My Golden Retreiver has a mild case of Chippendale front.  Do you think it will improve as she's only 8months old at the moment or is their anything that I can do to try and improve things - more excerise, suppliments.  I've been told I'm focusing to much on it much and it isn't actually bad.  

Went to a gundog talk a couple of months ago and the speaker said that this is mainly due to over exercise and in gundogs should not be exercised to excess until 18 months of age, when this part of the front of the leg eventually stops growing.

I would completely disagree about over excersise. Of course you can over do anything, but this type of front is usually genetic and through a fault in construction. Sensible excersise can help, and in some breeds trimming, and of course good handling in the ring. Fronts can and do improve with age, so at 8 mths dont panick. One of my breeds are notorious for going down on their pasterns as pups, the dog I am now showing was lame for a month as a pup as he was down more on one than the other, however they did come almost right and he is now a sh ch. Do try and make sure your pup doesnt hget too fat, they should be well covered but sometimes excess weight can ruin fronts.

Agree it is likely to be a genetic fault although it could be made worse by over exercising. Too much exercise in a young dog can damage the growing plates and cause joint and ligament damage but not curved bone. Abnormal bone is usually caused by a genetic fault or diet but the best way would be to see a specialist vet who will help minimise the damage before the dog becomes adult.

Another thing make sure that nails are cut down.

Excess weight and lack of exercise can also make a dog weak in pastern so causing them to stand down and ten to two as also when young likely to be still narrow, or if older and the ribs are broad may even toe in, so There  is no one reason. 

If there is  bowing in the bones and not just poor posture then a vet needs to be consulted as sometimes there is damage to the growth plates causing one bone or side to grow at a different rate to the other.

There are so many parts to the front Assembly.  shoulders, upperarm, the leg bones themselves, then the pasterns and their relative strength, length and angles, feet, and also the breadth and depth of the chest.

Many of these parts also develop at different rates during growth., so may go through phases of being less than ideal, but come good at maturity.

The pup was described as Chippendale so one imagines there is a bend as well as the feet being turned out, agree there may be all sorts of reasons for this and I do not think increasing the exercise or supplementing is a good idea with out having consulted a vet.

So please, OP, as we can't see the pup involved and can only make suggestions as to what the problem may be, do take the pup to see a vet and do not supplement at all as this should not be necessary and should not be done without medical help, particularly do not give calcium.

She's not on any suppliments other than Salmon oil.   She has won a few BPIB's at open shows and people have said what a great mover she is around the ring.  She moves true when walking and trotting.  If it where the bone wouldn't you see it in her movement?

Don't know Slipper you are the one who said she had a Chippendale front, we can only go by what you have written.

One of my dogs occasionally turns his feet out when he's being lazy, but he has fantastic movement and his legs/feet aren't mishaped.  I don't really know why he does it as it isn't all the time.

I would agree with perrodeagua. I have a Mastiff pup that went down on his pasterns, went cow-hocked and his feet turned out (his movement was awfull), the vet & an orthapedic specialist said it was genetic growth problem &  it all needed opperating on - I got in touch with the breeder who said it would all grow-out, as long as excercice wasn't over done & the pups weight was kept down. Sure enough all the problems are sorted, the turned out feet is not quite there, sometimes they are perfect, the next minute thell be turned, but the pup is only 9 months old, plenty of time for that to sort out :)

If you are really worried, talk to the breeder, I'm sure they'll put your mind at rest. Unfortunately the vets tend to think that normal breed specific growth oddities don't exist (at least not IME):(

I've found this thread interesting as I too have a puppy with a less than ideal front (Irish Setter). I'd say he was ''in at the elbow''. I also have an older dog with the same fault. They are very much the same way bred, so I'd go along with the theory that it's a genetic fault, and I really haven't held out much hope that the 5 month old will improve, based on my previous experience of my 12 year old dog.

I do however feel slightly encouraged after reading this, and of course at 5 months he still has alot of growing and developing to do, so I shall just have to hope for the best. He's a fabulous mover though so it really doesn't have any impact on that. Strangely though his front is straight when he's in a sit position. Obviously his chest moves forward between his front legs pushing his elbows out straightening the appearance. So maybe when his chest develops it'll all get better. Fingers crossed.

Dawn R.

If it's in at the elbow then that would be different to what I was explaining, mine was more to do with the feet pointing slightly out etc.