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If NOT breeding, what reasons to do hips/elbows?

3K views 27 replies 25 participants last post by  boscopup 
#1 ·
I am not planning on breeding Max. So, I wonder if there is any reason to have his hips/elbows done? Would I alter how I care/exercise him? Would I supplement him differently? Is there a medical reason to have this done? Or would it just be for curiosity reasons only? By the way, Max is ten months old. thanks!!
 
#2 ·
I wll do it for my working dog along with the back to see if there are any issues (none noted) that could result in more injury from hard work.

I am waiting until he is two though, not an interim as I am not pushing him overly hard at his current age.

It will also give feedback to my breeder.
 
#3 ·
First, the breeder would probably like some feedback. Second, yes you could supplement him differently to help prevent arthritis if the xrays show HD/ED. Or if you are going to do any sports with him, it's nice to know what his hips/elbows are like.

Or you could just give him joint supplements and skip the xrays unless you see evidence of a problem.
 
#5 ·
My boy will never be bred but he will have his hips certified. My breeder has been working for 40 years to help rid the breed of hd and the more dogs that are proven not to have it the better. I do not have any doubts that Eli is clear, but I work him and if there is a joint problem it would be helpful to know.
 
#6 ·
I do it on my dogs when they are spayed or neutered now, or if I see any weirdness. I do it because while they will obviously never be bred (my vet office does now have a disclaimer on their spay neuter surgery form so that you know that they can't have/sire puppies now!) in their youth my dogs do a lot of contact play, jumping, running and tend toward spazzy actions.

It helps to know ahead of time what we might be working with structurally. The last 2 have both had mild HD in one hip each. So I started them on a small bit of supplement earlier than I would have normally done, making sure they are lean for sure, and keeping them active so that their muscles hold their joints in place better.

What I wish I had done and want to do is to do spine, elbows, hips.
 
#8 ·
If the breeder you got your dog from is trying to track their progeny then they would find the information useful. Also, I have all mine xrayed around 2yo just to have a reference point for later. Even if I never send it to OFA (to save the money) then I have a pic of what the hips looked like at that point. When I was breeding Beaucerons I would pay the OFA fees for any of my puppy buyers that got the hips xrayed. Even if they weren't planning on breeding it helped to have the certification on file.
 
#10 ·
I don't breed, but I x-ray just because I have a need to know.

If my dog has hip or elbow dysplasia, I want to know about it as soon as possible, so that I can mitigate it as much as possible. I'll try to avoid hard running, jumping, stairs, that sort of thing, and keep them on supplements. Even though I don't necessarily breed or do hard work with my dogs, I want them to live as comfortable and pain-free a life as possible.

And if the x-rays come up clear, that's great, because then I don't have to worry about THAT. :)
 
#11 ·
I only x-ray if I believe that there might be a health problem OR if I plan on doing something with the dog that might be injurous to bad hips/elbows.
 
#13 ·
I'd do prelims early on if the dog is doing sportwork(you don't need to send it in, but have a good ortho read the films)

It is also great for breeders to see how their pups developed early on so they can plan future breedings.
If there is a problem with hips/elbows they should know this before breeding the dam again. Or if they want to do a repeat breeding that information is necessary.
 
#14 ·
I do prelims on all dogs because all of my dogs are involved in some sort of training, we hike and do rock climbing together and other strenuous activities. I want to know if I need to alter supplements or exercise if there is an issue.
 
#15 ·
I xray all of my dogs, hips/elbows/knees/spine.

Some I've ofa'd some I haven't, but still xray. I am not a breeder:)

I xray because I want to know structural status , and for future reference should something crop up, we have something to compare to.

Also do it as a courtesy to the breeder
 
#16 ·
Dogs from breeders get xrays so if there is an issue, I can inform the breeder in a timely manner. Many contracts stipulate a time limit for hips/elbows - if there is an issue, I want it known by a year old so I will get compensated based on the contract.

Rescue dogs don't get any xrays unless there is a problem that warrants further attention. Got a sweet Rottie girl abandonment case and a little Golden mix with me now - they will not get xrayed.
 
#17 ·
My female mixed breed turned out to have severe HD, and was diagnosed under a year old. We ended up doing a prelim x ray on my male GSD when he was neutered (1 year old) because of the experience with Rosa. We had Niko x rayed again when he was two years old and done growing, just to be sure even though there was no evidence of HD at one year old. We also put him on a joint supplement which he will take the rest of his life, just to be on the safe side.

It doesn't do any harm to give a joint supplement, and there is certainly peace of mind knowing that Niko does not have any underlying hip issues that could crop up when he gets older. His breeder also appreciated getting a copy of the x rays, for her own records. I will continue to x ray any dogs I get in the future for both hips and elbows, even though I would never be a breeder.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I don't breed either but, X-ray all my dogs.

I do a prelim first, especially if they are going to work, exercise a lot or do any sports.

(It's important for ME to know my dog is healthy and structure is sound.)

If they do have any problems, I want to know about it and be able to manage any problems as they age.

:) Kat
 
#20 ·
I do prelims because I want to know what is going on before I start working my young dogs seriously. For breeders it is very helpful when our puppy people do at least prelims so we can keep track of how our dogs are producing. It would be nice if everyone did OFA or 'a'stamps (hips/elbows) on their dogs, but at least good prelims help.
 
#21 ·
I do prelims at 6 months, so that is well before I even consider whether a dog is going to be bred or not. It's not expensive here and my GSDs all do sports in some fashion.

I had Coke's hips x-rayed when he was 5 years old because he walks funny/stiff and I wanted to rule out HD. I suspected it's just his conformation (he's a mix and kind of a weird rear-end assembly, lol) but would have felt bad not taking it seriously if he really was in pain. He does not have HD. The heads of the femurs are not perfectly smooth so he may develop arthritis eventually. I'm glad I did it because now I don't have to worry about him being in pain, but if he stiffens even more with age we will assume it's arthritis.
 
#24 ·
I did my dogs for the same reasons others have mentioned, the breeder needs to know what she is producing, and I need to know if I should alter any training/activities/fun stuff. Agility involves jumping and quick turns, good hips and elbows are a must!!! This also helps later for the vets to have a reference xray if anything else happens. I think everyone should do it
 
#26 · (Edited)
Choosing your breeder wisely is great, helping that breeder by having prelims done would benefit their program.
Your wisely chosen breeder hopefully would like to see what they produce and one of those important things is what the hips and elbows look like(6 months is when I'd do it and then again at 2).

It is IMO, showing responsibility and respect to the breeder you've so carefully chosen.
 
#28 ·
The puppy I got from a breeder, I did x-rays both to inform the breeder of that info (they were clear), and also so I would know, since we were planning to do some dog sports, such as agility.

My rescue dogs... Two have not been x-rayed, one was x-rayed when she started limping. Turned out to be a type of elbow dysplasia. She just had surgery Thursday to remove a piece of bone that was broken off. Except for that 2 days of limping, you'd have never known she had a marble sized piece of bone floating around. She was running, jumping, wrestling - all like normal. She has arthritic changes already. I'm glad she did the limp so I was able to find out now that she has this problem! I was originally planning to do agility with her (after she showed me how agile she was by jumping over 3 kids' chairs onto the coffee table :D), but now I know that's out. We'll stick to flat work.
 
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