Dear All,
I wrote several weeks ago regarding an issue with a new puppy with a heart murmr and being unable to get a refund from the breeder. Well, I still don't have a refund but I think things will work out.

Anyway, my question is whether or not to purchase a two year adult female who's hips are graded as 'OFA mild'. I would be purchasing her strictly as a pet and would have her spayed. She is of average weight and build and has no symptoms of degenerative disease. In every other way she is the perfect dog. If you were in my situation would you purchase this dog or would you be concerned that she might develop the disease in her later years?

Thanks,
Martha

P.S. I forgot to mention the x-rays show no arthritic changes. Also, this dog is from a different breeder than the puppy.

Martha

Martha,
I would not have a problem at all with that kind of situation if you can do a few things as her owner.
Be sure she stays lean...being overweight can really cause big problems.
Keep her active and muscles built up. If you have way to let her swim some that is great.
Watch her diet (what you feed) and consider some of the supplements made for joints.

If you can do these things you should do great. There are a lot of breeders that use a OFA "fair" dog for breeding and have great results. I had a GSD for more than 8 years with bad hips and he had no problems except for some very mild ones...I could not keep him in a sit/stay...he would slowly slide to the ground...I used to fuss until it dawned on me he was not disobeying...he just couldn't stay like that for more than 30-45 seconds without becoming uncomfortable. Also take into consideration the fact that it could have been the positioning of the dog during the x-ray and if she was sedated or not.

All other things being equal I would not have a problem...hope this helps.

Dear Jerri and Everyone,

Thank-you so much for your advice.

We brought Star home last night and are enjoying every minute of having her with us.
She is great with the kids. She and my parent's one-eyed pekingese, Eddie, are great buds already.
The breeder I got her from was starting to train her as a therapy dog. I hope to keep this up. Also, I'd like to try and train her to alert me when my son's blood sugar is too low. He's got type 1 diabetes. I've read a little about this area of service work. Apparently, about 1/3 of people with diabetes who have dogs report that their dogs alert them when their blood sugar is low. This is especially helpful at night as without a blood sugar correction (a small amount of simple carbohydrates) the person with diabetes can have a seizure and in rare cases die. From what little I've read no one has been able to specifically train a dog to perform this alert function.

Thank-you all again for your advice. If anybody knows about service dogs for people with diabetes I'd love to learn more.

Martha Kesting

Martha,
Sounds like you did good for your family.It appears that Star has a nice calm temperment with kids and dogs.This web site is from Dr. p's.It may help .http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/assist.htm#aseiz

Milt

Could I just add a little to this,in regard to hip problems,some years ago I had a GSD with serious problems and was told by the vet that he would be gone by three years old.
I met a farmer who said give him a daily dose of Cod Liver Oil and whilst I considered this an old wives remedy,in desperation I tried it and after a few weeks the dogs condition improved considerably and he lived to thirteen with very slight ongoing hip problems.
Anything is worth a try and in this case it worked.

Paul, very interesting. How much cod liver oil did you give and how was it administered? Is the dosage given by weight? Anyone else have any experience with this? Did this also help the dogs coat?

 Quote:

Originally posted by Pets4me:
Martha,

Be sure she stays lean...being overweight can really cause big problems.
Keep her active and muscles built up. If you have way to let her swim some that is great.
Watch her diet (what you feed) and consider some of the supplements made for joints.

There are a lot of breeders that use a OFA "fair" dog for breeding and have great results.

good advice, I too have seen dogs that had mild HD that were kept active by their owners and lived long happy lives. As for the breeders using "fair" hips, the dam of two of our bitches has fair hips (as did the sire) but she produces better hips than the has herself. With different studs, she actually improved the quality of the hips, most of her pups getting rated as "excellent."

Mike

Originally posted by Glenn:
Paul, very interesting. How much cod liver oil did you give and how was it administered? Is the dosage given by weight? Anyone else have any experience with this? Did this also help the dogs coat?

You need to be careful with cod liver oil, which is very rich in vitamin A and can be toxic if overdosed. If used, make sure your dog is not already getting vitamin A supplementation from another source.

Glenn,I was giving one teaspoon a day with his food,and the last message re vitamin A is something to consider.
Paul