are shoulder problems common in gsds? - Page 1

i took my girl spunky aka zippy vom haus miller to the vet today for her annual exam. i have been running her with my bike since she was a year old. she is now 3 and has been going lame alot lately. i voiced my concerns to the vet and after examining spunky she stated that spunky's right front wrist is swollen and the same shoulder is injured. she says that there is a hereditary problem in gsds of insufficient cartilage in the shoulder. she says it is either that or could be a bone chip. i never heard of a shoulder problem in gsds before. i was really surprised to hear this. is this a common problem? just wondering, thanx.

I have not found the GSD to be prone to shoulder problems nor have I heard of it being a problem from others. Elbows and hips, yes. Often times vets are not the best source of breed specific info.

Best,
Rik

I've never heard of or experienced any tendency for shoulder problems.  On a side note...Zippy's got a very nice pedigree!

Elbow problems, on the other hand, are fairly common. Are you sure it's the shoulder joint?

vet said it must be shoulder after she was moving the leg around and prodding her shoulder. spunky winced and moved away from her while she was doing that. i was wondering if it was just maybe her elbow. i've been running her alot with the bike and this problem first started after a trip quite a few months ago when we were going downhill really fast. i had both dogs off leash while i flew down a bridge but they ran to catch up to me. vet wants to do x-rays to find out for sure but i think i will just give her some glucosamine and aspirin as she suggested.
Keith, thanx for your side note on her pedigree. she was $1,500 and she is a sweetheart of a gsd lapdog. she is very friendly and loveable. i figured for that price i should get a really healthy running dog. the vet was suggesting her lameness was due to some hereditary thing but i've been wondering if it was just from working too much. spunk has alot of heart. she will run and run, give and give, when she really wants to rest. fluffy my poodle will stop pulling and just loaf along when she gets tired but spunky will throw herself into the harness and give 110%.
i have suspended further bike trips on a near-permanent hiatus. the vet said spunky's hard-running days are over. fluffy was along on all trips and has rarely had problems. last time we came home with spunky limping, fluffy was still bouncing off the walls. $300 pet poodle. i am kind of disappointed in spunky going down so fast but i guess it was my fault for letting her work so hard. i wrecked my poor dog. thanks all for your replies.

I'm sorry your dog is hurt.   Maybe what  your vet is talking about is Osteochondritis Dissecans of the shoulder, it is seen in many breeds including Poodles and GSDs.   You do need an xray to diagnose though.  Unfortunately the price you pay for a dog is no indication of the quality of the dog or the quality of the breeder, bad breeders are free to charge the same amount as good breeders.

Here is a link:    http://www.gsdworld.net/invboard/index.php?showtopic=18737

Scroll down to OSTEOCHONDRITIS DISSECANS OF THE SHOULDER

OCD of the shoulder is not known to be genetic.