Hello all...it's seems like forever since I have been on here! I am looking for advice for my fiance's brother. He has a seven month old pure blood german shepard, who I suspect has hip problems. His front legs move as they should, but his back leg movement is really rather awkward. His back "knees" cross each other when he walks, they kind of twist. Sort of like how people walk when it just rain outside and their are trying to make noises with their sneakers.
He says that the vet (although no x-rays yet, the vet wants to wait as one of his balls hasn't dropped yet so he can kill two birds with one stone..x-ray for his ball to then be neutered and also for his hips) and other people that owns them say there's nothing to worry about, but I think that he is only listening to people who are giving him the advice he wants to hear, considering they did pay a pretty penny for him. Asked him if he contacted the breeder they got him from and never got an answer. He's not a bad person, I think that since he just got him he doesn't want to think about losing him so soon.
I know that they have hip problems, and I know of two people personally that have had to put their pups down because of extreme hip problems. So I guess my question would be, is walking like this normal, because they do have the lower back end? If so how long does it last? If not normal, does anyone know of books or websites that I can print out and show him. It is almost as if his back legs aren't strong enough to hold his weight, but he really is a skinny dog. Any advice would  be helpful?

Also, this may or may not have anything to do with it, but when I went home Remi would not play with him EVER the whole time we were there!! Remi never passes up the opportunity to have a playmate, it was as if he knew something was wrong with Rebel.

Any thoughts are appreciated,
Lauren

I'd get him in for an x-ray now - if he has a testicle that hasn't dropped, it's known as a retained testicle, and is a high cancer risk.  He should have it taken out ASAP in my opinion, it should have dropped a long time ago.  My dobe's bits (also called Remy!) were both dropped by 3 months old, sooner probably but I was busy trying to housetrain him and not looking :D

Hi Lauren,

without physically seeing the dog it's difficult to be sure that what you're describing is actually a problem - he's not of an age where perfect co-ordination, muscle tone etc are anywhere near developed (being just 7 months & a large breed) and to someone unused to seeing lots of GSD pups this age, making a direct comparison to how other breeds move etc isn't really helpful and may cause unnecessary alarm ;)

If the owner has access to the opinion of reputable breeders and a vet who are intimately familiar with the breed at this age then IMO there's no huge risk to awaiting confirmation of his hip status until he's 12 months plus.  He should not be allowed too much wild and wonderful exercise at this age anyway as he's got a lot of developing still to do.

As to the retained testes, there is a possibility that it may still descend and certainly there is no urgency to have that attended to so I can see the vet's point on that too :)  Unless strangulated or causing some other obvious problems, I would not have it removed until the dog was fully mature both mentally and physically - certainly not before two years but ideally around 3-4 years.

Sometimes when we are aware of a higher than average incidence of health issues we see things that aren't really there because, human nature being what it is, we're scrutinising everything and actively looking for a problem.  Searching the net for info is not always a good idea - particularly when the professionals seeing the dog do not assess him to be a major risk ;)

Regards, Teri

Thanks for your replies. I am by no means an expert, but it just seems to even an untrained eye that something is wrong. And although the vet said he doesn't look to have hip problems, stevie didn't get him to give the dog x-rays either. My main concern was that he only seemed to be listening to those who were telling him the news that he wanted to hear.

Both my roommates parents and his step mother's sister have been breeding and raising shepards for many years now, both of which had to, unfortunately, put down one because of extreme hip problems. They both have seen him since stevie got him and both said he looks to have hip problems. I just want to make sure that he gets the information he needs before its too late.

I understand that he doesn't have perfect co-ordination at his age (sometimes mine doesn't seem to have coordination and he's alittle over a year! lol!) , but he doesn't seem to have ANY co-ordination whatsoever! The poor pup! I wasn't trying to compare him to other breeds at this age, but from just my experiences and basic dog knowledge. And for the balls, yeah I understood the waiting on that, from actually the posts from here and a few of my doggy books.

I really appreciate everyone's replies. I am going home tonight and so I will see how's he's doing, and if another session with the vet did anything! I'm just a worry wart and not just for my own dog as you can see! lol!! I can't wait to see I'll be with my kids when that time comes!! lol!

Thanks again,
Lauren

If the vet has ruled out other conditions that may be behind this then you are going to have to wait until the dog is 12 months old anyhow if you want a KC/BVA score.

Puppies can look weird sometimes as they grow and move atrociously.

GSD's do move differently to many other breeds and he is still a baby.  I'd wait until he's 12 months and then get both things checked out.  There shouldn't be much of a risk to cancer yet, he's still only a baby.

See how things go in the next few months and then get him to take him at 12 months and if necessary get both things done at the same time as the vet has said.

Hello there, I'm trying desperately to remember what made me think there was something wrong with my dog.  Several years ago I rescued a 6week old gsd x lurcher and his sister from horrendous conditions and by the time he was 9 months old I could tell there was something not right with his back legs so took him to the vets and he whipped him straight in for an x-ray and he was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia, and bless him the poor little lad only got to 18 months old before I was practically holding him up in the garden to go to the loo and I decided enough was enough, he was in pain and I had to let him go.  But then, I also had a full GSD who had a fabulous pedigree and hip score and he walked "funny" too when he was a pup and I took him to the vet and he told me not to worry, he was very healthy, there was nothing wrong with him at all, he improved when he got to about 14/15 months old, and lived to the age of 10 years with no hip problems. It was probably just me panicking he was going to have the same agonising problems as my other baby boy.

So basically, if the vet is sure that he's ok at the moment , I would try to have faith in that and just make sure I keep an eye on his progress.

Jess xxxx