I'm gonna talk to my vet about this but was curious about what you all thought on this... I had wished I had found out about Dakota's hips earlier in his life so that I could have done the surgery for him. Since Willow is a product of a BYB I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. From what I read, hip dysplasia should show up by the age of 18 months. So wouldn't you think I could have her hips Xray'd at 2 years to find out if she has this and then could plan for surgery if necessary?

I would say that 2 years is probably the right time to do it. I'm planning on doing the same, since Ghost is of questionable breeding as well. Most of the stuff that I was reading recommended doing it at 2 years.

That sounds about right. I have a lab with Hip Dysplacia and I think we found out about her hips at around 2 years of age.

Yeah, you can get them x-rayed whenever, but it's recommended to do it at 2yrs. You can send them into OFA to see what they say in addition to what your vet says.

Yup it's best at 2 years, just remember that she will need to be sedated so that the doctor can get her in the right position without her moving.

Dumb questions but is surgery necessary for hip dysplagia? My vet (the one I am trying to dump) and I talked about it. We suspect that Frankie has some issues with his hips. I have no idea about his background. He has a little swagger in his walk, sits in a funny position, and at one point was having difficulty climbing in my car. The vet discouraged xrays, saying that it would only confirm it if he had it and the best thing to do was keep his weight down and keep him active. I also added supplements like nupro joint support and fish oils. He mentioned it is quite costly so I am not sure if he was saying that for my benefit since I really don't have the money. However, if it is to better my pups life I would save up or come up with a payment plan or something.

There are NEVER dumb questions! there are a few surgeries that can be done, the most common is where they cut the femoral head (ball) off the femur, it makes the leg sit in the socket more comfortably. There are several others as well. Here's a great link on hip dysplasia and the treatments
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=444

That vet sounds like a quack! They HAVE to have a x-ray so that they know what they are dealing with and the severity; whether or not there are any spurs or boney growths (tells them whether or not the cartilage is in good shape or not). Geez, would they just figure it out when the started the surgery? Yea I'd dump him too lol

Thanks. That's good info.

This vet and I have had many disagreements. I've been to few other vets and I have not been any happier. So since he knows Frankie since the day I got him and he is like 2 minutes away, I will continue to use him for emergency visits. He was kind of against surgery which is why he didn't want to push for xrays. But like I sadi i didn't protest because of money issues. At the time I had just spent a few hundred dollars on treatments for massive skin infections.

My sister is a vet tech in philly. One of the holistic vets in her clinic had actually given me a referral for a holistic vet close by me. So I plan to check her out in the next few weeks. Hopefully she will be my new vet. Like searching for a pediatrician, I want a dr. who will listen to what I am saying the way I listen to them. I know my dog like I know my child and I could tell you when something ain't right. This vet is a bit of a quack so hope fully the next one will be "the one".
Thanks again for the info

You can also start adding a glucosamine supplement to her diet as well. It should help his joints out They make some especially for dogs called Dasuquin, but the kind from Costco for humans works just as well.

The Nupro joint support (silver) has glucosamine in it as well. I have noticed a positive difference in him since we started it too.

Oops, just saw Dees response now. Thanks for the input ladies!!! Mya has about a weeks worth of her Glucosamine pills so I'm definitely going to try Nurpro when she runs out. Oh, and it's time to try out Grandma Lucy's also. Yay! lol

Ooo, fingers crossed the Grandma Lucy's agrees with them. Let us know how it goes when you try it! Just a note, when I was transitioning from THK to GL my sibe had soft stool the entire time. But once he was fully on GL his stools returned to normal. Thought that was weird...hopefully that doesn't happen with yours. Okay, back on topic.

Anubis has a light HD aswell, no big signs of it until now and I hope it will stay this way. He gets additional nutrition for his joints from time to time.

It is amazing how many Huskies have HD, when it is always said that Sibes are such an healthy breed. With all the issues we had I cannot agree on that.