What's Good For Growing Joints

[corvus]

How come we are told to limit a pup's jumping around on and off things when presumably wild pups and other predatory youngsters would be leaping on and off things all day long, building their muscles and coordination? How come we aren't told to limit the exercise kids have? Are dog joints different to the joints of other terrestrial mammals?

[Are You Serious Jo]

Wild dogs are not the same as domestic dogs and there are limits to what people are told to allow their kids to do, which is why there are age limits on certain activites. Domestic dogs have been artificially selected to be different from wild canids, therefore, you cannot compare, for example, a great dane or mastiff to a wolf.

[poodlefan]

We've changed the shape and size of a lot of breeds. We feed pups a diet over rich in nutrients and often put far more weight on them than they should carry.

We ask things of pups that they don't naturally do. Keep them from excessive on lead exercise and away of playing with strange adult dogs far larger than they are most breeds do just fine as pups.

If you want to ask unnatural things of kids, you can ruin joints etc - ask any elite level child athlete.

[persephone]

We've changed the shape and size of a lot of breeds. We feed pups a diet over rich in nutrients and often put far more weight on them than they should carry.

*nods*

[Ashanali]

Also in the wild there is a higher mortality rate. A wild dog with bad joints wouldn't last very long.

[corvus]

Has there been any studies done on it? I had a quick look last week and found some heinous thing about running Beagle pups for a month and then killing them and looking at their knees. I found something that suggested running them a lot on concrete or for long periods caused moderately bad stuff, and something else that said there was no difference, but they were only short term studies, and surely not many people are running their dogs for four hours a day? No one seemed to know what happens long-term. Or in real life.

[blacklabrador]

Kids grow comparitively slowly and are pretty uncoordinated and hopeless while they are doing their initial growing. Pups are on their feet in a couple of weeks while kids take many many months.

There are joint problems that kids can develop from growing at rapid rates.

[blacklabrador]

As far as I know the only general limitations given to pups are not to lead walk them. Most breeders would get upset if a large breed dog was allowed to repeatedly jump off something onto hard ground as well (this wouldn't happen in the wild because the terrain is varied). So pups are allowed free running..just like in the wild. Lead walking is not a natural exercise state for a dog.

[oakway]

Dogs in their natural environment do not live long lives.

They also eat a vastly different diet.

Only one pup in a large litter may survive to adult hood.

Nature is a great leveler.

[Poodle wrangler]

I think there's a lack of studies to see exactly what causes problems in dog's joints.

Only reason we know a fair but about human joints is because of elite sport and medical studies.

Joint replacements in people are more common as people live longer and anaesthetic is safer for older people than it was many years ago.

Who would fund dog studies?

Xrays are expensive and don't tell the whole story, so that's probably why dog joints were looked at once dog was dead.

How many breeders can have all of a litter hip/ elbow XRayed at over 12 months old?

Pups are in new homes.

Larger breeds are anaesthetised for hip XRays and what owner would agree to the (small) risk of that in an apparently healthy dog?

In the absence of evidence, I reckon keeping a pup lean and avoiding jarring effects on joints is just a sensible idea.

Have to admit, I was sceptical but decided not to run the risk when our large breed dog was a pup.

Even so, I'm sure most bad joints in dogs are from birth, rather than made that way from the occasional jump on the lounge.