prelims today,what do you think? - Page 3

breathe easy........

Well, I'm having a hard time opening the results. I see bad positioning pulling Neo's right hip out. Both sets are very very poor photos. I see no arthritis on either dog and both dogs' elbows look fine. Trinity's hips look fine. If someone didn't pass, which is what I'm gathering, and I'm betting Neo, I'd redo them; neither are truly non-passing hips. Neo's right may be too subluxated to pass, but that can be corrected with a really really good xray. 

As they're just prelims, you have time to tighten up. Keep them skinny, swim them as much as you can, walk them in sand, minimize impact since the subluxation is going to cause the hips to "bounce" around in the socket and thus you may end up with a worse rating down the road. I'd put them on Adequan to help prevent breakdown and wear, do all of the previously mentioned conditioning, and patiently wait until they can be redone. 

Thanks everyone for your advise and comments. Neo is going crazy no BALL time.The boy would dig up the lawn to get to his ball when thrown.I know a couple of the comments you mentioned to swim him.Well i'm guessing throwing the ball out into the lake can't be good for him.Because this boy really takes to his ball.So i thought i would try something.We have a paddleboat and i thought i would have him swim aside the boat .Of course ball in hand.How long would you swim him? Ok now we don't have sand around us just gravel.But we do have a couple of tater fields just tilled nice and soft.Would this work for my boy? And how long should we walk? Im asking all these questions because I don't want to over do it.And i'm open to anymore suggestions.And i have already started my search for a vet that knows how to position the dog and take that perfect picture.
Steve

I used to throw balls and frisbees and whatever other floating toys into lakes for my dog all the time. He'd swim out super fast, leaving a heck of a wake, then come back pretty slow, nice and easy. I do like a narrower floating stick, like a narrow training dummy for water retrievers or something better than a ball because of the shape- when they're breathing hard, I felt better about the stick than the ball, and also the stick/dummy seemed to keep tons of water from pouring into their mouths. A lot depends on how your dog would do it; some barely keep their heads above water, but my dog was a very powerful swimmer and had his whole head and part of his neck out of the water so I didn't worry so much about large quantities of swallowed water (bloat paranoia). 

As a guide for how long to swim him, I would watch for that head/neck sinking lower into the water than when you started out. As they get fatigued, they will drop down in the water, ime. 

swimming him is a great idea.
if he enjoys playing fetch, I'd do that as much as possible, throw the ball into the lake and encourage him to jump in, swim and return it.
if you want to swim him next to your boat, then get a doggie life jacket so if he does get tired in the middle of the lake, he will be able to take a break before continuing back to shore.

Oh he will go for the ball or any toy in the lake and he will bring it back.And he is a very strong swimmer head and shoulders high.We haven't played ball because I thought he should take it easy.And not to worrySitasmom we have over 250 ft of lake frontage I planned on going along the shoreline.Thanks for the advise.
Steve