Hip Dysplasia

[Hattie]

We got our border collie, Marley (then named Shep), from our uncle not long ago.

My uncle is a farmer, and Marley was bought for him by his boss, to herd the sheep because my uncle's old collie herder had died.

Soon later, after having been trained to herd sheep, they found out he had hip dysplasia.

Thinking it was cruel to have him run around whilst in pain from his hips, he gave Marley to us.

 

We've had him for a few years now, and his hips seem to have gotten worse despite regular on going treatement and a diet of medical dog food.

Still, Marley loves to run. He'd run for hours and hours and hours if he could, he doesn't seem bothered by his hips.

But then, when you get him home, he's obviously in a great amount of pain, even just from playing a quick, 3-minute game of fetch.

He'll limp and whine and hobble aronud, and it really is a sad sight to see, especially when Marley, being a border collie, loves running and bouncing around more than anything in the world.

 

Obviously, we don't exercise him much due to his hips; an hour walk a day around the block, and a two hour walk around the woods at the weekend.

Does anyone have any advice ? I can't seem to find the balance between satisfying his border collie energy, and not hurting his hips.

[northborderrookie]

If this was my dog I would look at working his mind (tricks and training) and keep the physical exercise low so as not to cause him greater pain or aggravate his condition. What does your vet say? I've heard that some people have had great success with gold bead implants on their dogs with hip dysplasia. Acupuncture might be something to look at.

 

kara

[sandyleew]

One very important things is that the dog be very lean. Any excess weight will make it worse. My Dog that has HD is extremely active and the vet says that this is good to keep him muscled and active. He also gets glucosamine chondrotin/MSM supplement daily and also Ester-C daily. He is 4 years old and seems hardly bothered ny it except for when it is extremely cold in the winter. Then, I give him aspirin and that seems to help. My dog is very lean, though.

[HighDesertSpice]

Fetch is a particularly difficult thing for HD--due to the quick turns, et al. My dogs get lots of swimming instead. My bc girl now has some sort of problem and I'm limiting her to just straight walk - running...no playing around with her buddies as the wrestling and contorting seems to aggravate the issue. I look at my dogs as kids who need some help dealing with injuries so as to heal and not to further aggravate the injuries.