Quote Originally Posted by wolfsoul View Post
Hi Zara,

I don't have any personal experiences with any of MY dogs, but I'm happy to share some experiences with other Belgian shepherds.

As far as hip dysplasia goes, I think it's alot more common than anyone knows. I can sometimes tell just by looking at a dog if it's dysplastic -- but it's owner wouldn't even have a clue. Because it's so normal for dogs to be dysplastic, we assume that all dogs look and move this way.
I don't have much experience with this, as HD is fairly uncommon in Collies, however as far as noticing how dogs move. I have seen dogs, that ended up with bad HD (one being a Lab, one being a Spring) and they moved really well! I think it depends on the dog really. But I agree.. sometimes you can tell just by looking at how they move, that something isn't right.


Quote Originally Posted by wolfsoul View Post
I think that if every single dog were to be x-rayed, most of them would be considered dysplastic (how many dogs have decent structure these days?? Poor structure can contribute to joint issues later on). Unfortunatly databases like OFA are not accurate because most people who have a dog x-rayed, only for the vet to tell them their dog is dysplastic, will not send in that x-ray to OFA. Not many breeders want that information on a public database (I'm not one of those breeders, I will gladly admit when I breed a health problem). Not only that, the extreme vast majority of the dogs x-rayed are purebred. This is one reason that people go on about "hybrid vigor." While some of it may remain true, the fact is that mutts don't generally get health tested or certified -- hence why OFA has a much larger amount of purebreds with hip dysplasia than mutts -- not because there is a higher incedence in purebreds.
Not sure I agree, that if all dogs were xrayed, most would be considered dysplastic, but I'm sure it would have a higher frequency. It just depends on what breed you are talking about. Of the dogs I've had OFA'd, most have been rated excellent and a couple have been good. But I do agree about mixed breeds and hybrid vigor, very few people do health tests and certify the dogs like purebreds, so its hard to tell for sure how frequent a problem is seen in mixed breeds, compared to purebreds.

Luckily in my breed (Collies) hip dysplasia is not very common.
However, the most commonly seen problem is CEA (collie eye anomaly), which affects about 77% of Collies world wide (and of the Collies that are "normal eyed" most are still carriers for the gene), but about 66% of those affected dogs have what is called Choroidal Hypoplasia, which is the mildest form of CEA, which does not get worse as they get older and it does not cause vision problems. About 8.75% have Coloboma's which is a small pit or bulged in the eye and about 1.8% have Retinal Detachment.

Bloat is VERY common in some bloodlines.... lines I've tried to stay away from as much as possible. Dermatomyositis (commonly called DM in the Collie/sheltie world) is seen in some lines, though I've never personally seen a dog with it, just photos.