will usually fail because of too much clearance. Many years ago I had this happen and I never used that veterinarian again for x-rays. It was a day that I could not take part in the exam. You obviously have an excellent veterinarian who is familiar with a dog's skeletal structure. Again, I think that swimming is the best thing for your boy. You can make a prey drive game of it to keep him interested. Just for maintenance you may want to give him a daily glucosomine dose while his body corrects itself. It's not just for old dogs and old people. And for other exercise you may want to "warm him up" slowly before it becomes more strenuous. Good Luck, Bob-O

AHG -- What a DISGRACE - -- a crying disgrace --- this is what we as humans have generically altered our GSDs to become --- please understand my sentioments .... this is not a negative statement but one of fact ... look atr the dogs on this site's history ... from 1900 ... gee the GSD looks in close resemblence to malinois , not that it is /was .. forward to 1950 or 1960 -- great dogs .. seems to have good structure --- SO -- we have all the pretty boy show dogs now maybe better esthetically but goodness to hear that we have to worry about the hips in active young dogs --- does anybody realize how ridiculous that is ?? did you ever see the young of any canid .. a a dingo , a coyote , a wolf ? fox -- do you ever see those young ones ..juming over trees , running like the wind , etc. .. whatever it takes to survive -- and we worry about a 5 month GSD because of possible hip damage ?? goodness gracious !! -furthermore ..it is having the bones , ligaments and muscles exercised and in the intended function that gives strength -- i get a kick out of the Sch/.show people so worried about joint problems -- well my commentary .. take a lesson from the breedings of 1200's and earlier 1800's about canines esp the GSD and try to learn something - first of all .. what a disgrace ouir breedings are today ... PS...ditto for the working berhavioral traits and ... money certainly corrupts ,now doesn't it ??

Jack's young male is a very nice working line male, very balanced in structure.

ha -- i just read th next post category -- i restate my point .. the GSD inh many peoples eyes -- just a commodity .. a way to riches -- shame shame on you folks -- get a job to benefit your fellow [wo]mankind - and leave greed behind you

Alphapup, you have an interesting point... Are you aware of human babies born with sub-lux hips? The solution- to put on a double diaper firmly to hold the hip snug. A few months of that and the problem is often never seen again. So what do you figure, put the kids down for a problem that isn't a problem? I can't believe that you are actually chastising someone for asking advise on a condition that their pup has. Maybe you should invest in a medical book. Loose ligs are not "hip damage". Grow up.

Alphapup What IS your point here? That this is not a problem and that excercise will cure it or that our breeding practices cause it? Certainly there is evidence that dysplasia is present in wolves, etc. and that it has been around a long long time. There are plenty of GSDs with older style, nearly Malinois angulation that have bad hips - I have one. A dog who is in top notch physical conditon, with parents with good hips but suffered the luck of the draw.