Happy Bend Kennel

The dreaded Facts of Hip Dysplasia.

On this Page I will lay out several Facts of Hip Dysplasia. Please take the time and read all this and watch all the videos. I will be covering several things, from too fast of Growth in large Breed Puppies, to proper exercise for growing Puppies. This Page contains several Facts that everyone needs to know when purchasing any Large Breed of Dog. This Page contains Experts in the Field of Hip Dysplasia.

First of all Proper Slow Growth is Key to the Skeletal Development of your Puppy. Proper Diet plays a big role too. Please do not over feed your Puppy, in videos on this Page you will see just how Important Slow Growth is in the Prevention of Hip Dysplasia  and Panosteitis (PANO) for Pano the typical symptom is a Sudden, Unexplained, painful lameness of one or more legs. The lameness may be mild or severe. The most common bone that is effected is the humerus, but pano may also be found in the radius and ulna (the foreleg) , the femur (thigh) and or the tibia (lower leg).

Proper Exercise plays a big role in Building Muscle in the Hips of your Puppy. Muscle and Ligaments is what pushes the Femur Head into the Hip Socket. Not enough Muscle and you get Subluxation (loose fitting joint)

 Can you have a Puppy/Dog show signs of Subluxation even with Proper exercise? Yes you can.

 Can Subluxation be from Genetics even if the Parents do not have hip dysplasia? Yes it can.

Young Dogs are more elastic and looser in the hips than a big grown Dog, so proper exercise is vital. Swimming your Puppy/Dog is the very Best way to Muscle up the Hips on your Dog. Running and playing is good too, but not jogging a young growing Puppy/Dog on Hard Surfaces. A growing Puppy needs lots of time out Running/Playing in a Natural way. Any Large Breed Dog say 4 months of age needs 6 to 8 hours a day off leash and playing. Take your Puppy/Dog on Walks, throw a ball or frisbee to encourage running, walk/run up and down hills, run on a Sandy Beach with the Puppy, wadding in water ect..Do not let your growing Puppy run up and down Stairs though, this is not good. No running on hard surfaces or jumping from a SUV or Pickup Truck for and Dog under 18 months old.

Look at how many hours each day a Wolf or Coyote will be out on the hunt for food, at a trot or very fast running after it's Prey. Searching for miles through the lands for Food. A 1 Hour walk 2 x a day is not even nearly enough exercise. Going to a Dog Park for a few hours each week helps, but is not nearly enough. My Dogs here at the Kennel run and play almost 24/7 with me rarely seeing one of them even laying down.

Daily walks and trips to wide open spaces such as large fields, Beaches and the Forest is vital to obtain Proper Muscle Mass in your Dog. 30 to 35% of all Hip Dysplasia is from Genetics and nothing is going to change that. But follow all guidelines on this Page and the odds are better in your favor. We have started even more exercise in our day to day Puppy routine around here, we feel we can do better while they are here in our care by exercising even very young Puppies.

When getting a Dog X-Rayed to evaluate the Hips Proper Positioning is a Must. It can't be close, it has to be Exact and most Veterinarian's are not very good at this. Please watch the Video on Exact Positioning. Read all that Ed Frawley from Leerburg has to say on this matter too. I want you to be very Educated on this.  I have fought the Battle of Improper Positioning for years now.

The Video above is on the Importance of Slow Proper Growth with Dr. Karen Becker

Here's a Article by Lonnie L. Davis DVM on the Importance of Proper Positioning

http://doghipxray.com/OFA_LargeStudy/OFA_PaperLargeStudy.pdf

Now lets go to see what Ed Frawley at www.leerburg.com has to say.

http://leerburg.com/hipart.htm 

Notice how Ed talks about the swimming to tighten up a Loose socket.

The Link below is to the OFA Stats on all Breeds for Hip Dysplasia

https://www.ofa.org/diseases/breed-statistics#detail 

Normally when a Dog is Diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia it's the left side, why is it the left side most of the time? The Left side normally has less Muscle, therefor a Subluxation Socket, which then leads to Cartilage being destroyed, which in turn leads to bone spurs growing in to compensate for no cartilage.

As you can see lots of things come into play when it comes to Hip Dysplasia, yet most Veterinarians will say it's all Genetic. It's a matter of Fact that if one Breeds Dogs and sells Puppies some are going to end up with Hip Dysplasia evan at a very young age.

We have a record of running at 3% Hip Dysplasia from young to older dogs, while that's a very low number it's a number we wish was zero, but zero isn't reality, If you Breed Dogs it's going to happen. Just follow the advice of Slow Growth and Proper Exercise and if your Dog gets a X-Ray to evaluate it's Hips, be sure you get Proper Positioning. Let the Veterinarian understand that you know what Proper Positioning is. The slightest off from perfect Positioning can be the difference in determining Hip Dysplasia or not.

Helpful treatment for Hip Dysplasia is Hydrotherapy, Laser Treatment and the right Supplements. Look into alternative treatments before going to surgery. Surgery can be very expensive and lots of pain for the Dog. But in some cases Surgery is definitely the only option at one point. 

Hips are a very hard thing to guarantee in Dogs, the SV (SV is the same as OFA in the USA) in Germany, has proven that only around 30% of Hip Dysplasia come from Genetics, the rest is from the Dogs Environment, over weight, too fast of growth, kept in a crate for hours each day, running up and down stairs, jumping off high things to a hard surface, jumping out of a vehicle to the ground ect... Once a Puppy is delivered all these things are out of my control, none of my Dogs have Hip Dysplasia, or I would never be breeding them. Ester-C has been proven to help develop proper Hip development.

We are currently running at around a 3% ratio on Hip Dysplasia out of this Kennel. It kills me to have any, but we still have a very small percentage. Look at the Official OFA stats on how common Hip Dysplasia is. 

Vitamin C Prevents Hip Dysplasia Vitamin C deficiencies have recently been linked to hip dysplasia in dogs. A veterinarian did a controlled study to prove this link. Basically, the study went like this: Dysplastic German shepherds were bred together, the mother was given vitamin C throughout her pregnancy and the pups, when born, were also supplemented with vitamin C until the age of two years old. At 2 years old all the pups were checked for hip dysplasia. None were dysplastic!

 http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0039.htm http://www.showdogsupersite.com/hips.html http://www.belfield.com/article5.html http://www.arthrix.com/phil_brown.htm http://www.cyberpet.com/dogs/articles/health/vitc.htm http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/DogsDonLie.htm By Dr. Wendell O. Belfield "Now that CHD is a systemic condition we can get on with the business of saving these canines from this crippling disease. Lets begin eliminating some myths that have prevailed over the past fifty years. Unilateral CHD, does not exist. One normal hip and the other subluxted is not CHD this is simply an injury. Since the experts recognize that all joints can be involved in slow mineralization why the one hip will remain normal. Since collagen synthesis is involved in CHD, another systemic problem, why will one hip and not the other be involved. CHD must be in both hip joints. The next issue, is CHD an inherited disease? I have never been a proponent of this concept. To me, it has always been a biochemical problem. Regardless if CHD is genetic or not, it does have systemic implications which means it can be prevented and controlled; I have had success in this area for more than twenty years". http://www.belfield.com/article9.html http://www.belfield.com/home.html Dogs Don't Lie: Vitamin C is Man's Best Friend by Kevin Kolodziejski http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/DogsDonLie.htm Unilateral hip dysplaysia is always environmental. http://www.showdogsupersite.com/hips.html