Hip Dysplasia/Arthitis/Ortho Support & Info

[Gwenhwyfair]

Upon my trainer evaluting Ilda when she was six months old he warned me that about 60 percent of German Shepherds end up with Hip Dysplasia. I tucked that tid bit in the back of my mind. I had hoped that if his stats were correct that we'd somehow beat the odds.

Conformationally she is fine (maybe not show quality) but she moves well, good hocks, angulation not extreme, back is not extreme, nice medium frame, her pedigree (she is imported) is good. The vet even commented that she did not have the body type that normally presents with H.D.

I feel bad that I wasn't more proactive and even though Ilda didn't show any obvious signs until the beginning of this month wish I had done some preliminary checks on her hips.

The first reaction I got from the vet and friends/family upon Ilda's diagnosis was as though she only had a few months to live or was going to be doggie-wheel chair bound soon. Then researching on the net I found this attitude to be rather prevalent in the general pet owning community.

Thankfully a lot of good folks here provided a more realistic and hopeful point of view (and HD health tips), quite a few inspirational stories here: Sad - Over before it began.....HD

Having worked with rescued off the track Thoroughbred race horses I've dealt with my share of ortho/arthritis and conformational problems.

I've decided to dust off the old research and transfer equine to canine knowledge that is applicable and do some canine specific research and share what I find here to help others who may be coping with HD, Arthritis and other Ortho related health issues.

One of the first discoveries I'd like to share is about massage and accupressure. I've used accupressure and massage on horses with success in the past. I started doing it with Ilda (and am currently studying canine anatomy to sharpen up my skills on accupressure points for canines). Accupressure is considered 'new age-y' by some but there is some basic mechanical wisdom at play here. When the skeletal structure is out of balance it can cause stress on muscles and ligaments which cause contraction and swelling in the muscle. This contraction cause the muscle to pull the bones to which it is attached further out of alignment AND limits the blood flowing in and out of the muscle thereby limiting healing and possibly worsening affected joints.

I found a site with some videos showing basic accupressure for H.D. dogs here:

Video: Dog Massage for Hip Dysplasia: Sacrum | eHow.com

[wolfstraum]

sorry her hips are not good.....but that statistic is not correct...go to OFA's website and you will see the stats...

as many have said, failing to pass OFA is NOT a death sentence, I have personally known at least a half dozen dogs with mild - severe HD who do sport and got to Sch3...one girl I saw at a trail a few years back is probably 6 or 7 times Sch3

lee

[Gwenhwyfair]

Thanks! I'll check out those stats...

I'm hoping this thread will help to dispell the 'death sentence' attitude a bit.

I appreciate the positive stories you mention as well.

Originally Posted by wolfstraum

sorry her hips are not good.....but that statistic is not correct...go to OFA's website and you will see the stats...

as many have said, failing to pass OFA is NOT a death sentence, I have personally known at least a half dozen dogs with mild - severe HD who do sport and got to Sch3...one girl I saw at a trail a few years back is probably 6 or 7 times Sch3

lee

[WVGSD]

My 55 pound non-GSD lived to be 13 with bilaterally severe hip dysplasia. Kidney failure ended her life and, up until her last few days, she was happily running around my yard with my other dogs. She was my first home-bred AKC champion and I was blind-sided by the OFA report since her movement as a young adult dog was quite good. She lived a good quality life with weight management and joint supplements for 11 of her 13 years. It can be done successfully!

[BR870]

Originally Posted by Gwenhwyfair

Thanks! I'll check out those stats...

I'm hoping this thread will help to dispell the 'death sentence' attitude a bit.

I appreciate the positive stories you mention as well.

Here I'll help you...

Orthopedic Foundation for Animals

19 precent of GSDs submitted to the OFA are rated as dysplastic. They are number 40 on the list, behind the Golden Retreiver, APBT, Rottweiler, Chow and several other popular breeds...

