I was just wondering...If a puppy was going to develop dysplasia anywhere when it was older would there be any warning signs that you would notice at say 5 to six months of age or so or is it only recognisable when the dog shows signs of discomfort?  

I'm not an expert but six months was about the age I became suspicious that my lab had hip displasia - unfortunately, he has recently been diagnosed with moderate hip displasia at sixteen months.  Not sure why I was suspicious, maybe subtle signs in movement/musculature, a gut feeling and maybe a little paranoia on my part!  So when he had a paw x-rayed recently (due to something else) I asked for his hips to be x-rayed as well. 
I would add that my boy has never shown any discomfort and is very fit and active (apart from a cut pad at the moment!). 
Having said that from the research I've done, the only sure way to tell is by x-ray, and according to my vet, she has had many dogs who are fit and active, yet show poor hips on x-ray.

In extreme cases the dog is not able to walk or not walk much, so there is no doubt, but as most dogs have some fault in their hip construction in most cases it is not possible to tell even a vet looking at the x-rays can be very wrong in their decision unless they are trained and skilled in reading hip x-rays. Have know of dogs that have had to be PTS at a few months because of malformed or non formed hips and others who have got to old age with very high scores and total oblivious owners.

Before people breed from Northern Innuit dogs do they have the test done usually?

Mel you have lost me what are we talking about thought it was HD :)

Yup ..and so was I Jackie ..:) This poster was talking about NI Dogs earlier ....I was curious as to whether they are HD tested as a matter of course like Malamutes

i would not have thought they can be hip scored as only KC reg dogs can be hip scored and the northern innuit is not a recognised or registered breed is it??
kelly

Nope they are not  , but I thought that any dog could be hip scored

Think they can be x-rayed but they will not be scored by the BVA panel only by the vet who took the pictures and we all know how poor most are at that :( Must be a bit of a worry when you think of the breeds used to try and produce this wolf look alike, thank goodness no one thought of trying to breed long backed and taller version of a breed I have close to my heart as they are very timber wolf looking so it would not have been that difficult. :(

if its bad,they tend to bunny hop,my boy isnt too bad & at 8months he would trot very wide behind,so it looked like hed wet himself,hed also look uncomftable if he stopped & turned to look at him.
when i wasnt sure what was wrong,i was sure  he had a foot problem as he seemed to want to keep the weight off of his feet,
his hips were 21-21 =42, & now lives a totally normall active life,thanks to hydrotherpy once a week

It is not always that straightforward unfortunately, some dogs with very high scores move without any trouble at all, others with good hips can bunny hop as any problem with joints or angulation can cause a faulty gait.

yes now that flynn has muscled up he moves like a dream,but as a puppy he moved strangley although he has never bunny hopped in his life i have seen labs with bad hips that have.