New to the forum - Page 1

Hi all,

These 2 bundles are our new addition to the family, after we lost our beloved white shepherd.

this picture was taken at 8 weeks old they are now 5'months

I have a question that perhaps we could be helped out with. It's regarding the male jack, he's going to be a big lad, in the last couple of weeks we have noticed that he has been a little unstable  on his back end and every now and then let's out a cry. Pups don't get excersised more than 40 mins per day. 

So we thought we would get him checked out at the vets. I new the parents and grandparents had good hip scoring. So I knew that was on our side. 

Anyway the vets examined him and said that he has signs of hip displacia and he wanted to X-ray him and they can do a procedure where they can cut and twist the bone to fit into the hip socket. As you can imagine I was a little shock to say the least, especially being such a young boy

After returning home I called the breeder and explained what had happened, she mentioned to me he was to young to have X-rays and as regards to hip displacia there is no chance he must of injured himself playing with his sister. So for the time being she suggested we crate him and just let out for wee etc. I have every faith in the breeder as she was recommended. 

I think we should get a 2nd opinion but what about X-rays , he has now been created for a week. Do we take a chance to see if his bones will grow to how they should as he gets older.

look forward to your thoughts

Forty minutes a day is all the exercise they get? And now the male has been crated 24 hours a day for a week? Puppies need FREE exercise, not imposed. Crating him by the breeders diagnosis of injury is not helping the pup. The vet can see at five months if the pup has hip sockets or not, and ANY pup can have hip displysia,..there are absolutely no guarantees in the german shepherd breed that a pup is not going to have HD. Take the pup to another vet if he is still showing pain, but let them have free exercise for Hours in a day, not just minutes. Good luck and hope for the best. By the way, your breeder is not doing right by you telling you what they did, if they did say those things.

Also, get them out onto real dirt if they are not already.

Joanro is a breeder herself, and a very good one when it comes to knowledge about the breed, take her advice seriously and don't stop till you have all your doubts cleared up here.

 

Ibrahim

I understand what you are saying about free exercise, I do mentally stimulation with them 2. I have never ever over excersised my shepherd pups because of the problems that comes on long with them. I do a lot of mental stimulation to. Taking him to another vet is my next option.  But are X-rays and possibly surgery at  5 months a little to young and could further problems done the line.

Thanks ibrham.

joanro there's plenty of dirt here where I live

You certainly can have x-rays done at this age...If you're worried about him and his hips then I would take him to a different vet and explain what your worries are and let the vet do x-rays and see if there's a problem there...X-rays aren't that expensive and won't hurt your puppy at all...

See what the results of the x-rays are FIRST...before even thinking about surgery...Take one step at a time...

Any puppy can have a problem...but don't get too far ahead of yourself until you know what you're dealing with...

Ask the vet for copies of the x-rays and/or take them yourself...Just take pictures of the x-rays...then you can post them here and the folks here can give you help...PLEASE don't rush into anything...Let the folks on here know what you find and they will assist you in what they see and know...

There's some very experienced people on here and they're willing to give you their opinion...and help...

 

~Bob~

Thanks bob.

its so hard trying to find a vets that will think of the animal and not there pocket. Been let down a lot over the years 

Find a new vet!  Feed the puppies raw meat and low carbohydrate diet and make sure they have enough C and D3.  Good exercise and mental stimulation.  Good muscle development and a raw diet could still help the hips improve.  The pain could be hips but it could also be Pano.  Proper exercise makes the joints tighten up and in a young puppy stronger and denser bones are the result of appropriate exercise.  Cutting on a young puppy that is rapidly growing is not a good idea.

Get xrays done and post them here. They need to be correct positioning for scoring hips. 

Puppies need free exercise in a safe place on soft, natural surfaces. What are you feeding? Was this sudden? Can you get video of what the male is doing? It's rare for a pup to be in pain from hip dysplasia at 5 months since in the vast majority of cases, the arthritis is what causes the pain and he's young for that...he would have to have utterly horrendous hips. If he had no sockets at all, he would be even less likely to be in terrible pain, since there wouldn't be the "bone on bone" contact. Pano is a possibility at this age, also a slew of other developmental disorders, which is part of why I asked what they're eating.