Hip dysplasia in dogs
The Hip dysplasia is a painful hereditary or caused healt problem when the ball of the femur does not fit fully into the hip joint. Which sometimes is unseen but sometimes cause limping until the dog will not move any more.
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When I see a puppy which is overweight I am thinking about dysplasia, arthritis, pain and OCD. When the owner sees the same puppy she sees a cute, little, roly puppy. The owner is happy if her dog is happy and eating a lot, especially if he is a beginner. Hee just does not see what painful things will he cause in the future. A puppy needs life stage nutrition especially a large breed, fast growing, heavy puppy. Choosing a rapid grow breed we open the door for making huge mistakes. An average Landseer from 600 gram birth weight grow to 50-55 kg during 10 month. While a medium breed Lagotto Romagnolo and Yakutian laika will be from 200-400 gram – 15-20 kg during first year.
Large breed puppies like Landseer:
- Grow faster.
- Remain puppies longer.
- Grow slower.
- Will be adult faster.
Hereditary Hip Dysplasia
Hip dysplasia can be found in dogs, cats, and humans. It is one of the most common skeletal diseases seen in dogs. Gender does not seem to be a factor, but some breeds are more likely to have the genetic predisposition for hip dysplasia than other breeds. Often large breed dogs are more affected with hip dysplasia than smaller breeds because of the fast growing, not proper care, movement and feeding. Although genetic has also important role in developing it. This disease can occur in medium-sized breeds and rarely in small breeds. The genes involved in hip dysplasia have not been conclusively identified, but it is believed to involve more than one gene. Researchers agree that hip dysplasia is a genetic disease.
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If a parent has hip dysplasia, then the animal’s offspring are at greater risk for developing hip dysplasia. If there are no carriers of hip dysplasia in a dog’s lineage, then it is highly unlikely he will not contract the disease. If there are genetic carriers, then he may contract the disease. We can greatly reduce the incidence of hip dysplasia through selective breeding. Often there is chance to know that it is hereditary or made health problem with observing the circumstances.
Our philosophy in kennel Bellissimag GlemBell is to breed only healthy, and health tested dogs which parents are also healthy. We want to breed only HD A and B dogs from our females and choose always only HD A males. We cannot, completely reproduce the disease through selective breeding. Two dog with dysplasia can make better puppy than themselves, but it is clear that their grandchildren will have worst dysplasia then the two main dog. Also two healthy dog can make sick puppies.
Our philosophy in kennel Bellissimag GlemBell is to breed only healthy, and health tested dogs which parents are also healthy. We want to breed only HD A and B dogs from our females and choose always only HD A males. We cannot, completely reproduce the disease through selective breeding. Two dog with dysplasia can make better puppy than themselves, but it is clear that their grandchildren will have worst dysplasia then the two main dog. Also two healthy dog can make sick puppies.
Nutritional Hip Dysplasia
Nutrition has very big affect on a developing healthy bone and joint in a dog. The amount of calories a dog consumes has the biggest impact on whether or not a dog genetically prone to hip dysplasia will develop the disease. It has been shown that obesity can increase the severity of the disease. Carrying around extra weight will exacerbate the degeneration of the joints in a dog; including the hip. Dogs that may have been born genetically prone to hip dysplasia and are overweight are therefore at a much higher risk. Another factor that may increase the incidence of hip dysplasia is rapid growth in puppies during the ages from three to seven months. Feeding a diet that has too much or too little calcium or other minerals can also have a detrimental effect on the development of the hip joint. Now let’s see all alone:
Protein in food:
There is big debate between people who think food high in protein is harmful and between people who think it does not cause any trouble. The truth is that in some point both is right.
