Loose hocks - Page 1

 From what you discribed sounds like he has a physical problem,  I would first take him to your Vet for xrays, to rule out hip dysplasia or like problems.

Vet first, swimming  and puts no pressure on any part of the body. If you live near a beach walking in sand is also great.

Is this an American shepherd? Then you've got the result of 30 some years of selective breeding which has caused this problem. The hind legs are too long, and the dogs walk/run on their hocks. It's all done in the name of sidegate. Some German bred dogs do this, too, but it's much less common.

I recently met a lady whose dog was obviously weak in the rear legs. I assume joint problems/dysplasia had already been elimated. The breeder said lots of hill climbing and stairs to build muscle in the rear. I noticed the dog tended to 'bunny hop' instead of moving normally.

Hello Skywalker,

First of all i would like to say that this is the common problem faced by all the GSD people. Make sure that there is no hip dysplacia. If it is not there then your problem  must be due to dog tied or raised on a smooth flooring. If that is the case then you might be able to improve the hinds of the dog. This is my personal experience. My freind had a GSD female with him since puppy stage. He stays in a apartment so naturally dog was on the smooth flooring throughout. Also because of his busy schedule he could not give adequate exercise. So the dogs hinds got weak and slightly turned inside what we call loose hocks. Then that female came to me at the age of around 10 months. I use to take her  to ground for good long 1 and 11/2 hour for just playing with the ball or with my other dog. Also sometimes once or twice a week I use to do stair climbing and pulling. But what I think is playing freely really helped improve the hinds. Try it if you can. Best of Luck.