growing pains?? - Page 1

comments are appreciated; 12 month old working male, seems he has some movement problems; runs good, limps occasionally. He is not the picture of strength and powerful motion when he greets somebody, he doesn't "jump"; his hind legs on the ground all the time, and then he kind of "slaps" his front legs on the ground in an awkward kind of way, but it may be difficult to pick up if you don't pay close attention... afraid if this might be a sign of early dysplasia or normal for a dog this age, thank you, kosta

Hi Makgas. Well this is my story so far. When my working line female was 5-7 months old she was diagnosed with panosteitus (Growing disorder) This made her longer bones cause her pain. She was treated with anti inflamortary tablets but these did nothing. Eventually after a while the limping went away. But a couple of weeks ago the same problem accured again. I took her to my vet and asked for X rays to be done. The vet told me that there are still some signs of panosteitus but there could be mild hip dysplasia in there. Anyway she was then treated with Metacam which has now got rid of the problem FOR NOW ???? She is now 13 months old. But there is a possibility that it may come back. However this thing she has had has really put a thorn in our training. She just hasnt had what she needed. Now im very careful with what i do with her. I actually think her working career is over unfortunately. If you wish to know more email me at Lewishartley2@hotmail.co.uk If not i wish you the best of luck

Makgas, I had a lady looking over the fence at my dogs the other day, she pointed at my daughters american showline "pet" and said "OH that dog has displasia I can tell by looking at him" I quickly dismissed her after informing her that if it were as easy as that OFA certainly would not require x-rays they would just hire people like her to determine the fate of all GSD's futures. He moves much like the description you put in your post, He had Pano until he was about 16 months. But he is fine now, and has OFA of good. though it does us no good as we will never breed him we still had x-rays done. I would suggest if you really fear displasia go get prelims taken, X-ray to my knowledge is still the only way to diagnose displasia. Don't listen to someone like the lady that visited our dogs the other day. Anyway best of luck to you and keep us posted.

Thank you Echo; does your dog move well now? why won't you breed him even with ofa good hips? I know the dog is still young (12 months) and i'm only mildly concerned about dysplasia at this point. i will probably prelim his hips for now thanks again, kosta

He still slaps the ground with front feet, :-) He's an AM Showline dog, with one undescended, and a weird temperament, He loves us and tolerates strangers but mildly wants to shy from them despite all of the socialization that he has had, and it's been ALOT !! even if he had both testes we would not breed him based on temperament alone. Yes prelim this pup it's a good idea for you to get some peace of mind, if the displasia is there at least you won't aggrivate it by training and so on. He can be your "pet" or you can place him in an appropriate "pet" home. Best of luck to you, I sure hope all turns out well, You seem really nice and seem to care a great deal about your dog.

Do a search on panosteitis on this messageboard. I posted about it not too long ago. Lower the protein content in your dog's food to 26% or LESS, and you may notice that the dog stops limping. If you are feeding puppy food, STOP and feed an adult food. Good luck!

why do you people ask such unanswerable questions ?? -- alright .. it's ok to share experiences -- but for crying out loud --if you think your dog has a problem ... you shouldn't have even been discussing it on a web site until you have found out exactly what the problem/ailment is diagnostically [ unless you question the diagnostics but then see another -- -- most, not all , but most is irrelevent as such -- have some brains and take your dog to one that is versed/qualified to make the diagnostics , a Vet and then discuss/share your experiences -- what in the world is the matter with many of you .. seeking diagnostic advice from those not qualified , although perhaps experienced in the GSD world , and not being able to see or examine your dog first ahnd -- do any of you have common sense ?? and to think you own a GSD !!

AlphaPUP, Sorry to dissapoint you but I did not "diagnose" anything simply offered up some suggestions which one of them was "take the dog in for pre-lims" How was that a wrong thing to do ? I also offered what we had expeirienced, But made no "diagnosis". I am not that stupid, Thank You anyway. And what did you contribute to this other than call this poor guy stupid for seeking some suggestions, Shame on YOU, isn't this site about others "sharing information" Wow what a dissapointment to read your post. You offered nothing but discontent, and offered no valuable advice at all other than what we had offered as well, which was take the dog to the vet. Why do you gotta be so mean about it ?