gsd_glenwood

Hi there, I am sorry you have these worries regarding your puppy.

I have a 100% working line GSD from a great breeder who does all possible health checks before her breedings. Unfortunately at 10 months of age my Cooper was diagnosed with severe HD. I had three specialists (including one who does pennhip scoring) confirm this. He had his first Total Hip Replacement done and then 5 weeks ago he had his other hip done. It is an awful shock and very expensive.

I would recommend you get a specialist opinion as some vets really have no idea of correct positioning. If you have other questions, you are welcome to PM me and I will try to help.

This xray is straight after his second THR

Hi Bianca,

quick followup - Cain(my fur baby) andI will be meeting with Karen Hedburg to discuss his case end this week. I have his XRAYS on a PDF view disc - but can't seem to load them here to share :-(

Hi there, I am not very experienced in GSD but have been involved with a friend who breeds and shows for about 5 years. I currently have one of her pups at 9 months old now. Now before you do ANYTHING ALWAYS CONTACT THE BREEDER FIRST!!!! This is very important, a GSD doesn't stop growing and maturing until 18 months old. Depending on how your pup has been raised I do not think it would have Hip Displaysia now. Or elbow in that fact, they are unrelated (as in he has HD so it must have bad elbows too) No do not listen to your vet and definitely do NOT do any surgery... It is all $$$$ with many general vets.

As I previously said he is only 5 months old, he is growing and they do go through a lanky stage. Your breeder should have gone through this with you when you bought your pup. GSD are a quick growing dog and do very well with added calcium in their food (cheese, yougurt, sardines)

As others have previously said weight can affect and put pressure on them and can make HD a issue, they are a lean working dog and should not be fat. Their ribs should be felt quite easily, Your puppy should avoid jumping on things because this can help tear their ligaments which will issue with HD.

Everything I have mentioned here is what my BREEDER told me and what I have done with my GSD. I urge you to get in contact with your breeder and take it from there. If that doesn't happen try calling your state german shepherd club and I am 100% they will be able to offer you advice and help :-)

You should post some photos of your little man

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Tapatalk

Here he is ... a pic of him at the park today.

Hi there, I am sorry you have these worries regarding your puppy.

I have a 100% working line GSD from a great breeder who does all possible health checks before her breedings. Unfortunately at 10 months of age my Cooper was diagnosed with severe HD. I had three specialists (including one who does pennhip scoring) confirm this. He had his first Total Hip Replacement done and then 5 weeks ago he had his other hip done. It is an awful shock and very expensive.

I would recommend you get a specialist opinion as some vets really have no idea of correct positioning. If you have other questions, you are welcome to PM me and I will try to help.

This xray is straight after his second THR

I asked my vet tonight for a copy of his XRAYS - will share when I get them on a CD next week.

Hi there, I'm sorry you have these concerns

My 100% working line GSD was diagnosed with severe HD at 10 months of age (by three specialists, one who does pennhip scoring). Cooper had his first Total Hip Replacement and then 5 weeks ago today, had his second one. I should add that he is only 2 1/2 years old. I contacted his breeder asap upon learning this and she was beyond wonderful. She does all possible testing and Cooper certainly has never been over weight. He was just really unlucky.

One thing Coopers surgeon mentioned in passing is that if they diagnose around the 6 month mark or earlier than an FHO may be an option (It is half the cost of a THR).

Here are Coopers bionic hips post surgery from 5 weeks ago.

If I can help in any way, please yell out :) ETA: Cooper (now 2/12) is only 34 kgs so he is not a huge dog to start with but I have always kept him very lean and he is entire.

Hi Bianca,

WOW - that is amazing.. Thank you for sharing your story and experience with me. Good to hear your positive outcome and helpfulness of your dogs breeder.

Your pups playmate isn't "Vinnie" is it? :)

Lol.. Yes indeed.. he is.

I don't know anything about GSD's however I would recommend a second opinion - even better if someone can recommend one who has a good knowledge of your breed.

I am also assuming parents were hip and elbow scored? Not that that is a totally guarentee of no issues of course :)

Hi!

yes we were told the parents were hip and elbow scored and were fine. Maybe they are - I never asked to see proof to that effect... I have now - retrieved his papers, looked up his lineage in the Canine Council registry; I checked the sire - and he came from 0:0 scored stock on the GSD kennel council; however the female bloodline had a 4:2 rating whatever that means.

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Thanks for the time to give me a detailed reply.. Hopefully my replies are posted properly (new to forums in general).. Actually thanks to all who responded. He is a very active pup and has an english mastiff cross(7mth old pup) as a playmate. Will get a second opinion - the vet @ Richmond -from someone elses post.. will be my next move .. So far my furbaby has cost me a pretty $$ at the vets the last month with xrays, injections and daily pills.

You are doing very well with your posts. You have a big concern, and are trying to seek best resolution.

Might I ask how often and how long these two puppies play together? Is their play supervised? Two active youngsters might be the key to his presenting with issues.

The other dog is possibly/probably strong enough to knock your puppy around.

Hi!