No evidence exists to link high protein intake to skeletal disease in large breed dogs.The protein is carbohydrate, which means it does not have any vitamins and minerals inside it. It is source of energy and is stored in body as fat. Feeding with food high in protein does not cause any problem, if we feed the right amount. Feeding too much protein will cause overweight and therefore the dog will grow faster. Fast growing will cause bone deformation, because it will not get the right amount of minerals, and also need to grow very fast. Not fast growing is the only one problem in this but the plus body weight. It will put extra weight on the developing joints and bones, causing deformation. A young puppy does not have enough muscle to keep this huge body on the legs and therefore the joint will be heavily loaded.You need to give only the right amount of dry dog food based on the food label, important to know that every food, meat, cheese, treat and salami you give him is a plus protein for the puppy. You cannot imagine how a small piece of plus protein can cause huge problems if you are not counting it down from the daily food amount. Our recommendation:
Calcium:
Studies showed that feeding to much or not enough calcium will cause same big risk as overfeeding in a developing puppy. It is very increasing the risk of skeletal diseases in large breed puppies. The digestive system of a puppy from birth to 6 month is very different from an adult. A puppy cannot regulate how much calcium his bone and body needs and also how much calcium is absorbed from the intestinal tracts.
Calcium to 6 month of age will be all absorbed will go all to the bones, which will cause excess in bones and body. However feeding not enough calcium will cause skeletal problems too while it does not get as many as it needs to a proper growing. While the heart is working with calcium too, it will have bigger priority to get the calcium and after this only the bones.
Lack of vitamin D (from food and sun) will cause also big problem in absorbing of calcium. Without this vitamin the calcium will not get into the body and into the bones, so maybe you feed the right amount of calcium but the body doesn’t have enough D vitamins so it will be useless.
it is very important to check the amount of calcium that is safe for large breed dogs. Unfortunately there is no general agreement among the experts but there is recommendation in dry food:
Calcium: 1.2 to 1.8%
Phosphorus: 1.0 to 1.6%
Our recommendation:
Phosphorus:
When calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D aren’t in the appropriate concentrations in the diet, this is also a risk factor for skeletal disorders. Studies showed that not only calcium but phosphorus level is also very important in developing a healthy dog. Everything which is animal origin contains phosphorus except the bones. So feeding only with meat without any bone and also feeding with dry food and adding meat (treats, cheese and others) will increase the risk of getting bone disorder. Studies showed that phosphorus excess and calcium deficiency are mostly in puppies which are raw feed. Also the calcium: phosphorus ratio is very important. There need to be always a more calcium in the food than phosphorus.
Other Vitamins:
D vitamin is very important for calcium to absorb in the bowel and go into bones. Make sure your puppy takes enough time on sunshine and/or give him Cod Liver Oil (which have only D vitamin) to the food - With vet or breeder reccomendation! D vitamin is hard to excess.
Zinc is also very important in a growing puppy, its role is in connective tissue metabolism and in skeletal grow. There are some breeds which have hereditary disorder that they cannot metabolize the zinc.
Protein in food:
There is big debate between people who think food high in protein is harmful and between people who think it does not cause any trouble. The truth is that in some point both is right.
No evidence exists to link high protein intake to skeletal disease in large breed dogs.The protein is carbohydrate, which means it does not have any vitamins and minerals inside it. It is source of energy and is stored in body as fat. Feeding with food high in protein does not cause any problem, if we feed the right amount. Feeding too much protein will cause overweight and therefore the dog will grow faster. Fast growing will cause bone deformation, because it will not get the right amount of minerals, and also need to grow very fast. Not fast growing is the only one problem in this but the plus body weight. It will put extra weight on the developing joints and bones, causing deformation. A young puppy does not have enough muscle to keep this huge body on the legs and therefore the joint will be heavily loaded.You need to give only the right amount of dry dog food based on the food label, important to know that every food, meat, cheese, treat and salami you give him is a plus protein for the puppy. You cannot imagine how a small piece of plus protein can cause huge problems if you are not counting it down from the daily food amount. Our recommendation:
- Feed your dog in high-protein food if you are able to restrain yourself of giving more food and traits than the normal daily amount.
- If you are not able to keep your dog only in dry food and you want to give him treats than use low-protein food, if the dog is not overweight.
- You need to check regularly your dogs’ weight. Even small plus body size will cause deformation in a healthy puppy.
