I have a 5 month old puppy (Labrador) and we have just found out he has Hip Dysplasia.  I'm off to the vets to collect him shortly, but would really appreciate any advise or experience any one has of this disease in dogs so young.  Should we look to the vets for prescription and / or surgical treatment or are there any alternative therapies we could look to?  He is a good pedigree dog from reputable breeders and isn't over weight and hasn't been over exercised.  We are a bit shell shocked by the news and have no experience of this condition.  Thank you in advance.

WE havent had it confirmed but it looks like our 15 month old has HD as well, we'll be having the xrays done soon.

I've heard that hydrotherapy is fantastic for them and am taking Darcy for her first session on Sunday.

Cod Liver Oil Supplements (omega fish oils, is that the same??) are reccommended as well

Someon with more knowledge will come along soon

Sorry to hear about your pup, have you had him x-rayed today. Wait until the vet explains with the x-ray plates and see how bad they think the problem is, then I think you would be best advised to ask to see a orthopaedic specialist. Unless the ball of the hip joint is completely out of the socket then you may be able to get away without surgery. Can say that non-specialist vets are not always right when it comes to hips so hang on in there until you see an expert. What made you have the hips x-rayed was the dog lame?

Fish Body Oils are different from Cod Liver Oil; the former have more Omega 3s and the latter has Vitamins A & D which can be toxic for dogs if given too much.  You cannot OD on FBO but you can on CLO.  If you supplement with FBO please also give natural Vitamin E daily as well, 200 iu for a small - medium dog, 400 iu for a medium to large.

None of the supplements will do any harm but can they repair a malformed pelvis, may be wrong and I know that dogs allowed to clown can damage the growing bone but is it not usually a case that the dog is born with the problem and that is why we bang on about only using hip scored parents.

Quite right no supplements can repair or remove damage, they can only ease mobility/pain.

Thanks :)

Guest and rachelparker
just curious...were the pups from hip scored parents?if so what were the scores?
Guest..if you register(its free) you can ask as many qyestions as you need and we'd love to be kept up to date on your little one!
Thanks Archer

Agree it would be good to know, even better to know how far back the dogs had been scored with a below average. You can, of course, breed generations of low scoring dogs and still have a pup thrown with a high score. John will correct me if I am wrong but I have been told that sometime a sire will have protégée with poor scores although he himself has a very low one. If this is the case it would take a couple of years (more in the USA) for this to be realised.

yes both her parents were hip scored and were well below average, cant remember exactly now I'll have to look it up when I get home.

They were both 4 I think.

Thats why I was shocked when she started displaying signs.
Although saying that she was a real barm pot when she was little, forever jumping about on and off the furniture. I guess the fact I let her do that hasnt helped. She's also carrying too much weight which can only have aggravated it.

God I'm such a bad parent. :(

She's on a strict diet now but my poor cats are starving as they only have 15 minutes to eat their food before we throw it away to stop Darcy getting the left overs.

my boy has hips of 21-21=42 ,parents & grandparents had low & under average scores, he was never over fed or over exercised ,its no way as easy as to say,genetic Or enviromental! its much more complex than that.
i noticed something was up at 8 months, but it was very slight & even the vets thought i was being paranoid!
hydrotherpy has really helped him & hes now sound straight(ish) moving (ie if you didnt know you wouldnt notice!!) & on normal exercise.

unless all dogs are scored & somebody organises a questionaire about up bringing i dont think it will ever be truely understood. a good start would be vets being PROACTIVE about sending away the bad plates, so we can get some breed averages that actually mean something!

I'm back and now registered (I was the original guest!).  An update on Milo - the X-rays are being sent to a specialist orthopedic vet, but from what my vet showed me before they were posted, they didn't look too bad.  The ball and socket are still in the right place, but the bones aren't/haven't grown properly so the socket isn't holding the ball securely enough.  We've been told that it is HD but to wait for the specialist to reply.  We are hoping that as he is only 5 months old there will be something we can change in his diet and exercise regime that will help promote his bone growth?  I'm also looking into alternative therapies and would welcome any feedback on this area?  He isn't showing any signs of pain, and we took him to the vets orginally because he just looked odd and not because he was lame?  Thank you for the feedback so far, any more will be welcome.