Early Spay and Hip Dysplasia - Page 1

I read somewhere that spaying/neutering a puppy early on can increase the incidence of hip dysplasia because of growing pattern changes due to the hormonal change. But I can’t find where I read it now. Does anyone have an article bookmarked somewhere? Do you agree with the idea at all?

There is no such scientific literature which supports this conclusion, and no, I do not at all agree with this idea. If a given dog is going to be dysplastic in the truest sense of the word, it will be born dysplastic. Of course, a variety of other factors like excess weight, injury and possibly improper or too heavy exercise or improper diet can make things much worse, or, in some dogs who were not born dysplastic, lead to arthritic changes.

Hodie, you are absolutely wrong. It is not always that the pup is born dysplastic. I had a female that was hip pre-limed at 15 months old and the vet said the hips were the best he had ever seen. Now, this vet knew how to take an x-ray and was a German Shepherd owner himself. After that I sent the bitch to Germany where she underwent intense training for her Schutzhund 1 title. Just before her trial, they had her x-rayed for the "a"stamp and the outcome was in question. She did pass with Fast Normal. The point is that not all of these dogs are born dysplastic. Diet and exercise has a great deal to do with it. We can't be so rigid as to say that the dog is born with dysplaysia and that is all. We have to be mindful of every environmental thing that contributes to it.

Is this it? http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

Wagonmaster, if your dog passed and received the German "a" stamp, even if it was "fast normal", she was NOT dysplastic. Read my post again. However, other than injury and the other issues I mention above, for example, that actually cause the ball of the hip to not fit appropriately, or to have flattened or develop some other change, dogs are born dysplastic. By the way, intense Schutzhund training does NOT make a dog dysplastic if that is also what you are inferring.

I have a question to Wagonmaster. Did you send the xrays off to OFA or other entity for review? The reason I ask this is that I have never heard of a bitch with say excellent hips re-xray and then have hips come back with a fair rating. And I have had more than my share of bad hips not just with shepherds. Just curious.

Fast normal is NOT the same as Fair under OFA. It means the hips are almost normal and small variations can cause such a rating.

I think the link that odinfan sent may be what is being referred to although if its the article written by Chris Zink, that's not what she says at all.. She is merely making observations about growth plate closure/hormones and the effects of early spay and neuter on those hormones She never says it will cause bad hips.. it is a very good article though...

Learning the facts concerning our dogs should be our number one goal. For any interrested in the best, most proven and tried resource that I am aware of please go to the people that have studied, researched,evaluated, and made a career on Hip Dysplasia . That is the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals. For 40 years and over 1 million dogs later they continue to spend more time doing research and factual information gathering then any organization that I know of. If there is a better resource available please let me know, as I want to know the truth regardless. It's about getting accurate information based on facts. My understanding as of this moment is that Hodie's info is in line with theirs. I am planning on researching this and another issue with them [OFA] and will post it. Again, if someone has better info that is scientifically proven over a long period of research and study than please share it. The truth will set us free.

As fas as I know, the OFA has compiled the most extensive and comprehensive data on HD, the mode of inheritance, and the influence of the environment on its development. Their conclusions seem to agree with what Hodie has already said. Also OFA statistics indicate that the breeds with the least amount of HD have the most individuals rated as "excellent". I don't think the GSD has a very good record overall for OFA excellent ratings. OFA is also stressing the importance of evaluating the hip status of siblings, g-parents, g-g-parents and their sibs. The more you know about your dogs ancestors and the better their hips, the better chance of getting good hips in the present generation. From personal experience with another large breed prone to HD, I have found that to be true. I don't think the SV agrees with OFA in all areas. The SV certifies for breeding dogs with hips that are less than ideal for the breed and age of the dog. An NZ dog is probably a greater breeding risk than another with OFA good or excellent hips and from what I have heard, an OFA fair dog generally has better hips that an NZ. There again, the status of the sibs enters in the equation and the SV uses that information to help determine the ZW rating. I believe that is correct; if not someone will correct me. One day the genes that "cause" HD or the ones that prevent it from developing will be isolated and identified. When that happens we will know which puppies will develope HD and, hopefully, which dogs will produce it. What breeders do with that knowledge will be up to them. So far rationalizing using dogs with less than ideal hips is not working too well, I don't think spinning around DNA results will work any better.