I rescued my pup, now 8 months old, at the age of 10 weeks. She was turned in by her breeder, probably a BYB, to a shelter. I started to foster her but she was such an nice puppy that we all fell in love with her and could not let her go. She has always walked kind of funny but never gave it too much importance since I know/heard that many GSD puppies walk funny as puppies but they grow out of it. She has never complaint about anything. She goes up and down the stairs fine. She runs after my other GSD fine, even though she hardly ever catches up with her, but then again my other GSD is pretty fast. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The only thing is that she never jumps into the back of my SUV, I always have to pick her up. BUT it could be because when she was a little puppy she tried to jump in and fell hard on the ground, she might be traumatized about it??? She wouldn't jump down either but recently has started to. A few weeks ago I took her to her vet, who happens to be an Orthopedic Specialist and after examining her, no x-rays, he said he didn't see any signs of HD. He said her muscles back there are well formed and that indicates that she is using her hips correctly. So that gave me a little piece of mind. BUT just yesterday I noticed she drags her back feet. I watched her again today and some times she does it and some times she doesn't. Could it be because I have hardwood floors and she is just being lazy? I was told that the sooner I have her x-rayed the more options I have for surgery. And then some people tell me to wait until she is much older since she is only 8 months old right now. I'm so confused, I don't know what to do. What do you guys think?
Sorry if this was a little too long.
You can see her picture by clicking on this link:
http://www.cartogra.com/rs/DE620E5B-662D-11D6-B42B-0090277A760E/screen

I would take her to someone who does alot of ofa xrays and get her xrays done. Have the vet look at them, you might also want to have OFA do a preliminary check on the xrays as well. At 8 months, I wouldn't have her or any pup jumping into the back of an SUV, too hard on the joints, especially if they are disposed to have HD. If she's limping on one side, or it switches to the other side, I'd consider Pano to be part of the equation.

From all of the research I have done, I think that PennHip is a better choice for a puppy than the OFA prelim. JMO

In an adult it doesn't make much difference.JMO

Drags her back feet - do you mean you hear the toenails scraping as she brings the foot forward or is the foot actually rolling under so the front or top of the foot is getting scraped? If it's just toenails, it wouldn't be bothering me. The second case is a different story.

Since elbows need to be xrayed at 5-6 mos. anyway, I always do the hips at the same time, including the distracted view. I also have them shoot the lumbo-sacral joint, after lots of experience with early onset of lumbo-sacral stenosis!

I agree get the hips, elbows and spine x-rayed. Anna recommended the spine in one of her post. As she said just for future reference. I had my dogs’ knees and hips x-rayed and if I would of known I would of done the spine. On a brighter note if your vet is a ortho specialist he may have a good handle on that prelim exam.

Originally posted by Sch3FH2:
Drags her back feet - do you mean you hear the toenails scraping as she brings the foot forward or is the foot actually rolling under so the front or top of the foot is getting scraped? If it's just toenails, it wouldn't be bothering me. The second case is a different story.
It is her toenails, I have recently cut her toenails for the first time and prior to that, she never, or at least never noticed, dragged her feet.

Not quite on topic, but regarding early hip evaluations - anyone read about Juvenile Pubic Symphysiodesis (JPS)? It's a quite simple, inexpensive procedure that can modify the development of the hips, often resulting in mature hips that are within normal parameters. Unfortunately, its drawback is that it must be done extremely early, around 4-5 months of age. If early evaluation shows extreme laxity or lack of congruence in the hip, they go in thru the abdomen and cauterize one of the suture lines of the pelvis. This stops the pelvis from growing along that growth plate and thus changes the formation of the pelvis and the angle. It has almost zero recovery time and is very simple and relatively cheap, especially compared to the surgical options later in life or the expensive supplements to try to keep them comfortable. Makes the use of PennHip-style evaluations very early in life even more attractive, knowing there is an excellent option available for early intervention.