Appa Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Hi all, i have a 4 mnth old jack russell which ive only had for about a month and i notice his 2 front feet are angled outwards on a 45 degree angle which makes him look abnormal in certain stances. Is this normal or will they straighten up? He walks and runs fine but it just looks so weird. Ill try and get a pic uploaded shortly of the problem but if anyone has seen this please let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Mal Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I do know of a few JR's that look like that, and they seem perfectly normal. Not sure if it's normal for the breed, but sounds ok if he's athletically fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my_sibe_owns_me Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 (edited) He sounds okay. In the show world it would be called a bad front. Our saluki has an AWFUL front. His feet go outward too.... It MAY change by the time he's two when his chest drops (The chest will push out the elbows and the front feet will become straight.) But I doubt its somthing that you need to stress over seeing that is movement is just fine. Edited August 11, 2006 by my_sibe_owns_me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 MMMM Not necessarily a "bad front" Does he look like he is standing on his toes or kind of back on his "wrists"?\ Is it just his feet or is it also a bit like he's got bowed legs as well ? Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appa Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Thanks for all your replies and ive actually got a pic of the problem for you all to see and hopefully this is still normall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Looks to me like you can have a fair shot at correcting this via diet. Do you mind me asking what you are feeding? Do you have a photo of him standing rather than sitting ? Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appa Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Im feeding him Advance puppy food (dry) and i add 1/2 ecopet minced lamb and vegetables. I'll try and get a snap of him standing up asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaywoman68 Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Orson's feet are similar to your JRT's. I didn't notice it until the groomer mentioned it I took him to the vet's and was told it's no big concern as long as he's not in pain. He's still happy jumping up and down so I've left it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Steve, why can you correct that through diet, and can you only correct it at a young age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaves Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 My jrt stands similar to that. Not quite so far out. We have had jrts all my life and they have all stood like that to a degree. I haven't got a pic here to show you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Hi Appa, I would say that his front is pretty much as good as it will get. Having said that, being down at pastern can be diet related. The cabriole legs are in a major part genetic, but can straighten slightly with growth and development. Over nutrition can also cause problems in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelsun Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Looks like a lot of JRT legs that I've seen..more on the short leg variety....similar to most of the shihtzu legs I've seen too. The wonderful "Easty/westy" front...not a big deal as long as the joints work. Watch your protein levels in your food...try not to go over 22%..not easy....Giant breeds run into deformation issues mostly...not as common with smaller breeds, but knuckling over (where the leg appears to bend the wrong way at the knee) can be common in some lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weisnjac Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) East/West feet in JRT's is quite common. The standard calls for straight but if your not showing I wouldn't worry. My Grandad has a JRT called Spotty, he was the most active little dog when he was younger, great hunter and companion yet he has the worst front you have ever seen. He is coming up 15yrs and it has never slowed him down. I don't believe a change of diet can help, but I have only been showing/breeding JRT's for 4 yrs so I may well be wrong. All that said, he is a beautiful dog and I wish you all the best with him! Edited August 14, 2006 by weisnjac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangerineDream Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Are you supplementing his diet with any calcium? Looks like calcium might help strighten things up a bit because he'd be growing pretty quickly atm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Its possible that its something he was born with but from what I can see in the photos I dont think so. You're feeding advance puppy which is listed as a complete food with a balance of minerals and adding the other food may be setting up a situation where you are putting in something [ such as phosphorous] and not enough calcium, magnesium and zinc.Some vitamins are needed as well to help this whole process and these can be depleted by processing and storage of the foods. Phosphorous which is found in meat needs these other minerals and some vitamins to assimilate properly and if you feed too much of one and consistently not enough of the other the body will actually leach these nutrients out of the bones and other parts of the body .What is showing in this photo is possibly able to be helped [ no guarantee] by just watching you dont feed meat without the bone .That is soft bones like chicken wings , lamb flaps etc .Also sounds silly but make sure he gets at least 15 mins of unfiltered sunlight each day. You'd be surprised how many inside dogs dont get this . So you can try adding a childrens multi vitamin and mineral tab ,cutting out the other food with the advance and give him one or two raw chicken wings each day . I suggest you try giving him 2 chicken wings for one meal and the advance for the other .Id prefer it if you didnt feed commercial at all but thats another story.Dont leave food out for him either .Whats not eaten in say 15 mins take it away. Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appa Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) Wow i obviously found the right webpage here with so many friendly and helpfull people, many thanks to all who have responded and to your suggestions. I got another photo of him standing just to make the problem clear to everyone but i'll prob start with taking Julie's (Steve) advice as it sounds easy enough to do and makes sense with vitamin supplements. Can i just ask would brisket bones also help and can calcium powder be mixed direct into his food, would that help? Edited August 14, 2006 by Appa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Brisket bones are O.K. But chicken wings are best .Dont give him any extra calcium as too much calcium can cause a problem as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancyk Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Steve's advice is very good and certainly worth a try. One way to check if it is diet is to put your hand around his jaw and gently raise his front from the ground. If the legs hang straight it is definitely a diet problem. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ah Ngau Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 Sorry Appa, I can't help but to hijack this thread a bit, 'cos my 12 week puppy is having the same problem. His front legs were straight at 8-week old when I brought him home. After vaccination, I started letting him out to play with other dogs on a grass pitch. It may be incidental, but I notice his legs start angling outwards. Did your dog start having this problem when he began to exercise a lot? ....Id prefer it if you didnt feed commercial at all but thats another story...Julie Hi Julie, my dog is on home prepared meal (mainly chicken carcass, fish, beef, pork, vegies and rice). I am limiting his weight gain to about 1.5lb per week to prevent possible hip problem, so he is a very skinny dog. Any advise on the diet for fast growing puppy (oh, he's a golden retriever). The only supplement is fish oil (1000mg/day) and Vit C (25 - 50mg/day). Sorry to hijack this thread again. Cheers, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarpeak Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Have to agree completely with Nancy and Steve/Julie. Our youngest pup had a quite a noticeable east/west front at 8 weeks old when we first picked her up. We immediately cut down on the protein level in her diet and she is straight as a die now. It only took a couple of weeks too. We did know it was from over nutrition - when held suspended her front was perfect, it was only east west when weight bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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