- If you want to use high protein food and the breeder feed with few protein food than do not switch immediately to high protein. Use for 1-2 month a food which is between the two amounts!
- Both low and high protein is healthy if the dog is not overweight.
- Choose high quality premium food with meat as main ingredient and not grain or corn!
- Avoid fast growing, if you think your dog is growing too fast change to a low protein food.
- Always use Glucosamine and Chondoritin tablets as joint support.
- Our recommendation is to use food with protein content from 23% to 31% and puppy needs to be lean.
Calcium:
Studies showed that feeding to much or not enough calcium will cause same big risk as overfeeding in a developing puppy. It is very increasing the risk of skeletal diseases in large breed puppies. The digestive system of a puppy from birth to 6 month is very different from an adult. A puppy cannot regulate how much calcium his bone and body needs and also how much calcium is absorbed from the intestinal tracts.
Calcium to 6 month of age will be all absorbed will go all to the bones, which will cause excess in bones and body. However feeding not enough calcium will cause skeletal problems too while it does not get as many as it needs to a proper growing. While the heart is working with calcium too, it will have bigger priority to get the calcium and after this only the bones.
Lack of vitamin D (from food and sun) will cause also big problem in absorbing of calcium. Without this vitamin the calcium will not get into the body and into the bones, so maybe you feed the right amount of calcium but the body doesn’t have enough D vitamins so it will be useless.
it is very important to check the amount of calcium that is safe for large breed dogs. Unfortunately there is no general agreement among the experts but there is recommendation in dry food:
Calcium: 1.2 to 1.8%
Phosphorus: 1.0 to 1.6%
Our recommendation:
- Do not use calcium/phosphorus tablets until 7 month of age.
- Do not give bone to your dog if he is eating dry dog food.
- Do not use any supplement. Especially with calcium! Only clear glucozamine and chondoritin
- Feed only the recommended amount of food and nothing else, nothing more.
- At age of 4 month and 6 month do a laboratory blood test with your veterinarian to check the blood calcium/phosphorus level and if something wrong you can improve it.
- Use the Calcium Content Analyzer to make sure the amount in the dog food is right!
Phosphorus:
When calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D aren’t in the appropriate concentrations in the diet, this is also a risk factor for skeletal disorders. Studies showed that not only calcium but phosphorus level is also very important in developing a healthy dog. Everything which is animal origin contains phosphorus except the bones. So feeding only with meat without any bone and also feeding with dry food and adding meat (treats, cheese and others) will increase the risk of getting bone disorder. Studies showed that phosphorus excess and calcium deficiency are mostly in puppies which are raw feed. Also the calcium: phosphorus ratio is very important. There need to be always a more calcium in the food than phosphorus.
Other Vitamins:
D vitamin is very important for calcium to absorb in the bowel and go into bones. Make sure your puppy takes enough time on sunshine and/or give him Cod Liver Oil (which have only D vitamin) to the food - With vet or breeder reccomendation! D vitamin is hard to excess.
Zinc is also very important in a growing puppy, its role is in connective tissue metabolism and in skeletal grow. There are some breeds which have hereditary disorder that they cannot metabolize the zinc.
Hip Dysplasia because of exercise, trauma
Exercise is another risk of developing dysplasia in breeds which are capable for this disease. It is very important to schedule how much your dog and white type of exercise he doing. Most important of course is to not over-exercise. However dogs with muscle mass are less likely to get any type of joint disease than ones without any muscle. So exercise in some point is very important. What type of sport and exercise is good or bad? Let’s see:
Swimming:
Pros:
Pros:
5 month old – 25 min max
6 month old – 30 min max
7 month old – 35 min max
8 month old – 40 min max
Running:
Pros:
Any form of agility even 1-2 times is totally prohibited until 1 year of age!
Our recommendation of activities to gain muscle and avoid hip problems:
Trauma:
Trauma means that the puppy jumps down from high place, fall down, walking on stairs, using tile or other slippery floor, jumping up and down to bed and others. Now imagine your little 1 year old baby human doing the same thing! Jumping down from a bed for a puppy would look like if your baby would jump down from the next floor!
