Hip dysplasia

[cmayer31]

Well, at just under a year old Riley got to go into the vet for pulling her leg while running. After some tests and a few x-rays it turns out she has pretty bad hip dysplasia in both hips, the right hip being worse than the left. She is a month too old for triple osteotomy of the pelvis, and way too young, and large, for femoral head excision.

The vet told us to keep her to lowered levels of activity and no long walks. She gave us anti-inflamatory pills for when Riley appears to be sore, or in pain. The problem is that Riley got her name from always being riled up. She loves to run, and we have a large back yard. Also, her favorite thing in the world is to play fetch, and the vet said no more of that.

How do you keep a 1 year old aussie/retriever mix, who lives to be active, inactive?

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has been in a similar situation and what steps they took to make sure that their best friend has/had as good a quality of life as possible.

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm sorry to hear Riley is having problems. I too have an active pup that can no longer be active. My Lacey had ACL surgery in the fall of 2004. She is facing another ACL surgery on her other leg next week. :( She too has a large fenced yard and loved to play ball. My husband and I are homebodies, so other than work, we're home a lot with the pups.
All I can suggest is maybe teaching Riley tricks such as hide and seek with a toy or treat. Grooming is quality time too!
Good luck with her and try to stay positive! :)

[lizbud]

My RB Buddy was diagnosed early on of hip displasia.(His right leg would
slip out of the socket) I had to not let him run to much or put to much
strain on his back legs. As Chocolatepup said, we played more quiet type
games until after his first surgery.

[bckrazy]

That's so sad :(... I can't imagine finding that out when she is so young still, she sounds like such a sweet pup. I definitely wish you the best of luck with everything. Have you considered swimming? If you have a lake, dog-friendly pool, or a friend with a pool nearby, swimming is very good exercise and it won't hurt her. My dog probably gets most worn out spending an hour or two retrieving frisbees at our local lake.