I mentioned while at the vets the other day that I was concerned about Darcys hips as she sits lop sided ( I saw on celebrit dog school of all places that if they do this it is an early indication of favouring one hip rather than the other)
He asked if her parents had been hipscored and when I said yes they were both 4's he lectured me about buying puppies from such high scoring parents.
Now I thought that anything under 12 was considered okay so when both Darcys parents didnt add up to this together I bought she had a fair chance of being OK

Was I wrong and is that score unacceptable??

Also he said if she's displaying signs already I hvae to limit her exercise and keep her calm.
Anyone got any tips on how you do this with a year old lab without them going insane and thus driving you insane!!!!

Also anyone got any remedies that can slow the attack of hip problems???

4...high????? i think thats bl00dy good!!!!! ok just checkd lab average is 16!

my red and whites hips that i can remember is 6-6 and my aussie bitch is 5-5

i cant remember my other dogs but they are about the same!

when you say she sitting to one side you dont mean a "puppy sit" do you? this is when they sit on one side with their back legs out the other side.

yeah that sounds like it. I only started to worry cos the choccie lab on celebrity dog school sat the same and the trainer said it was a sign of a bad hip. She was 4 though whereas DArcy is only 1.

I have heard (can't remember where from -- probably here ;) ) that as labs have to sometimes sit for long periods while at a shoot, that they may as well sit comfortably :D

Hi Rachael

The only way you can be sure is to get Darcey's Hips scored but it is not advisable to do this until she is about 18 months when she should have stopped growing ! The vet cannot say just by looking at her so I would ignore what they have said and wait.If you are still worried take her back to a vet who is experienced doing Xrays for scoring and knows what they are talking about ! If she is not showing the other classic signs as we have discussed before I would wait :)

Lucy

I had a dog which had a "lazy sit", she had a hip score of 0 - 0!!! This has never worried me. In fact all my dogs (flatcoats sit in this manner) and none have scored higher than 9 total! You might be interested to know that the Melton Mowbray training place (for dogs for the customs and military), their dog trainers told me when I was there they accept dogs with a hip score of up 20 total.
Perhaps you might get for your vet the booklet published by the British Veterinary Association on hip displaysia. The guide you need is called "HD Scheme Interpretation of Criteria". It is a detailed explanation of the scoring criteria illustrated with over 40 radiographic images from The Veterinary Record. You can get copies from the Canine Health Schemes, BVA, 7Mansfield Street, London, W1G 9NQ They like it if you send an SAE A4 size.

It sounds as though your vet knows little about hips! :rolleyes: A total score of 4 is excellent in any breed, so I would take a lot of what else he says about it with a large pinch of salt!
:)

What total tosh, would make me change my vet. If they are prepared to spout such drivel about something, it is clear, they know nothing about, I would never trust anything they told me, as they obviously make it up as they go along.

Your vet was not an American by any chance? The American system runs from 0 (Excellent) to 5 (Severe) so a 4 is quite bad!

A Lazy sit means nothing, believe me. My Anna sits like it all the time and she is a 2/2. She's just aware of the fact that she may be sitting there for anything up to an hour so she's getting herself comfortable

Regards, John

The lady lives in Northamptonshire John, so although it may be an American Vet they should spend more time learning about practicing in this country and less time lecturing their clientele, we do not pay their fees to be treated like that, who the hell do they think they are.

I agree Jackie. As vets go I would not feel like trusting this one with anything very important! If my vet had said anything like this I'd have laughed in his face and walked out of the practise! It's disgraceful.

Regards, John

if its an english vet--they want shot!!!!! 4 is a great score. :D

Change your vet!! I've never heard anything so ridiculous!!!!!

Hope my girl is that good when she's scored - my breeds average is 13 and theres not a breed problem with hips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello,
Your dogs parents' hip scores sound pretty good!
This 'lazy sit' that people are describing is quite common in a lab, but is also a sign that their hip/s or back could be out of place. A doggie type chiropractor or McTimmoney person can put this right. Our older BC used to occasionally sit like this and it was because his right hip was out.
Char123

Not sure how old your puppy is but pups twist themselves in to all sorts of shapes and positions, ignore it until the dog has grown up and then you can have the hips scored.

