I have a GSD who has mild HD, and does a little light agility (with mini size jumps). I was just wondering about those who compete regularly in agility, including BCs whose breed have the same Breed Mean Average of 19. Do they all hipscore/x ray to confirm good hips, or just assume all is OK and do the agility anyway? One of the reasons I ask this is that talking to a vet about hip scoring, he more or less confirmed what I had been told by a BVA scrutineer, that the score is really irrelevant, as the clinical symptoms can be awful for a dog with a good score, and conversely a dog with a poor score can be fit and athletic all their lives and never have a problem. So it seems a necessary guide for breeding stock, but in determining what level of activity a dog that has HD can do, seems unlikely to be useful - unless of course it shows up as severe.

I have always wondered whether we have done the right thing with China, doing light agility, as it keeps her fitness level up and her muscles well developed. She has never ever yet gone lame after exercise or agility and is now heading towards 4 yrs old. If she showed any reluctance or difficulty I would discontinue it straight away. As it is she screams with excitement (typical shepherd) as she waits at the start!  I would be interested to hear from agility people, do they check hips, don't they, do they carry on if dog has HD? I am interested to hear from anyone with their views/theories, and of course those with some HD that have done agility whether they feel it has been beneficial.

Kat

A vet friend of mine has a wsd with hip dysplasia, and they've know this from an early age because of clinical signs. (She also had ocd in her shoulder), the dog in question had one hip replaced at quite a young age and has just had the second done in january this year. The dog has always done agility, at full height most of the time, and competes. She has done quite well, she does get clears and sometimes placings, and shes so incredibly fast its unbelievable! She also does flyball too. I think a lot depends on how bad the dog is, but i think dee has many more agility days to come!

I wouldn't of thought with a score of 19 that your dog would be greatly affected.  As you say there are some dogs with fairly low scores (although a bit higher than your dogs) that suffer terribly and there are others that I know with really high scores that are still doing agility into their 8th year and have no problems at all!

If you use the grading system used in USA compared to our scoring system, it will put our scores into perspective.

OFA CLASSES            BVA/KC SCORES
                                            Total Both Hips

Excellent                           0-4  no > than 3 / hip Good                              5-10  no > than 6 / hip
Fair                                  11-18  no extremes
Borderline                             19-25
Mild Dysplasia                      26-35
Moderate Dysplasia               36-50
Severe Dysplasia                    51-106

So I wouldn't expect to see performance problems with a dog until it was into the Mild Dysplasia category, so at 19 it would be functionally normal or barely borderline.

The score is 28 (in the mild range). I am interested though in the overall activity levels of all dogs with all levels of HD. I do know of a lady with a shepherd with a score of 48 who did agility for years, and though the dog has retired from agility still runs 3 miles per day at age 9!  I wonder if the range of movement that agility requires actually helps maintain mobility. I have it in my mind to write to Gary Clayton-Jones (chief scrutineer). (He also replaced both of my previous shepherds hips) and obtain his thoughts and experiences, but on the other hand I know he is frightfully busy and probably doesn't have time to reply to my musings. So I thought I would ask everyone on here.
Thanks for your replies so far

Kat

Lucy and Meg, that's really interesting as my last shepherd had both her hips replaced. Does she do agility with the new hips? If so, that is amazing. It's interesting that a vet chose for her dog to lead a highly active life, rather than restrict exercise.
Thanks for that
Kat

My GSD girl did agility, Kat.  Mind you, it was just for fun, nothing too strenuous and she didn't compete as such but she has a hip score of 96.  It didn't do her any harm and she has good muscle in the hind legs.  We often call her 'chicken drumsticks', lol. We never restricted her exercise over the years and she's still bouncing around at 10. 

my buster was diagnosed with mild HD when he was 9 months old. He is now 5. He does fun agility and it does help him. However because i know he has HD i do control his exercise and i have to tell him to stop and rest but usually he will let me know and we will stop. He has good muscle tone (built it up slowly when a pup) and his weight is closely monitered by me but he has too much energy (collieXgsd) so we have to vent it somehow :rolleyes: He gets soooo excited when we get there and he will refuse equipment when he wants i dont force him to do it - cant anyway seeing that he does it of lead now ;)

Thanks all
I am just so interested in the area of HD. I want to turn this into a mini 'study' of HD & agility. Probably because of my first shepherd who bless her was just so bad.

Spender, that is fantastic with that hip score, and supports what I have been told. China competes a little, but only in 'allsorts' classes where the jumps are 35cm. What I really don't understand is how a dog with a good hip score can have problems - so I would be interested in hearing about those too (anybody).
Hi Sonny, they do seem to enjoy it, and I do have this private theory about range of movement and HD, glad to hear you believe it helps.
Can I ask those of you who have HD dogs doing agility what made you decide to go ahead and do agility?
Many thanks
Kat

Different field but a HD speaker (one of the Panelists, has a Labrador with severe HD that is worked.

It is all about building muscle slowly, and keeping it, and how HD affects a dog is very dependant on muscle and keeping weight low.

Those who have an interest in Sports medicine and maximising performance in Sportsmen, and horses will be able to help.

When race horses are trained they are not run flat out over long distances.  Their fitness is built up.

Kat, yes she still does agility and flyball with the replacements. THe last hip was done in january and she has been competing again since may, and doing quite well. Because shes such a busy person she doesn't get to do as much competing as she would like, but the few competitions she does she usually gets a rosette in starters. THe dog seems perfectly normal with new hips, the only reason you would know she had it done is becuase the hair hasn't completely grown back yet.
For me the fact that she is a very good vet and still does normal things with her dog speaks volumes to me.

It must be 4, 5 years ago when Shebs did agility, Kat.  We used to go to a club in those days and both she and Spender did some flyball, agility and obedience training plus socializing. 

So with both of mine, it was an interest coupled with confidence building, to build good muscle tone in the hind quarters, channel their energy and also to give them something fun to do.  She had no clinical symptoms at all even though the x-ray was scored at 96.  I knew she didn't have the best of hips but I just could not believe that hip score.  Both of mine have always done something over the years.  For the past 2 they have been swimming.

Lucy, that's fantastic, how old is the dog now (is WSD working sheepdog?). Did she do the replacement at her own surgery, or go to a specialist?

Brainless, thanks for that, I probably mis-titled my post really and it should say HD and Activity to be more accurate, as I am interested in the activity levels (or not) that people with HD dogs choose and their experiences from that. Again interesting that someone knowledgeable with HD chose to work the dog rather than the usual conservative exercise restriction. Do you know what her score was?

Spender, I can imagine that you must have been knocked sideways by that score. I don't know what my original shepherd was, as she was never scored. Bless her I lost her in 2003, she had a fibrocartilaginous embolism (she had spondylosis too). She wasn't KC reg. It is so reassuring to know that your girl is still so active at 10! China does some swimming, but we don't have a good hydrotherapy pool near to us so it's difficult. There is an application pending for one reasonably close by, but I don't know how long that will take, it's been pending about 18 months already

Kat

Yes sorry, wsd = working sheep dog. She went to an orthopaedic specialist. He did a marvellous job. She also does alot of swimming, post op it was at a hydrotherapy pool, but she often takes out a canoe and the dog follows her round a small lake which leads out to the sea. When the dog was also suffering from ocd, swimming was her only exercise and she would often swim for 45 minutes. Now she swims like a fish!