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

[ponyfarm]

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!!

[jocoyn]

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.

[Jax08]

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.

[doggiedad]

do the x-rays to make sure he's healthy.

[Mikelia]

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.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

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.

[huntergreen]

Originally Posted by Jax08

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.

i would choose the supplement route. xrays are not going to help you spot future arthritis.

[bocron]

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.

[Emoore]

I did Kopper's when we were getting into agility. I wanted to make sure he was structurally sound before jumping.

[Freestep]

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.