Good point.. they are with each other most of the time (they share the backyard as their respective owners share a house).. they are also inside alot and are presently side by side on the sofa Zzzzz.( yes the humans here help him up/off the sofa)

Far more experienced people than me will be able to give you some great advice, in the meantime I'd recommend having a read through some of the links here: http://www.gsdcv.org.au/vet_info

Particularly the growth disorders and rate of weight gain downloads. From my understanding a GSD pup can look a bit wobbly when going through certain growth periods, but I would have thought it was a bit early yet for a firm diagnosis. Best of luck to you and your pup!

Hi !

Thanks for your repl and the link for more info. Much appreciated.

one thing i have noticed in recent years, is an increase of many vets and even some so called specialists are very quickly jumping onto the bandwagon of XYZ dog has HD or ED because it is pedigree.

I will certainly not dispute that it COULD be on an increase - especially in breeds with known issues. I have also seen quite a bit of soft tissue injury/strain due to the nature of play/environment (particularly in pups or young dogs) be mis diagnosed as HD or ED. When treated for the soft tissue injury, they have come good. It could be a strain/sprain of soft tissue somewhere caused by a puppy being a puppy.

If you have not done so already - I would get a second opinion from a good vet Chiro, It may still be HD/ED, but if its not, you may save yourself thousands in vet bills and unnecessary surgery if its only soft tissue and not HD/ED.

A couple of operations they can do is to toggle the ball joint to the hip - downside with this op is the toggle can break. The other main option is to remove the femur head altogether and allow the muscle, scar tissue and tendons support the joint.

I have been through the second of the above options as one of my dogs jumped out of my husbands car while it was travelling about 60km/hr and badly dislocated her hip, smashing the bottom of the cup. 6 months after the operation, you would not know to see her that she has no joint on that side. Of course there are restrictions, but overall you could not tell. When we had the operation there was a lab in the surgery (old dog) who had both sides done due to HD. Apart from a waddle, again you could not overally tell it had not hip joints. You do need to keep the muscle tone up and weight off.

Edit: I had one so called specialist here in Brisbane say a nine month BC had OCD of the shoulder. She had an injury to that shoulder by getting her foot caught between at the top of the gate and post on a 3 foot chainwire fence. She had damaged her ligaments in the front of the shoulder. Because she was pedigree and 9 months - this so called specialist claimed OCD and wanted to operate. Despite me telling them about the injury only a month before. Soft tissue injuries take a long time to heal. I saw a second vet/chiro specialist and he showed me on the same xrays taken at the previous specialist, where he had gotten it wrong. I later found out the original specialist was good at pushing the HD/ED/OCD in pedigree dogs... She was treated for the soft tissue injury. She is now 8 years old and going strong, no limp, no surgery, no OCD.

Hi!

Thanks for the time to give me a detailed reply.. Hopefully my replies are posted properly (new to forums in general).. Actually thanks to all who responded. He is a very active pup and has an english mastiff cross(7mth old pup) as a playmate. Will get a second opinion - the vet @ Richmond -from someone elses post.. will be my next move .. So far my furbaby has cost me a pretty $$ at the vets the last month with xrays, injections and daily pills.

Hi !

I am new to forums in general..and posting this as I have found myself suddenly knee deep in vet bills. My family and I purchased a pedigree(Kaisterstern) male pup in March( he was born in January), He is a very affectionate pup and boisterous. We did puppy preschool and in the last couple of months noticed a change in his movement. Initially we thought - his rabbit like movement when we first got him was cute puppy behaviour....

At his desexing our vet did xrays and confirmed hip and elbow dysplasia - more so his right elbow and hip. Anyone else who might have purchased from a litter born January17 this year? ( I did try to contact the breeder and email - no response as yet).

As he is only a puppy - could it be he is just a goofy pup growing up fast? ( he weighs now 24 kgs; fed on Blackhawke, fresh bones)

Thanks for listening!

Sim

You had him desexed before he was mature, your vet xrayed an immature puppy and declared he's got ed and hd, what a shemozzle all round that one is.

Speak to the breeder, which is what you should have done in the first place before you whipped off his nuts and ruined any chance of correct growth and development.

Oh come on... That's far from helpful.

Actually - it was the breeder that recommended the desexing and the vet concurred.

You may wish to contact bianca.a on here, she has been through this with her youngster, I am sure she would be amenable to giving advice :)

Thanks 'Trifecta'..Will do.

Hi !

I am new to forums in general..and posting this as I have found myself suddenly knee deep in vet bills. My family and I purchased a pedigree(Kaisterstern) male pup in March( he was born in January), He is a very affectionate pup and boisterous. We did puppy preschool and in the last couple of months noticed a change in his movement. Initially we thought - his rabbit like movement when we first got him was cute puppy behaviour....

At his desexing our vet did xrays and confirmed hip and elbow dysplasia - more so his right elbow and hip. Anyone else who might have purchased from a litter born January17 this year? ( I did try to contact the breeder and email - no response as yet).

As he is only a puppy - could it be he is just a goofy pup growing up fast? ( he weighs now 24 kgs; fed on Blackhawke, fresh bones)

Thanks for listening!

Sim