puppy with swaying hips....

E.B

Hi guys, noticed that my new lab pup has been swaying her hips alot over the past few days. Worried about hip probs so im taking her to the vet next week. Anyone got any advice on checking for hip dysplasia and from my googling i can see there are several options to take to help her if she does, but what are the costs and how effective have you found them? Thanks in advance.

Just a quick note. She is my second dog and she plays alot and vigorously with my 3yr old beagle. Could over exercising her cause this and if so if i toned back the play time would it rectify itself? Thanks again

andreac

E.B wrote: »

Hi guys, noticed that my new lab pup has been swaying her hips alot over the past few days. Worried about hip probs so im taking her to the vet next week. Anyone got any advice on checking for hip dysplasia and from my googling i can see there are several options to take to help her if she does, but what are the costs and how effective have you found them? Thanks in advance.

Just a quick note. She is my second dog and she plays alot and vigorously with my 3yr old beagle. Could over exercising her cause this and if so if i toned back the play time would it rectify itself? Thanks again

Were the parents hip scored? How old is the pup? Have you got insurance? If not i highly suggest you take it out now and before you take the pup to the vets as you could be talking 1000's if there's issues there.
Only a vet can check for hip displasia by doing X-rays so you can't do anything yourself to find out.

FoxyVixen

I highly recommend what Andrea has suggested on insurance. Do so now or you might find yourself taking out a small loan.

E.B

Parents had all checks and came back fine. She's only coming up on 11weeks. Will have a look at insurance. Tomorrow and go from there. Any ideas on recovery if a true recovery is possible? Slightly gutted wanted to use her for next years hunting season.

meoklmrk91

I also would recommend taking out insurance, nothing until after 2 weeks of the policy is covered so do it sooner rather than later. It's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things and could end up saving you a lot of money like Andrea said. If it was me I wouldn't hesitate to take it out. Even if there are no issues atleast you will have some peace of mind.

andreac

E.B wrote: »

Parents had all checks and came back fine. She's only coming up on 11weeks. Will have a look at insurance. Tomorrow and go from there. Any ideas on recovery if a true recovery is possible? Slightly gutted wanted to use her for next years hunting season.

Did you see the certs for the parents though? I'm telling you to take out insurance ASAP!! Before the first vet visit regarding this. Because once you go to the vet it's a pre-existing condition And will not be covered if you take out the policy after that visit.
No one can tell you what's ahead until you know exactly what's wrong.

muddypaws

Was talking to a vet at a Dog Expo a few years ago, about some work done with labradors in the US around hip dysplasia, diet played a huge part in whether the pups developed HD or not. Try and keep the pup lean, not skinny, but don't let her carry any excess weight.

Would agree with the insurance, did you not get 6 weeks free when you got her? A lot of good breeders give this, and I'm not sure if all IKC registered pups do?

E.B

andreac wrote: »

Did you see the certs for the parents though? I'm telling you to take out insurance ASAP!! Before the first vet visit regarding this. Because once you go to the vet it's a pre-existing condition And will not be covered if you take out the policy after that visit.
No one can tell you what's ahead until you know exactly what's wrong.

Saw all the certs. She got a unlucky mix of genes I suppose. She is IKC registered but got no 6 weeks just a few basic bits and bobs, food, collar, IKC papers, injection list from their vet, and all the paper work for the microchip. I'm gonna bring her over to a few friends and get personal openions before I go near the vet. If they say she's got it ill get the insurance and hold out the two weeks.
Thanks all for the help

andreac

E.B wrote: »

Saw all the certs. She got a unlucky mix of genes I suppose. She is IKC registered but got no 6 weeks just a few basic bits and bobs, food, collar, IKC papers, injection list from their vet, and all the paper work for the microchip. I'm gonna bring her over to a few friends and get personal openions before I go near the vet. If they say she's got it ill get the insurance and hold out the two weeks.
Thanks all for the help

Sorry, but your friends won't be able to tell you.
The only person who can tell you is a vet!! She needs X-rays to determine whether her hips are bad.
Not sure why you won't take our advice on board.
You can ask all the people in the world but unless she is xrayed you won't know if she has it or not.

E.B

andreac wrote: »

Sorry, but your friends won't be able to tell you.
The only person who can tell you is a vet!! She needs X-rays to determine whether her hips are bad.
Not sure why you won't take our advice on board.
You can ask all the people in the world but unless she is xrayed you won't know if she has it or not.

I am taking your advice. She's due in the vets for boosters in a week and a half. Ill be putting it off until I've got insurance before I go near the vet. If the people I'm taking her to, who have over 20+ years experience of having multiple working dogs at once each , say when they see that I do or don't have a possible case. These people have at least a dog each with the condition due to old age at the moment . I could be blowing something out of proportion and she could just be fine. I don't know. I came here for advice and am taking it all in. But these people can see the dog. From what I've read there are signs of the condition and I presume someone with experience with the condition would be able to look and say I may have a problem. Sadly you guys can't see the dog and are going off my descriptions. But what do I know? Nothing and that's why I'm here.

muddypaws

E.B wrote: »

Saw all the certs. She got a unlucky mix of genes I suppose. She is IKC registered but got no 6 weeks just a few basic bits and bobs, food, collar, IKC papers, injection list from their vet, and all the paper work for the microchip. I'm gonna bring her over to a few friends and get personal openions before I go near the vet. If they say she's got it ill get the insurance and hold out the two weeks.
Thanks all for the help

What were her parents scores? Have you spoken with the breeder, to see if any of her littermates are having any issues?

