You have all been so helpful to me in the past but I now have another question to ask. My Chessie, Dakota, had been diagnosed with hip dysplasia some months back. When I asked my vet about what type of exercise he can do he told me to take him on short walks, not too much activity. My Dog is about 2 1/2 now and this is driving he and I crazy. I have still been throwing the dummie out for him to retrieve(he has soo much energy) and I take him for a walk from time to time. I want to let him be a dog and also let him swim but I don't want to make his condition worse. Anybody have some good insite to this situation. I feel that my vet is over reacting abit. He has a very mild case of dysplasia. Please help if you can.
Hip dysplasia rarely causes symptoms in Chessies. Tell me, did you have a second opinion done of Dakota's hips? Did this vet diagnose this with x-rays? I'd get another set done now he is 2 1/2. Some Chessies "look" dysplastic when they are young, but they really aren't. I'd get another set of x-rays done and send them to OFA. They will be looked at by 3 vets. So you basically get 3 second opinions for the price of one!
Even if he does come back with a dysplasia diagnosis, reducing his exercise is not a good thing. Dogs need to build up their hindquarter muscles to compenaste for bad hips. The best exercise you can do is free running (including retrieves), and swimming. Really, swimming is the best, if you can find a spot to let him swim.
Walking on hard surfaces, like concrete and asphalt is probably the worst exercise option. If you are limited to what you can do because of where you live, then maybe look into teaching some field exercises for fun. Look into John and Amy Dahl's Ten Minute Retriever, and DL Walters' Training Retrievers to Handle. There are training drills in there that you can teach on a school ball field. Dakota will get plenty of exercise running those drills, you will get plenty of exercise teaching them, and you will both develop a teamwork you never thought possible!
Tricia, My first field trial dog could not get an OFA number. She did win three qualifyings and place in a lot of other trials. She was the hardest running dog I have ever owned and could easily jump in the back of a pick-up when she was twelve. She had difficulty getting up shortly before she died at 14 1/2. If your dog is limping, I think that is reason to be concerned. If he vet is just talking about findings from an X-ray, I wouldn't give it another thought.
I had first brought this to my vets attention because he had a limp. He did the x-rays said he believed there was dysplasia in the right hip but he wanted to send it to a radiologist. The results were that he had dysplasia in the right but very mild. We have him on ( I believe this is the correct spelling)cosequin. So he does have dysplasia. I just wanted to know what exercises were safe for him because it just doesn't seem fair to completely limit his fun. I am soooo glad to hear that swimming is good because my parents live on a lake and we always take him down there. Since about a month after we started the glucosomine pills we haven't seen a limp, some stiffness once in awhile but no limp.Thank you for all of you help.
Mild dysplasia doesn't usually cause limping in this breed. Maybe you should have the knee looked at. Partial cruciate ligament tears are more common than originally thought in this breed, and they can cause lameness and pain.
If you have a good orthopedic specialist in your area, it may be well worth the trip to see him.