Letting dog doing things like this will totally destroy its developing bones and joints and cause huge disorders!
Do not let your dog doing any stupid thing! Teach him, he is smart! Ask your breeder about everything, stairs, tiles in your house... .
Swimming:
Pros:
- Building muscle without strain the joints and bones.
- Best way to build muscle and avoid Hip dysplasia.
- 1 minute swimming is = 1,6 km walk.
- You need to teach the dog swimming.
- Standing and sitting in water is not helping, the dog need to swim.
- Swimming needed every day from 16 weeks until 6 month of age.
- Possible getting something bacterial infection from water especially females after heat.
In cold weather you cannot swim.
Pros:
- Walking on soft surface like grass is developing the muscles.
- It is good form of exercise.
- It helps to socialize a young dog.
- Walking too much will strain the joints.
- Walking on hard ground like concrete, stone and others will strain the joints.
- The puppy can’t control how much walking is good for him.
- Not properly vaccinated dog can get anything outside.
- Walking can’t be done in hot weather.
- When walking follow the 5 minute role. That mean a puppy should start walking from 4 month of life and daily 20 minute max.
5 month old – 25 min max
6 month old – 30 min max
7 month old – 35 min max
8 month old – 40 min max
- Do not force walk, let him relax.
- Do not walk on hard ground. Only on soft.
- Do not let your dog jump and run.
Running:
Pros:
- Good form of exercise.
- Very helps developing the muscles.
- One of the fastest ways of making skeletal disorder.
- Not good for a developing puppy.
- Do not run with your puppy until 1 years of age. Running will destroy the bones and joints very fast and cause disorders.
- If you want to train running for dog show than run only 5 minute/day.
- Do not run with your dog on hard ground, only soft like grass.
- Better avoid any type of running until the dog is fully developed.
Any form of agility even 1-2 times is totally prohibited until 1 year of age!
Our recommendation of activities to gain muscle and avoid hip problems:
- Start swimming as soon as possible.
- If your dog doesn’t want to swim go to a swimming teacher with him.
- You can also go yourself into the water and bring the puppy inside with you.
- Teach the swimming at home in a full water tub.
- Go weekly 3 times to swim until 6 month of age (if your puppy is at summer).
- Go weekly 1 time to a special teacher if your dog was born in winter.
- After 6 month of age swim weekly 1 time is much recommended.
- Teach your dog to swim; sitting near the water or standing in it won’t help develop muscles!
- Walking only for socialization according to the 5 minute rule! Try to walk mostly on grass.
- Do not run with her, pick on touristic and force to hike before age of 8 month old YL and LR and 1 years old Large breed.
Trauma:
Trauma means that the puppy jumps down from high place, fall down, walking on stairs, using tile or other slippery floor, jumping up and down to bed and others. Now imagine your little 1 year old baby human doing the same thing! Jumping down from a bed for a puppy would look like if your baby would jump down from the next floor!
Letting dog doing things like this will totally destroy its developing bones and joints and cause huge disorders!
Do not let your dog doing any stupid thing! Teach him, he is smart! Ask your breeder about everything, stairs, tiles in your house... .
Different method of Hip Dysplasia scoring
Around the world there is different method of hip testing and different dysplasia scores. Some country of Europe used different methods in past. Nowadays they using FCI method for it. FCI, OFA, Pennhip.. More info later here…
Early sings
A
puppy until age of picking up (8week – 4 month) does not have properly
developed joints, bones and ligament. However that doesn’t mean that it
is not important in proper growing! To be sure your dog will be healthy
(if it is not genetic) we can make sure some things to control before we
picking up the puppy. The role of breeder is very important in first
months of life, more than you think! Even small faults can make huge
mistake and cause deformations which you will not see only later at 6-8
months of age.
