Gsd with shaky cow-hocked back-legs - Page 1

I have female gsd with "all excellent" head, ear carriage, colour/pigmentation, extra-excellent coat and a good tail, BUT "cow hocked/shaky" back leg, appearing slightly "K" when she moves. Can she be breed, to a firm/strong-boned legged dog to correct her fault or do i forget about breeding her? Would it have any adverse effect on her offsprings?. . . just confuse, considering her good/excellent qualities. S.O.S.

 Niger,

What country do you live in? Where did you buy the dog? What are her bloodlines? Have you asked the breeder about this subject and also about the urination problem you already wrote about?

How much experience do you have with dogs? How old is this dog? Based on what you have been saying, you make me think that you do not know very much about dogs and you need a lot of help. But only so much is possible from an internet forum. Is there no one there near you who knows about the breed of German Shepherds?

If this is a pup as I think you mentioned in another post, you cannot make a lot of decisions now. Certainly, you should not even consider breeding any pup at a young age. There are many things you will want to learn about her before you make a decision to breed her. For example, if she is urinating when you touch her, as has already been written, there are many things you must do to help her build confidence.  One should not breed a dog if it never becomes confident. There are also many questions you SHOULD ask yourself about breeding her.

And when you write the dog has this or that problem, if you really do not have much experience, you may not even really be seeing what you write that you see. In other words, someone else might look at the dog and say she is not cow-hocked. For example, what do you mean my "appearing slightly K when she moves"? I have no idea what that means.

Many pups are not well coordinated when they are young. This means they look a little funny when they walk. Some pups are worse than others. Some really are cow-hocked and some who really appear cow-hocked or a little weak when the dog is young will improve as the dog grows older. Some do not improve. Muscle strength, of course, will get better with proper exercise and diet. Also, you should not do some things with a young pup that could hurt the pup.

In order for us to help you best, if you can send a photo here that would help. If that is not possible, then try to answer some of the questions I wrote above so that we may know more about you. That will also help us be able to help you. If English is not your native language, tell us what language is, because many times someone here will be able to help you better in your native language. This is an international forum, so there are people who read and post here who live in many nations all over the world.

Thanx a million times Hodie. I live in Nigeria. The said gsd is almost 6 months old now and was bought from Russia(don't want to mention kennel name).Sire is in the "database", with a good bloodline, but i've only seen the dam's name without pictures in the breeder's site. I hauen't ask the breeder because i can't write/ understand Russian. The urination problem is, i think is basically "socialization", because between yesterday n today i've noticed tremendeous improvement, after applying suggestion from this forum. My expirience: i've kept GSD's for years now and i know a lot abov them, but in/with a worldwide forum like this, i assume, i'm still learning. The issue here is that, though her legs are "coordinated in movement" but yiewing the rear, they somewhat appear as if her both "hocks" are nearly touching each other, giving a "k" legged appearance (rear view). I may send photo days later.

Thanx a million times Hodie. I live in Nigeria. The said gsd is almost 6 months old now and was bought from Russia(don't want to mention kennel name).Sire is in the "database", with a good bloodline, but i've only seen the dam's name without pictures in the breeder's site. I hauen't ask the breeder because i can't write/ understand Russian. The urination problem is, i think is basically "socialization", because between yesterday n today i've noticed tremendeous improvement, after applying suggestion from this forum. My expirience: i've kept GSD's for years now and i know a lot abov them, but in/with a worldwide forum like this, i assume, i'm still learning. The issue here is that, though her legs are "coordinated in movement" but yiewing the rear, they somewhat appear as if her both "hocks" are nearly touching each other, giving a "k" legged appearance (rear view). I may send photo days later.

Thanx a million times Hodie. I live in Nigeria. The said gsd is almost 6 months old now and was bought from Russia(don't want to mention kennel name).Sire is in the "database", with a good bloodline, but i've only seen the dam's name without pictures in the breeder's site. I hauen't ask the breeder because i can't write/ understand Russian. The urination problem is, i think is basically "socialization", because between yesterday n today i've noticed tremendeous improvement, after applying suggestion from this forum. My expirience: i've kept GSD's for years now and i know a lot abov them, but in/with a worldwide forum like this, i assume, i'm still learning. The issue here is that, though her legs are "coordinated in movement" but yiewing the rear, they somewhat appear as if her both "hocks" are nearly touching each other, giving a "k" legged appearance (rear view). I may send photo days later.

Thanx a million times Hodie. I live in Nigeria. The said gsd is almost 6 months old now and was bought from Russia(don't want to mention kennel name).Sire is in the "database", with a good bloodline, but i've only seen the dam's name without pictures in the breeder's site. I hauen't ask the breeder because i can't write/ understand Russian. The urination problem is, i think is basically "socialization", because between yesterday n today i've noticed tremendeous improvement, after applying suggestion from this forum. My expirience: i've kept GSD's for years now and i know a lot abov them, but in/with a worldwide forum like this, i assume, i'm still learning. The issue here is that, though her legs are "coordinated in movement" but yiewing the rear, they somewhat appear as if her both "hocks" are nearly touching each other, giving a "k" legged appearance (rear view). I may send photo days later.

 Niger,

Thank you for the information. I took a year of Russian, but no, I could not communicate with a Russian breeder either LOL.

In any case, I am happy to hear that she is doing better about the urination problem. You must be a little patient on this issue and do everything possible to make her comfortable and understand that leashes or reaching for her etc., are not going to be harmful. Was she always a bit afraid from the time you imported her? Of course, one would hope the breeder did some work to socialize a pup, but even shipping a pup from Russia to Nigeria might cause some issues as I think that would be a very long trip. So keep working with her and be patient and loving to her.

If she is only 6 months old, it is possible that she may grow up and her hips will be a bit wider and the cow-hock will not be there, or less so. However, if they are really almost touching, I think it is likely that she will always have cow-hocks. The question will be just how much is there. It is a fault, for certain, but it depends on how bad it is. And one must also consider the other positive aspects of the dog when considering breeding.

In any case, if you can post a photo, we can give you opinions, but you should also remember that opinions are just opinions. You must actually watch her grow up to see what happens. 

Good luck with her.

Cow hocks in young GSDs are greatly improved with exercise (contelled however) in upward "soft" streets. I have seen great improvement in every dog i tried it.

Petros, what do u mean by 'contelled(do u mean controlled) however'...AND... 'upward "soft" street'? Please i need a detailed explanation as i'll definately try it. Thanx