[LuvMyTazer]

I think this is a great topic and I'm very interested in it!
My dog was diagnosed with moderate osteoarthritis in both of his elbows this summer. The vets believe it was caused by OCD, which was a little bit upsetting to me because I had taken him to a couple different vets when he was a puppy because he would randomly yelp when he was playing then limp on his rt. foreleg for a couple minutes then be fine again. They all said he was fine and probably just tweaked something... nope. Oh well though, not much I can do about it now but deal with it.
He's only 3 years old and we got the "death sentence" attitude as well. Yes my dog was in a lot of pain and we saw multiple vets and surgeons who all said that nothing could be done, but again he was only 3 and there was no way I could give up on him. Since I worked at a vet clinic at the time I opted to try stem cell therapy which worked amazing! He's like a completely different dog now. He's not 100% better but I would say 85-90% better. Every once in a while he still has days where he gets a little stiff and sore but nothing compared to how it was before.
Even though he currently feels great right now, I know in the back of my head that stem cell therapy is still experimental and we don't know how long it is going to last, etc. So I was the exact same and started my own research. I wanted to create a "proactive" plan for Tazer.
I'm an equine massage therapist so I obviously completely support massage therapy! Massage makes me feel great so of course it will make my dog/horse feel great. Usually when we're just laying around watching TV or something I'll just start massaging him. I haven't tried acupressure or acupuncture yet with him but I really believe in those as well. I would really like to start him on a maintenance acupuncture treatment plan.
I've looked a lot into the natural remedies too, I know a lot of people don't believe in those but I really do, I've always used natural remedies with my horses and have received absolutely amazing results.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Molasses have both worked really great with Tazer. I add a little bit of ACV to his food, about 1 tbsp. a day. Molasses I just use if he's having a rough couple of days which sometimes happens. I've heard that Noni juice works amazing too, I have a friend who owns a big training barn and she uses it all the time with her horses and it does all sorts of things. I've started giving Tazer MorindaCare Canine Perform and that has Noni juice in it, though I'm not sure how much, but I have noticed a positive difference in him.
I find that I need to keep Tazer active too. We go for a walk every morning but we've also started schutzhund training so we play A LOT now and are very active. If I slack off and give him a couple days off it affects him and he stiffens up.
Swimming is awesome too! Before his stem cell therapy I would take him 2 - 3 times a week. That was about the only exercise he could handle and I found that after he went swimming, he usually felt pretty good for 2-3 days after then would be extremely painful and stiff again.
And I've just realized what a novel I've written here... sorry I didn't mean to steal your thread!!

[RubyTuesday]

19 precent of GSDs submitted to the OFA are rated as dysplastic.

That statistic isn't a reliable predictor of the HD rate in GSD. Many breeders don't submit x-rays for dogs that are likely to be evaluated as dysplastic which keeps those dogs out of the stats.

[BR870]

Originally Posted by RubyTuesday

That statistic isn't a reliable predictor of the HD rate in GSD. Many breeders don't submit x-rays for dogs that are likely to be evaluated as dysplastic which keeps those dogs out of the stats.

I've heard that argument, but don't believe it holds water. Yes, there are many X-Rays that are not submitted because the dog is likely to be rated dysplastic, but on the flip side for every one of those there are many healthy dogs who are never X-Rayed and submitted because they are healthy. They are not owned by breeders or other party who has incentive to spend the money involved in xraying and sending into OFA unless they see a problem. These healthy dogs will also be kept out of the stats. At the end of the day, I think those two conditions likely cancel each other out...

Anyway, the vet saying that 60% of of GSDs are dysplastic is total bunk. The GSD got a reputation of dysplasia, not because it is significantly higher in the breed than several other large breeds, but because German Shepherd breed organizations were the first to recognize it and attempt to do something about it within the breed. This created an association in the public perception that it was a GSD phenomena, when in fact its equally found in many large breeds. And after that, confirmation bias takes over...

[Gwenhwyfair]

Just to be clear, I mentioned above it was my trainer that mentioned the 60% number not my vet. Still, either way I appreciate the link you posted above and I hadn't thought about the point you make in red.

You are correct, GSDs probably are the most intensively studied and tracked breed wrt HD!

(btw Ilda's pedigree is pretty good, one a3 and three a2s going back 5 generations, rest are a1)

Originally Posted by BR870

I've heard that argument, but don't believe it holds water. Yes, there are many X-Rays that are not submitted because the dog is likely to be rated dysplastic, but on the flip side for every one of those there are many healthy dogs who are never X-Rayed and submitted because they are healthy. They are not owned by breeders or other party who has incentive to spend the money involved in xraying and sending into OFA unless they see a problem. These healthy dogs will also be kept out of the stats. At the end of the day, I think those two conditions likely cancel each other out...

