Hip Dysplasia
Hip Dysplasia is caused by joint laxity, i.e. Of the ligament holding the ball & socket in position which over time allows abnormal wear to occur and abnormal calcification and re-modelling resulting in an ever increasing worsening of the joint as the dog ages. Most people would be unaware their dog is dysplaysic without x-rays until it’s latter years unless it is absolutely extreme, in other words a score greater than 50-60.
Pennsylvania University studies show that no pup is born dysplaysic however its method of measuring joint laxity of 16 week old pups shows that if they are lax at that age they will most likely develop Hip Dysplasia as adults,(
www.pennhip.org ) which therefore says that dysplaysia is not a bone problem it is a ligament problem, bone problems is the end result.Therefore added unnatural calcium to a dogs diet is not only a waste of money but will likely only make worse any untoward calcification changes in the hip joint because you are attacking the result not the problem.
The scientists and researchers tell us the problem is purely genetic and can be controlled by selective breeding Well can it!!!
If this is so then why after many decades and countless generations of evaluating and culling of genetic stock is it still a problem if it’s just these bad, bad genes. Make no mistake, there are just as many dysplaysic dogs in society as there ever was in fact more breeds seem to be added to the list of those prone to dysplaysia every yearand in fact cross breeds seem to be even more prone, how can that be when so many supposed experts would have you believe they are healthier than their purebred counterparts because of “hybrid vigor"? It is also no longer just large breeds such as the Rottweiler.
Some Reasearchers believe the same “polygenetic“ (meaning Many) genes responsible for Hip Dysplaysia may also be involved in Elbow Dysplaysia and other skeletal and cartilage problems. Could this also include failure of things like cruciate ligaments, and a multitude of other bone cartilage and ligament abnormalities and failures.
In this discussion about Hip Dysplaysia it must be taken into account that a large proportion of the hip scores and breed averages are corrupted for several reasons,
1-There are people who crate their pups i.e. keep them mostly confined so that they don't have the ability to put excessive strain on their joints thereby gaining a distorted hip evaluation, this often causes failure of the ligaments later in life.paticularly cruciate ligaments and additionally a dramatically raised hip evaluation score if done again at an older age.
2-People who lift dogs in and out of dog trailers, not letting them go up stairs etc -Results in a false hip score and often arthritic at middle age particularly if allowed uncontrolled and free exercise after hip scoring is out of the way.
3-Breeders who x-ray a dog but not submit them for scoring because they look high or use a brother/sister who is lower (SAME GENETICS)-Results in a corruption of the database.
4-If the breed averages are to mean anything then every dog bred of the particular breed must be scored. This does not happen so how can you possibly have a breed average score, upon which breeders stipulate maximum breedable scores that have integrity.
All that will happen is the gene pool will shrink ultimately leading to the demise of the breed because too many dogs with outstanding attributes are cast aside on what we believe is a false premise.
The Rottweiler for instance is and should always remain a working dog with the ability to run for hours, jump, climb, in short anything required to protect his family does this require good hips, damn right it does, that is why we have asked serious questions about how and why hip problems occur and how honest or fair the Breed average currently 10.3 for Rottweilers is?
These genes have obviously been in dogs forever, so to speak, so why has it become an increasing problem, when in reality it should be a decreasing one due to the fact that the majority of breeders only breed with low scoring dogs and have for many generations but still can not be sure their pups will be HD free and will not guarantee low scores.
As skeletal problems afflict every breed and cross breed doesn't one have to ask questions? We have, and by anecdotal and personal experiences have found feeding has a huge impact on the prevalence and severity of skeletal problems and we believe from feedback we have had from Rottweiler owners and some Breeders that dogs that have low hip scores often die at a younger age. Could this be another manifestation of those same polygenetic (Many) genes that affect one dog with dysplaysia or skeletal disease and another with a propensity for organ failure or cancer?
Our belief is certainly there is a genetic predisposition for any number of diseases or anatomical problems, just as there are in humans, however to try to breed exclusively to eradicate genes (Many) that cause problems is doomed to failure as you would be altering the essential make up of the animal and taken to it's logical conclusion to breed out all problems you'd be left with only one dog or type if it still looked like a dog at all.
So therefore you need to allow the animal 100% chance to have it's maximum health possible and only then maybe cull or permanently remove from a breeding program a faulty animal or line. But to have it's max health possible we believe is in the feeding, dogs are not designed to eat cooked product and just as evidence to-day suggests we humans are not eating as well as we should due to the proliferation of an over processed diet causing health problems. Don't you think this would apply to our beloved pets as well since when did you see a dog cook a meal.
On this basis we feed totally naturally and have consistently lowered Hip and Elbow scores and we believe have maximized the health in our dogs and we urge all our puppy owners to do the same,as our opinion is that a commercial diet is not for the betterment of our dogs,because they through necessity are cooked product, and no matter what the ingredients are canines are not equipped to utilize and gain maximum benefit from such food.
Of course since our canines particularly in cities don't have the access to all the resources which they would have naturally, sometimes they need some supplementation, one of the most important ones we have come across to this point in time is Vitamin C even although the veterinary profession would have you believe dogs produce enough of their own we do not believe this to be the case particularly through critical periods in a dogs growing development and with the lack of availability of the dog to eat greenery and fruit,berries etc in a city environment.
The opinions and views in this article will very likely be disagreed with by many, however we felt compelled to publish these views because attempting to alter genes has not proved successful, there must be other factors involved and whilst we continue to have success with our feeding regime we will continue to advocate it --- As the health in all facets of our dogs is PARAMOUNT.
Suggested reading on nutrition Dr Ian Billinghursts books Give your dog a bone, Grow your pups with bones
www.drianbillinghurst.com is a contact to his Australian web site. It's unfortunate however that he seems to be another example of an Australian being more recognized overseas than he is here.
Also Dr Wendell O Belfield on Processed Food
www.belfield.com/article3.html and challenging concepts of Hip Dysplaysia www.belfield.com/article9.html
www.Pennhip.org. Is another reference source
This article written, owned and copyrighted by Coalfire Rottweilers, September 2004. Do not reproduce, in whole or in part, without written permission.
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