Hip Dysplasia in working dogs

[SMART DOG 340]

I have a young lurcher and i noticed a few weeks ago stiff lameness to his back right leg as if it was a dead leg, so i have gave him 2 weeks total rest and 2 weeks of very short walks and he is still showing the same type of lameness. I will be taking him to a greyhound vet and vet for xray's, but I am just wondering if anyone has any experience with hip Dysplasia as this seems to be my worst case scenario

 

Cheers Micky

[sandymere 8,263]

I had a suspect pup not long ago, it is not common in lurchers but not unkown, get the xray and see. My vet was under instruction to put down if positive, it turned out to be something else in the end.

Good luck S

[Dawn B 212]

Yes HD is there in working dogs too. If you dont at least x ray before you breed, you wouldnt know in a lot of cases if the symptoms dont surface. Lameness is often blamed on hard work when it is in actual fact genetic problem.

[skycat 6,174]

Greyhound vet is your best, and only, option. A greyhound vet will do x-rays if necessary, but there are a host of other problems (torn muscle, damaged tendons/ligaments, bad bruising to the bone etc) it could be without being hip dysplacia. A good greyhound vet will also know how to look for muscle and tendon damage.

Without seeing the dog in the flesh and knowing what to look for, no one is likely to offer an opinion on what it could be. Fingers crossed it is something treatable, but you've done the right thing resting the dog and not letting it run. It is unlikely to be HD if the dog has come from a well worked line of sound working dogs that have survived all sorts in the field and been bred from once they have proved they are properly made, but as Dawn says, you can never rule anything out. Good luck at the vet's.

[Caravan Monster 323]

I had a first cross collie greyhound that had dodgy sacroiliac joint (spine to hip joint) and the nerve pressure caused symptoms of lameness in the dog after even quite a small amount of running around. To his credit, the breeder admitted that there had been a few cases of similar problems in first cross puppies he had bred, including a very nasty instance of hip dysplasia.

 

The greyhound vet diagnosed this dog without x-ray. He had me trot the dog (up and down his bloody steep driveway!) and then manipulated the relevent joints. He offered to x-ray, but advised that I would be wasting my money, being so confident in his diagnosis. Knowing that this vet had spent his entire working life (45+ years) specialising in sighthounds, I was happy to accept his opinion.