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Almost 2year old Diagnosed with Level 1 Dysplasia

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  carmspack 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm really new to all this but we had some issues with my GSD and his legs and we thought it might have been Lyme disease but when we brought him in and had some xrays done (No I don't have the xrays as PDF / SCAN)

I understand that this is Grade 1 and its not the end of the world, but I don't know how to proceed, he's still abit sore I think he bounces around and acts like a puppy outside when we're out there but I don't know how much excerise to give him... his favorite game is Tug of war which we rarely play now but he tries to engage in it a lot, last night we played a bit but instead of pulling against him I walked towards him so he was always "Winning" but we didn't do that for more than 2-3minutes.

I just don't know how to play with him don't know if it can get worse don't know what to do at all... is there a stupid mans site on this.

My wife runs a daycare and the dog cannot be in the house while the daycare is running for legal reasons (I just don't want anything to happen to child or dog) so he used to stay outside in his kennel all year round (Which has an insulated dog house an electric dog heating pad that only turns on when he's on it and the whole kennel is surrounded by Plastic walls and a tin roof. But the patio stones still get cold and the dork sits on them (On his hip a lazy puppy sit) watching the birds ... I know we can create him until I come home but is there anything I can do to his kennel to make it better for him? Or is the Kennel now only a summer / spring / fall thing...
 
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#4 ·
Thanks everyone sorry I haven't been back in awhile. Draven is doing very well... in fact after that one bad episode we haven't seen any problems with his hips, though we limit exercise during the week to shorter more often games of "fetch" and very gentle games of "Tug" we try to limit jumping all together.

His sister comes over once a week and they tear around the yard but he never has problems getting up afterwards though he certainly doses alot after she comes but he gets up and trots around the house no shaky back legs or discomfort that we can see.

I tell you it would be so much easier if they could talk and just say "Ouch"
 
#5 ·
Swimming is great exercise for any GSD - and especially one with less than ideal hips.....

Many many dogs with low level HD live great, long lives...I know of dogs with worse HD getting schutzhund titles and other titles.....keep him lean, exercise to keep up muscle strength, supplement (Carmen - Carmspack is very knowledgable about this, and is in Canada and sells supplements as well!!!)....

As far as beds in the outdoor kennel - a roverpet or kuranda style "hammock" bed is probably the best way to give them a resting place that is supportive and off the ground....both are brand names and there are probably other brands as well.

Lee
 
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