I'm new to this board and am hoping someone can help me on a question about HD. I am considering getting an older puppy for a playmate for my meisha. A nearby breeder has a beautiful male puppy with a wonderful temperament available to a pet home. But she said she had the puppy x-rayed at the age of 5 1/2 mths old and he is mildly dysplastic in just one hip but the other hip is fine. She said this would not affect his overall health and that there is the possiblity I could have his hips x-rayed a year from now and find that they come back just fine, considering he was so young when she had him x-rayed. Since she already has his litter brother and his prelim was good she decided to keep his brother and place him. My question, does it make much of a difference that he was x-rayed so young, is there a chance that his hips could come back good if x-rayed at a later date, say about 1 yr old.

meishasmom

Welcome to the board, Meishasmom!

I am by no means an expert, but it's my understanding that it's pretty common for young GSDs to have laxity in the hip joints. My own vet told me that it would be better to wait until my dog was closer to a year old before having his hips x-rayed, because they still have a lot of growing to do when they're that young and it isn't as easy to tell what's going on with the hips. I have heard reports of people who put their young dogs on specific exercise programs (swimming, etc.) when their dog's prelim x-rays came back as mildly dysplastic, and the dog later OFA'd as good. I don't think the hip thing is as cut and dry at such a young age.

If you are seriously considering taking this puppy, I would insist upon having your vet or a vet that you trust examine the x-rays to be certain the problem isn't worse than the breeder is telling you. Better yet, insist that she send them to OFA for a preliminary evaluation. This puppy is very young, and if the breeder is already saying he has a problem with his hips, I absolutely not take her word for it that it's only a slight problem. It may turn out to be nothing to worry about, but on the other hand, it could be much worse than she's telling you.

Good luck!

Hi Melissa, I never thought of the possiblity that it could be worse than what she was telling me. I will ask her for the x-ray to have my vet take a look at it. But if he is mildly dysplastic in just one hip, its nice to know that there is a possiblity of his hips actually being ok. I know from some research that I have done that there is the possiblity of his hip getting worse later. The reason I had written to your web board is because I had talked to another breeder in my area and she said she would not recognize an x-ray of mildly dysplastic hip (one) unless it was moderately or severely dysplastic, especially in a dog so young, she said she would have this pup re x-rayed at 1 yr before saying he is dysplastic. She said she has had hips x-rayed at 6 mths, and had the vets tell her they were mildly dysplastic, and when she rex-rayed at 18 mths they came back as good. It is a little confusing to me, so I am trying to learn as much as I can, before I make the decision to get this boy.Thank you.

meishasmom

Definitely a good idea to get another vet's opinion. Not every breeder is as trustworthy as Ed. I'm thinking along the lines of the other breeder who told you that, if the problem is already noticeable, it may be much worse than the breeder is telling you. There are some really scumbag people out there who will tell you anything.

Proper hip positioning during the x-ray is also very important. If they were positioned incorrectly, the hips can look worse than they are. Ed has a really good article on this called The Art of Reading Hip X-Rays which you may want to check out.

Although I've heard that the hips of very young dogs seem to sometimes improve if put on an exercise program, I'm not sure that is the norm. Generally, the hips of a dog who is dysplastic get worse over time. At least that's how it works if the dog is a little older. If your vet (or OFA) determines that this pup is indeed dysplastic, to any degree, I would reconsider taking the pup. There is a high probability that it will get worse over time. How much time would depend on the degree of the problem. You could be setting yourself up for outrageous vet bills & a lot of heartache. So do yourself a favor, find out exactly what you are dealing with, and make a well thought out decision from there. I'm not trying to sound like a pain in the butt, I just don't want to see you get screwed over.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.