How to be sure the puppies are growing well at the breeder? The first we can control is the place where the puppies will grow up. Learning walk on ground where there is no soft towel or rug will make bone disorder. On surface where they leg are just sliding on ground will harm the developing joints (Example: wood, tile, linoleum). |
Always check that the puppies are moving enough to built muscles, or
they are just sleeping and eating all day. Moving to build muscle is
very important so not the joint will be under load but the muscles.
Be careful to buy very fat puppy, puppies should be lean to avoid fast growing and big body size on the developing joints. Puppy should be not overweight and overfed.
Do not buy a dog which cannot walk normally at breeder in young age and which is laying always in frog pose. In this position the hip will deform and the leg bone will not grow to the right place.
Do not buy a puppy which was let to jump down from high places. For a puppy 1 stair is high enough for the growing joint to get trauma.
Do not buy a puppy which was not let to play outside on grass only on stone or any other hard surface. Hard ground will deform the forming bones.
In this age puppies which will be HD D will no show any sign of dysplasia. However a lazy puppy is not good sign. Active puppies probably have better chance to good hips. Puppy which have severe hip dysplasia will not happy to move, will lay all day and they are limping.
Between 4 month and 6 month:
This is the worst age in a growing puppy life. This is the age when he start to grow fast and change tooth. In this age can you make the biggest mistakes to have skeletal disorders. To avoid any problem keep you puppy lean! If there is problem in hips you will recognize it. Most common signs is: laziness, pain, hard to run, hard to stand up, limping on leg. Most often the limping and the bone cracking noise is the biggest sign of hip dysplasia. In case of any problem you should pick your dog to a vet.
After 6 month of age:
The dog is still growing but not as fast as before, so it is important part of dog life too. You should pick to a vet if you think there is problem as soon as possible. The sign are usually same as was wrote down before.
Be careful to buy very fat puppy, puppies should be lean to avoid fast growing and big body size on the developing joints. Puppy should be not overweight and overfed.
Do not buy a dog which cannot walk normally at breeder in young age and which is laying always in frog pose. In this position the hip will deform and the leg bone will not grow to the right place.
Do not buy a puppy which was let to jump down from high places. For a puppy 1 stair is high enough for the growing joint to get trauma.
Do not buy a puppy which was not let to play outside on grass only on stone or any other hard surface. Hard ground will deform the forming bones.
In this age puppies which will be HD D will no show any sign of dysplasia. However a lazy puppy is not good sign. Active puppies probably have better chance to good hips. Puppy which have severe hip dysplasia will not happy to move, will lay all day and they are limping.
Between 4 month and 6 month:
This is the worst age in a growing puppy life. This is the age when he start to grow fast and change tooth. In this age can you make the biggest mistakes to have skeletal disorders. To avoid any problem keep you puppy lean! If there is problem in hips you will recognize it. Most common signs is: laziness, pain, hard to run, hard to stand up, limping on leg. Most often the limping and the bone cracking noise is the biggest sign of hip dysplasia. In case of any problem you should pick your dog to a vet.
After 6 month of age:
The dog is still growing but not as fast as before, so it is important part of dog life too. You should pick to a vet if you think there is problem as soon as possible. The sign are usually same as was wrote down before.
Treatment
There are different methods of treating hip dysplasia. It always depends on the seriousness and the degress of the hip. Most of the methods are a lot of money and needs care and treatment after the operation. If the head of femur is not outside of the hip and does not have deformation, arthosis and anything else than a dog can live as long life as other dogs (with Hip B,C,D). Dog which bone is fully out of the hip or have deformation, arthritis and others is having/will have lot of pain, so he will be not move, just lay all day. This dog needs surgery. The vet will decide which surgery is needed. There is more different types of it.