Anyway, the vet saying that 60% of of GSDs are dysplastic is total bunk. The GSD got a reputation of dysplasia, not because it is significantly higher in the breed than several other large breeds, but because German Shepherd breed organizations were the first to recognize it and attempt to do something about it within the breed. This created an association in the public perception that it was a GSD phenomena, when in fact its equally found in many large breeds. And after that, confirmation bias takes over...

[Gwenhwyfair]

Stealing? Oh heck no! Thank you for your input and advice, this is what I was hoping for in this thread!

I see massage and accupressure as a complimentary approach to ortho type issues! It can be very beneficial.

I think it's a balance between traditional 'western' approaches and alternative therapies. I'm also looking into the stem cell therapy (link with more info to follow).

I've heard good things about ACV. I have a client who has used it to control her cat's tendancy to develop urinary crystals.

Has there been any research to show the value of ACV with respect to joint/HD/ortho type issues? If you have any info handy I would like to read up on it.

The following is a link to a rottweiler site detailing the story of a rottweiler where the HD was reversed using exercise and supplements. Now, to me reversal means the deformation of the hip bone itself was not just stablized but 'healed' to the point of being considered normal.

I've not been able to find other cases like this but the person sharing this story does not appear to be selling anything or otherwise invested in making this up. X-rays are provided as evidence. I take it with a grain of salt as one story a cure does not make but I think this is worth looking at:

Hip Dysplasia/Arthritis

Originally Posted by LuvMyTazer

I think this is a great topic and I'm very interested in it!
My dog was diagnosed with moderate osteoarthritis in both of his elbows this summer. The vets believe it was caused by OCD, which was a little bit upsetting to me because I had taken him to a couple different vets when he was a puppy because he would randomly yelp when he was playing then limp on his rt. foreleg for a couple minutes then be fine again. They all said he was fine and probably just tweaked something... nope. Oh well though, not much I can do about it now but deal with it.
He's only 3 years old and we got the "death sentence" attitude as well. Yes my dog was in a lot of pain and we saw multiple vets and surgeons who all said that nothing could be done, but again he was only 3 and there was no way I could give up on him. Since I worked at a vet clinic at the time I opted to try stem cell therapy which worked amazing! He's like a completely different dog now. He's not 100% better but I would say 85-90% better. Every once in a while he still has days where he gets a little stiff and sore but nothing compared to how it was before.
Even though he currently feels great right now, I know in the back of my head that stem cell therapy is still experimental and we don't know how long it is going to last, etc. So I was the exact same and started my own research. I wanted to create a "proactive" plan for Tazer.
I'm an equine massage therapist so I obviously completely support massage therapy! Massage makes me feel great so of course it will make my dog/horse feel great. Usually when we're just laying around watching TV or something I'll just start massaging him. I haven't tried acupressure or acupuncture yet with him but I really believe in those as well. I would really like to start him on a maintenance acupuncture treatment plan.
I've looked a lot into the natural remedies too, I know a lot of people don't believe in those but I really do, I've always used natural remedies with my horses and have received absolutely amazing results.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Molasses have both worked really great with Tazer. I add a little bit of ACV to his food, about 1 tbsp. a day. Molasses I just use if he's having a rough couple of days which sometimes happens. I've heard that Noni juice works amazing too, I have a friend who owns a big training barn and she uses it all the time with her horses and it does all sorts of things. I've started giving Tazer MorindaCare Canine Perform and that has Noni juice in it, though I'm not sure how much, but I have noticed a positive difference in him.
I find that I need to keep Tazer active too. We go for a walk every morning but we've also started schutzhund training so we play A LOT now and are very active. If I slack off and give him a couple days off it affects him and he stiffens up.
Swimming is awesome too! Before his stem cell therapy I would take him 2 - 3 times a week. That was about the only exercise he could handle and I found that after he went swimming, he usually felt pretty good for 2-3 days after then would be extremely painful and stiff again.
And I've just realized what a novel I've written here... sorry I didn't mean to steal your thread!!