Hip Dysplasia

I have all my dogs x-rayed in the Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, U.C.D. Belfield, Dublin 4, when they are over one year old. The x-rays are then sent to the British Veterinary Association for scoring. The results may take several weeks to be forwarded to U.C.D., and then on to me. When received I will decide if the dog scored is suitable for breeding, and I will never breed from them if the score is above the means average. I can sleep at night knowing that I have done my best not to cause suffering to one of the little people I have brought into the world.

Hip dysplasia is a mostly inherited disease involving abnormal development of the femoral head and acetabulum. All puppies are born with normal hips. The hips of dysplastic dogs will subsequently undergo progressive structural changes. Either the socket (acetabulum) will become too shallow or the ligaments and/or muscles do not exert enough control to keep the femoral head from slipping away from the socket. The severity of radiographic changes in a particular dog can range from normal to mildly affected to severely affected. There is no correlation between radiographic findings and clinical signs. A dog whose x-rays show severe disease may not show any outward signs and a mildly affected dog may have difficulty even walking. Regardless of the symptoms, they are both dysplastic and they both carry the genes necessary to pass on the disease

SIGNS OF HIP DYSPLASIA:

Lameness
Waddling/Swaying gait
"Bunny Hop" (both hind legs move together when the dog is running)
Acute episodes of lameness after exercise
Morning stiffness
Reluctance to move
Change in temperament
Obvious pain (some dogs are more stoic than others)
Overdevelopment of the fore-limb and shoulder musculature
Underdevelopment of the rear-limb musculature

I cannot express strongly enough the importance of having both the bitch and the dog X-RAYED AND HIP SCORED if you intend breeding from them.

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