E.B

mother was 13 and father was 15 if i remember correctly. Havent talked to the breeder yet. Noticed it two days ago but only grew concerned today. I had hoped it was a tumble in the garden that was hurting her legs and she would get over it. But three days later no improvement.

tk123

Can you post a vid? Is she you first lab/is it a while since you saw a lab pup walking around? Labs and retriever have a 'swagger' to them that looks weird if you're not used to it added to the fact that every other person you meet is an expert and will tell you that labs all have HD (i have retrievers and am told this all the time - this both have perfect hips) Also their legs and muscles are growing so quickly it's like they have to get used to them all over again - my 13 week old pup's legs have doubled in length over the last few weeks and she was like bambi lol then all of a sudden the muscles are solid and she's more sure on her feet.

Sign up for insurance ASAP - I'd recommend Allianz but they wont unsure if you bring the pup to the vets either before insuring or (I think) within 2 weeks. Even without this scare it's a no brainier with a dog of that size for everyday accidents etc for when it gets older. Also did you bring the pup for it's vaccinations/puppy check yet - they vet would have checked the hips then?

FueledByAisling

OP I have a 10 week old pup at the moment and noticed the swaying of the hips since I got her, I brought it up at the vets and he said it's just puppy hips. Some dogs don't learn to fully coordinate their hips with their forelegs until they are a bit older. However, do check this out with your vet and do not assume everything is okay.

E.B

Out at the moment but will take a vid later. Nice to her about the Swager and puppy hips. Hope it's that. She has taken a big jump in the last while. She's about10.5 weeks and is close to the size of my beagle.

Quality

EB, I would recommend limiting her play time with the beagle. At the rate your lab is growing it will take a while for the muscle to develop to support her.



Hope all goes well with the vet.

fiounnalbe

As others have said, get her insured ASAP. Just nip into the vet someday and get the forms, becuase then it takes another 2 weeks for cover to start and should be kicking in just after her finals vaccinations.

Neither of her parents hip scores are great to be honest unfortunately, so even if she is just growing now and thats the reason for the swinging, it's definitely something to look out for, because these things are always best caught early.

Here are the recommended hip scores - http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/Breed_Specific_Statistics_2012.pdf

tk123

fiounnalbe wrote: »

As others have said, get her insured ASAP. Just nip into the vet someday and get the forms, becuase then it takes another 2 weeks for cover to start and should be kicking in just after her finals vaccinations.

For Allianz you can do it online

keno-daytrader

fiounnalbe wrote: »

As others have said, get her insured ASAP. Just nip into the vet someday and get the forms, becuase then it takes another 2 weeks for cover to start and should be kicking in just after her finals vaccinations.

Neither of her parents hip scores are great to be honest unfortunately, so even if she is just growing now and thats the reason for the swinging, it's definitely something to look out for, because these things are always best caught early.

Here are the recommended hip scores - http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/Breed_Specific_Statistics_2012.pdf

There is nothing wrong with those hip scores, 12 is average for the Lab. Granted the rule of thumb is not to breed if the score is above average.

E.B

Thanks for all the replys guys. Brought her around the place today to see 5 people. Got a personal opinion from friends and a vet, nothing official they just had a look. Rang around about insurance, should have a policy by tomorrow just got a few more call to make. At the moment it seems i was seeing the worst possible. Vet reckoned from looking at her that she is just a pup with a swagger after some rapid growth. But she may have a week left hip. If she worsens i'm bringing her in for x rays, but he said he's doubtful she has any real problem at least for the foreseeable future.

tk123

E.B wrote: »

Thanks for all the replys guys. Brought her around the place today to see 5 people. Got a personal opinion from friends and a vet, nothing official they just had a look. Rang around about insurance, should have a policy by tomorrow just got a few more call to make. At the moment it seems i was seeing the worst possible. Vet reckoned from looking at her that she is just a pup with a swagger after some rapid growth. But she may have a week left hip. If she worsens i'm bringing her in for x rays, but he said he's doubtful she has any real problem at least for the foreseeable future.

TBH I had a fair idea you might be panicking over nothing so glad everything is ok! They grow so fast a times that they need time to get used to to it lol - in the last week my pup is now strong/tall enough to jump up on the couch effortlessly and go for a snooze lol....but will be running around and then take a tumble as she trips over her legs lol! .

E.B

tk123 wrote: »

TBH I had a fair idea you might be panicking over nothing so glad everything is ok! They grow so fast a times that they need time to get used to to it lol - in the last week my pup is now strong/tall enough to jump up on the couch effortlessly and go for a snooze lol....but will be running around and then take a tumble as she trips over her legs lol! .

She's doing the same thing! Tiles in the kitchen don't help in games of chase either!