Lost count of how often I have been told if a pup lays with it's back legs sticking out behind that the dog has good hips, almost as often as I have been told it is a sign that the pups hips are bad. In truth even the adults do it sometimes, when it is hot with their bellys on the cold floor. Heaven protect us from the experts! they would have us so worried we would give up owning dogs altogether. You will know if your dog is ill or in pain and I would follow your own get feeling. If worried see the vet but not the one in question.

Thankyou everyone for the reassurance I thought I was going mad for a moment!!!!!

THe lady who bred her told me she had only bred her bitch when she'd found out what a good hip score she had, until then she hadnt planned to breed her but said she wanted to try and pass on such a good hip score and so mated her with a male with a good hip score as well.
She had had her bitch hip scored while already under sedation for another operation just to see if there was anything showing up becasue she had had hip dysplasia with her last lab and so wanted to be prepared with this one.

My vet is not American but is very old (well very old to me anyway as I'm only 23), I dont know but I Imagine hip scores in labs are worsening over time, perhaps he's just stuck in the past a bit!!!!

I wont change my vets as I've had some fantastic help from them but perhaps specify which vet I want to see from now on.

Hi,

Its so important that people don't just breed because the hips are good while that is very
important ,there are other equally important factors to consider as well,its no good having a near perfect hipscore and a not so good temperament or generally not a good example of the breed I think we need to watch we don't become to obssessed with hips at the expense of something else.
So many people say they put temperament first,no matter how good the hipscore is if other factors are not there to put thing in balance my opinion don't breed.

Briony:-)

Its also important to remember that you cannot pass good hips on necessarily because both parents are low scoring they could throw a whole litter of high scoring pups.You need to look right back in both pedigrees and look at all the dogs scores ,you need to find dogs throwing consitently(sp) low scoring stock even then there oare factors that come into play.

Briony:-)

Oh her dog was a very good example herself but despite that the woman had decided not to breed her becasue of her experience with hip dysplacia in her other bitches.

She also had me sign something that said I wouldnt breed from Darcy unless her hip score was good as well and that I should get her hip scored and not just presume she had good hips becasue her parents did. (DOnt know how legally binding that is)

I am always getting stopped by people saying how gorgeous Darcy is but I have no intention of breeding from her and am having her spayed in the New Year.

Hi,

I was just making a statement in general :-)

Briony:-)

<<My vet is not American but is very old>>

I'M very old!

Me too John.

John

I'd always imagined you as a strapping young thing!!!

Sorry to disillusion you. :P

okay okay my vets just rubbish. I'll stop trying to make excuses for him now!!
:)

Sorry must tell someone I got Britney's hip and elbow x-rays back to day, it was 6:5=11 which I am very pleased about, I think it was moonmaiden that recommended the vet in North Yorkshire thanks, the vet was great the x-rays clear she told me they would proberbly come back in the low teens, the lowest in the breed is 6 that is her uncle and her grand father is 9, her elbows are 0:0 her eye test was last week and they were clear,I am just glad the waiting is over.

The waiting is always a worrying time! Well done, lovely results!

Best wishes, John

People get so mixed up about hip scores.a woman recently rang me about my pups and sked me the parents hip scores which are 5.5 for daisy and 8.8 for milo(good as far as im concerned!!) and she said milo's hip score was too high!!!!obviously didn't really know what she was talking about as the breed average is 16 in labs.it's good riddance to her though, but it really p***es me off when people don't do their research properly, especially a vet!!!!!!!!!!:(

Sorry to be pedantic...but 8:8 is not good...it's average ;-) However 5:5 is good :D

Is it not fair to say that if they are under the breed average that that is good,ours was 4:3 average 13,and I might add we did walk her from a young age but she was never heavy with it,does this make a difference.?

ok fair point sarah. i'm not getting excited about him having an average hip score, but the point i was trying to make is that it isn't a BAD hip score as the woman said!!!:)mind you if Rachaels vet can get it soo wrong how can we expect a lay person such as a puppy buyer to get their facts straight?

I totally agree :-)