A Number of Environmental Factors Can Affect the Incidence of Hip Dysplasia in Dogs

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2012) — Hip dysplasia (HD) in dogs is affected to a larger degree than previously believed by the environment in which puppies grow up. It is particularly during the period from birth to three months that various environmental factors appear to influence the development of this disease. During the puppy stage, preventive measures can therefore be recommended with a view to giving dogs disposed to the condition a better quality of life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120326112842.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fdogs+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Plants+&+Animals+News+--+Dogs%29 for more.



 

Thanks for sharing this info,  Nan

i  seen this on face book today  , very intresting....

The article linked above appears to be a compilation of the following four journal articles:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20956024 (Prev Vet Med 2010, main study)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22093911 (Vet J 2011)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21982689 (Prev Vet Med 2012)

A prospective  study   of   the   effects  of   housing   and   exercise   conditions  on radiographically   diagnosed   Canine  Hip  Dysplasia  in   a  cohort  of   four large   breeds  in   Norway   (1998–2001).  (Am.   J.   Vet.   Res.,  in   press)

I'm very interested to read the in press article on the impact of housing and exercise on HD/DJD. I'm guessing that this is where the impact of the breeder's environment will be discussed in more detail. I'm also hoping that this article will expand on the model that is outlined in the 2012 article. It's not clear to me from a quick read of the 2012 model why the bodyweight measurements were not found to be significant (although collinearity was found, did they choose one selective predictor to examine? what was the p-value for this factor?) (they keep changing the value of their alpha so this is important) and details about exercising at 12 months was sketchy (how much time in the garden at 12 months? (they are only coding for yes/no); why was the exercise variable at 3 months dropped from the model?, etc.). It was also interesting that the frailty term in the Cox model was found to be significant - "indicating that dogs from certain litters had higher hazard than others" (p. 226). I wonder if the 2010 or in press study tells us the HD status (FCI rating) of the sire/dam of the litters. This is interesting to me because it could address the question that I've had rattling around in the back of my mind since Jeff posted his comment that: "A hip rating shows you what THAT DOGS HIPS have been rated at. It says nothing about what the dog will produce, and there is nothing out there saying otherwise, it is assumption." Anyway, lots for me to read and think about in these articles.

I've often heard HD is 75% environmental and 25% genetic. Thanks for the article!

The authors' follow-up article that I was waiting for has now been published.

Housing- and exercise-related risk factors associated with the development of hip dysplasia as determined by radiographic evaluation in a prospective cohort of Newfoundlands, Labrador Retrievers, Leonbergers, and Irish Wolfhounds in Norway

Randi I. Krontveit, DVM; Ane Nødtvedt, DVM, PhD; Bente K. Sævik, DVM, PhD; Erik Ropstad, DVM, PhD; Cathrine Trangerud, DVM, PhD
Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, N-0033 Oslo, Norway. (Krontveit, Nødtvedt, Sævik, Trangerud); Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, N-0033 Oslo, Norway. (Ropstad)

Objective—To identify housing- and exercise-related risk factors associated with the development of hip dysplasia (HD) as determined by radiographic evaluation in Newfoundlands, Labrador Retrievers, Leonbergers, and Irish Wolfhounds in Norway.

Animals—501 client-owned dogs from 103 litters.

Procedures—Dogs were assessed from birth until official radiographic screening for HD at 12 (Labrador Retriever [n = 133] and Irish Wolfhound [63]) or 18 (Newfoundland [125] and Leonberger [180]) months of age. Information regarding housing and exercise conditions during the preweaning and postweaning periods was obtained with questionnaires. Multivariable random effects logistic regression models were used to identify housing- and exercise-related risk factors associated with the development of radiographically detectable HD.

Results—Puppies walking on stairs from birth to 3 months of age had an increased risk of developing HD. Factors associated with a decreased risk of developing HD included off-leash exercise from birth to 3 months of age, birth during the spring and summer, and birth on a farm. Significant clustering of dogs with HD was detected within litters.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results indicated that puppies ≤ 3 months old should not be allowed access to stairs, but should be allowed outdoor exercise on soft ground in moderately rough terrain to decrease the risk for developing radiographically detectable HD. These findings could be used as practical recommendations for the prevention of HD in Newfoundlands, Labrador Retrievers, Leonbergers, and Irish Wolfhounds.

read that on FB few days ago, tis interesting.

It's also been "proven" by Bardens that confining a puppy to a small cage where it could only sit with its legs in abduction prevented HD from developing even if both parents were severely dysplastic. It did, so what?  It was the equivilent of placing  a spreader cast on a baby born with shallow sockets. Bardens also pioneered mega doses of Vit C to prevent HD, the use of the fulcrum for hip xrays to demonstrate luxation,  and the first method of palpating for "loose sockets" in puppies. None of it panned out.

Riser used palpation at Penn too, but it too  proved to not be accurate. Some puppies were destroyed because they palpated "too loose" to be normal at maturity. Most of the "normals" from their litters were later xrayed and about 30% of them had HD. We will never know how many puppies were destroyed for no good reason. Now we have Penn Hip. As far as I'm concerned the jury is still out on that too.

Most breeders of large breeds I know have dramatically reduced HD in their litters by using common sense - they sedate their dogs when they xray them, they only use normals paying attention to the production record of the immediate relatives and all their siblings. They don't breed "normals" that have produced moderate to severe HD in their progeny or that have siblings with severe HD.

I think this discussion will be going on long after most of us have passed on. I think there is a lot of value in thinking about the environment in which we raise our dog, but I also think it can be just another excuse for breeders to not warrantee their dogs against HD by saying - it's 75% environmental. For some it's easier to blame HD on the way the dog is handled than to admit their dogs are not good breeding risks.

Also we need to be careful about applying studies on other breeds to this breed. Researchers already know that the GSD inherits HD differently from most breeds in that each hip has it's own set of genes and modifiers. Most dogs inherited HD bilaterally, not the GSD. This is why the argument that unilateral HD is always the result of an injury in a GSD is not valid. True of some breeds, but not this one.

I think the bottom line is to let the dog from puppyhood upto adulthood live in as natural environment possible as it would in nature, this study goes in line with that. Since I became aware of HD & ED I've been watching astray dogs, I never saw one limping. I've also been watching their shape and weight plus activity levels, I keep wondering how they can manage with minimum amounts of water they drink and little food they eat and in long intervals inbetween. I think some dogs don't drink water for days in a hot climate that reaches 35 degrees celcius. I imagine if I don't give my dogs water for two days they might die. My dogs keep their tongues in their mouths almost all day, I see astray dogs with their tongues out of their mouths almost always, even in winter time.

Ibrahim