The 50 year experiment – What scientist say
During ages we totally changed our dog diets as we changed ours. Mostly people want to choose the easiest and more fastest way to feed their dogs. With this we make huge mistakes in our dog health which could be avoid by proper feeding. Before the World War 1 the owners feed their dogs with mostly meat, there was not exist dry dog food. Before 50 year there was no dog recorded with such illnesses as cancer, dysplasia, allergies and many more other. Especially there was no dog recorded with dysplasia before, also it is uncommon between wolfs in the wild. During this 50 year they tested a lot of dogs, different breeds, mostly Newfoundland and Leonbergers as two most affected dog breed but there was Labradors and smaller breeds too. The result was that in 80% the Hip dysplasia is made process and only 20% is with genetic. Also genetic does not cause as bad hips as seen nowadays, but the way the puppy is fed, grow up and live is the main cause of nowadays hip problems.
They say: If it would be genetic, than what is the cause that we can not breed it out as we are deleting hereditary health problems with using only clear parents?
All puppy is born healthy with no sign of hip problems, the way they are feed, cared, grow up is affecting the hip of a newborn puppy. The first very important phase is from born to 4 weeks when the puppy start to learn walking. Slippery surface, not proper ground will cause hip problems as early as 8-16 weeks old. Than the second most important phase is from 8 weeks to 6 month of life when they start to grow very fast. In this time we need to reduce fast growing with proper feeding. When they tested the puppies which was on balanced diet all had healthy hips as adult, but dogs wich was free-fed with not balanced vitamins and mineral and some of them become overweight all had hip issues with as early as 6 month of age and needed total hip replacement.
Unfortunately 2 totally healthy dog can have puppies with bad hips and two sick dog can have healthy puppies too. Mostly it is the way we feed and care them, where they grow up, how much and what they exercise. Be careful with your puppy and ask the help of breeder or us if you have problem! We are happy to help any owner and breed!
They say: If it would be genetic, than what is the cause that we can not breed it out as we are deleting hereditary health problems with using only clear parents?
All puppy is born healthy with no sign of hip problems, the way they are feed, cared, grow up is affecting the hip of a newborn puppy. The first very important phase is from born to 4 weeks when the puppy start to learn walking. Slippery surface, not proper ground will cause hip problems as early as 8-16 weeks old. Than the second most important phase is from 8 weeks to 6 month of life when they start to grow very fast. In this time we need to reduce fast growing with proper feeding. When they tested the puppies which was on balanced diet all had healthy hips as adult, but dogs wich was free-fed with not balanced vitamins and mineral and some of them become overweight all had hip issues with as early as 6 month of age and needed total hip replacement.
Unfortunately 2 totally healthy dog can have puppies with bad hips and two sick dog can have healthy puppies too. Mostly it is the way we feed and care them, where they grow up, how much and what they exercise. Be careful with your puppy and ask the help of breeder or us if you have problem! We are happy to help any owner and breed!
Perfect floor! = Perfect Hips
If you look at a wolf den it is never
flat, it has bumps all over and it is never slippery. They learn to walk
very fast and has strong back legs full with muscle. Puppy cage where
breeder use bumps on floor and bathroom rug or other non-flat surface
will cause very good hips, no ligaments problems, they start to walk
very early in their life and will not sleep and suck in frog position.
Always choose breeder where there is non flat surface in early 5 weeks
and from 6 to 12 weeks never use tile or slippery floor.
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Good floor = Little risk
Not the best option under the puppies but
better than the last one. It is soft and easier to learn walking but
still slippery a little bit because it is flat. Flat surface is not the
best option for puppies but much more better than last. When you check
the difference between this floor and the first floor you will see that
the puppies here start to walk harder and slower. While puppies on first
type of floor start to walk early and fast.
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Bad slippery floor = Bad hips!
In this case the puppies are slipping on floor, they can not walk, only slipping. This is high risk for getting hip dysplasia. When the puppy is slipping its ligament will string out, this will cause loose hips and ligament problems. Also they leg will deform in frog position. Frog pose will deform also not only hips causing the bone grow into bad place, also will deform the bone and cause deformities like patella problems.
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Text is written by Melita Miklušáková, Kennel Bellissima GlemBell – some source is from internet!
Hip dysplasia tested dogs in and from Bellissima GlemBell YL and LR kennel:
HD A
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HD B
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HD C
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HD D or E
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