Bad Hips - Quality of life - Page 1

Hello,

      I am wanting some options on hips and the quality of life the dog with the following hips may have. The following x-ray is of a 17 month old male in my club. I know the dog is severely displastic but I am curious to hear from those who have had a dog this displastic and how soon it signs of discomfort started to show. I understand many things play into the equation like size, weight, daily activity and driver level. If it helps to hypothesize, this dog is 77lbs, good bone, lives outside and is very high drive which totally sucks because he’s a dream come true in temperament and drive. I know in the end nobody can really say if the dog is suffering now or when signs of discomfort will come on but my club member would like some thoughts on if the dog needs to be put to sleep if reconstruction surgery is not a option. I don’t feel right with posting where the dog came from or who the sire and dam is, but I will say both are A-Normal and both parents are titled (not that, that makes a difference in hips) but the dog did not come from a backyard breeder. Thank you all in advance.

OMG...I hope he can have the surgery...what a young lively dog.  My heart goes out to them.

Hello Prodogs...I had hips look like that of parents ragted good and excellent. S**t happens someotimes no matter how careful a breeder or owner is. I will tell you, many times a dog with the worst hips has the least pain. The hips taht have little if any socket left and are mostly OUT of the socket have little if any bone on bone rubbing. I had a dog with hips even wors that shit (neuted after x-rays) that used to work great and jump up and down like a pogo stick. Had a fully 'cross fire' way of movign at full gallop, but did fine. Never had surgery and died of kidney cancer at 13 1/2 years old. I feel, if they are not in pain, don't do surgery. Yes, keep them lean and fit, and on supplemtns that include Ester C, Vit E ,Chondtoritin. sulfate, glucosamine, etc. I use a horse product on all my young and old dogs called Legacy Pellets (www.valleyVet.com). It has everthing they need for bones and also for arthritis.

If possible bring the dog into a warm place at night. If they love the dog, and if they are revolted by dog dirt, then have them get a big crate and put the dog in it inisde at night. This dog cold do great for a very long time. Surgery is the big craze, but maydogs do great without it. You can always do a total hip replacement later if he is in pain and they don't want to put him down...won't cost much different than than now... Best of luck to ythe owner and dog :-) Jackie Athon

In my experience, if he's not lame now he will probably be OK until he's older and he might not even have a problem then. Most dysplastic dogs go through one or both stages - juvenile lameness at 6 month to a year and/or old age lameness when they hit 8, 9 years of age. There are always exceptions of course. Did they suspect HD before they had him xrayed? To me it all depends on whether or not the dogs is in pain and I think they would know if he were..

I owned a large breed dog with worse hips than this dog's, at 7 months he could barely walk. I kept him crated, watched his weight and in 6 weeks or so he was fine. Placed him in a pet home and the only complaint was  they had to restructure their fence as he jumped over the old 6 foot one. He lived a long life with no hip problems. The way the xrays look and the way the dog acts do not always match up. Some with hips not nearly this bad will be lame, others with worse xrays won't be. Since this is a high drive dog, he may never have any problems.

If he's not suffering now, he doesn't need to be PTS and he may never need surgery either. I would put him on a joint supplement, keep his weight down and let him be a dog. Not sure I'd let him do a lot of jumping and climbing though. The owner will know if the dogs is uncomfortable - he will be slow to get up when lying down, might whimper,  he will "bunny hop" when running, he will limp and may hold up one leg at a time. HD is always a heartbreak, but it's not always a death sentence even when the hips look like these do. If it were ny dog, surgery would be the last thing I'd be thinking of at this stage of the game, but many vets will try to talk him into doing it.

Jackie gave you great advice. The reality is dogs don't read x-rays. If he enjoys the sport do it with him. He will let you know when or if its time to stop.

I can bet every old timer on this board has had at least one dog with hips this bad or worse that lived to a ripe old age without a problem and probably came from pretty solid hip lines. As Jackie says shit happens. I personally do not believe in xraying non-breeding or pet dogs because the reality is once the human know the xrays are not perfect they change their behavior to the dog - usually for the worse by not exercising him or working him because they are worried. The fitter you keep the dog the longer he will go w/o pain and may never have any and if they have the drives it is a sin not to work them. If they are worried about the jumping ( again depends on the indiv dog) maybe they could see how his herding intincts are - good place to learn about obedience in drive. Still a workout but generally no jumping.

Tell them we wish them luck and chances are they have many good years ahead with their dog.

Re x-rays: I once had a patient who told me her doctor had looked at her x-rays, then called her in. When she came walking into his office, with the help of a cane, he said,  "Well, this shows the value of talking to your patient, because according to this x-ray, you can't walk!

Pain is a very individual thing. And dogs don't read x-rays. My mom has a springer spaniel that was diagnosed with dysplasia in one hip at a year of age. He also ruptured his cruciate ligaments in one knee, and is epileptic. (So much for hoping for a healthier dog from field spaniel stock! )  He is now 13 1/2, and has only had problems getting arround for the last year or two. My mom had to put carpet on t heir stairs after he fell a couple of times going down them.

So, good advice above. It all depends on how well the dog is managing.

Our almost 13 year old girl has bad hips like that, when we did her X-ray at the age of 1 the vet said it would be maybe for her the best if we put her down. We didn't do that that and we kept on doing with her as much as she could and she even has her SchH1 title. At the age of 6 she retired and became our house dog and she still his these day's. She's starting to hear not as good any more but she still has a GREAT life. We do give her 2 Glucosamine-Chondroitin Talblets everyday and she's doing super on them. You can buy them at Wall Markt ( they are normaly used by humans)

Wish the owner and the dog goodluck from me

Warm Regards Francis

TIG, You gave great advice also. Deal with the dog and make your adjustment as they manifest. Let the dog be what he/she can be unless you see its not working. You will know, but in the meantime you may be surprised at the adjustments the dog makes to its x-rays(smile) remember, the x-rays are for us not the dog, if he was in the wild he would still have to make his way.

Thank you all for the advice and taking the time to reply.

Yours in the sport ~ Jason

I have no idea why my posts came out blank, but what I wanted to say was the swimming is a great way to help affected dogs build muscle without extra stress on the hip joint, and you can play fetch with them in a body of water like a lake or the sea. Fun and helpful. these dog do not have to be put down at all in many cases ( all I have seen)