6 Month Old--Weak Rear - Page 6

I would not spend money on further investigation as to what's wrong with the dog...It is a showline, with physical problems. The only thing under your control is the amount of food and exercise that you can provide. that's where I would focus.

I suspect the owner has already spend a tidy sum, on healthcare so far. For future owners, the moral of the story is that spending a few hundred more on a good breeder, and doing due diligence on the breeder and his dogs is crucial.

I just wanted to chime in and say that you are a great owner and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's not your fault that your puppy looks like this....even with you underfeeding him. That wouldn't cause his condition. It's not your fault. I repeat...it's not your fault.

Sounds like you are doing right by your puppy with exercise and training. I really hope they figure it out for you. I fed my pup only 3 cups a day so you were not too far off. They are supposed to be skinny as puppies. In fact, my girl just turned a year yesterday and is still on the "skinny" side...that's how I like it as I feel her performance is easier for her.  Someone posted an article on here from an extremely reputable author that stated they found a correlation between HD and weight of puppy growth. I have also been told by showline people to "fatten" her up. In their defense, a heavy type dog is almost always, always rewarded the most in the showring....absolutely true. 

Hang in there; it's not your fault; and your boy is lucky to have you!!

Sara

I'm with guddu. The dog has good stools, apparently is active, good appetite and if hips check out o.k., what else is there to look for at this stage.

The pup is extremely angled, bones are long in the rear and the rear is loose. Nothing a chiro or blood test can do for that.

IMO he just needs to grow.  Underwater tread  mill might help.. but he is 6 months old.  That means he has a LOT of growing to do.. and he looks awkward right now. 

Wait for the hip results and just be careful he does not grow too fast or gain too much too fast.  The idea of going to an adult food is a good one.  This is not a dog (or a breed of dog) that you want to have fat!  OTOH he needs enough food to develop muscle. 

Honestly?  Unless he is lame, I would give him another 12 months before doing anything drastic (treadmills, weights, etc).  Let him grow into himself.  Make sure he gets enough Calories and enough exercise and some swimming if he can swim. 

I would also do some training with him to make him "rear end aware."  That can help a LOT to develop coordination. 

I am really curious as to what education level some have achieved in nutrition and where they got it when they make some of these suggestions. The fact that lengthy studies are disregarded in favor of what was told to them or read on the internet is mind-boggling. Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe, just maybe, the current feeding trends are not conducive to proper growth and that's why GSDs have more problems than other breeds? Pet people who don't know any better can go buy a Golden Retriever, feed it puppy food, and the dog can grow up fine. People who think they know it all and have "working dogs" end up with several dysplastic dogs and blame it on "the genes." Is it just the genes? Is it just the environment? Maybe it's both! Maybe we need to reevaluate what and WHY we feed the way we do. 

I had someone say to me "I buy good dogs from good breeders. But my dogs always have all the problems."   Um...if YOUR dogs are the only ones in litters having problems, and this happens more than once, ever think it's the way you FEED and/or raise/train??? Another lady had 4 dysplastic dogs, all from different breeders. Every one of them had either hip or elbow dysplasia. Bad luck, huh? Incidentally, these are "working dog" people who are experts at puppy-rearing and feed small amounts of high quality ADULT dog food, supplement, keep them penned up much of the day and "work" them twice a week or so. 

Sorry for the rant, but I get extremely frustrated when people throw out ideas of things to "try" with no real basis on WHY and not enough understanding of the delicate balance that needs to be attained for proper growth, especially in a dog who already has some bone and/or ligament abnormalities. If he were my dog, I would think of how a dog would behave in the wild and recreate it best I could. Natural footing, different footing textures, short climbing exercises, natural food choices, no excessive crate time, then balls to the wall running. 

I would put this dog on raw IMO, but I think the OP said he was against raw. I read these posts late last night, so I could be remembering incorrectly. 

I'm not against raw, I'm against the ridiculous notion that raw is some perfect cure-all. 

IMO a perfectly healthy, sound, well bred dog will not be ruined by being fed kibble over raw. Considering that he's hardly been kept in a box all day (compared to other shepherds I know that spend 5-6 hours a day in a crate and grew up to be FINE), and has gotten adequate exercise for his age, I don't really think this is a diet/exercise issue. PT would build specific muscles to help with posture but it's not my fault that he has the wrong posture. It could honestly be that he got dealt bad genes and has bad structure. He's one of three. The breeder has confessed to me that she has been breeding for a steeper croupe. Steeper croupe = more problems. This is NOT a case of hip dysplasia.

Thanks to the people who have showed support. I think what I want to do is keep working on builind muscle and getting him as strong as I can so he can carry his body in a better way. 

I guess we will see how your puppy does on the increased kibble. 

he is skinny, and over angulated.....the skinny is being worked out........the overangulated may improve a bit with age. at his present age, he's extra leggy and this makes it look even more so.

i've seen much worse, some from VA sires (not my breedings), grow out of this by the time they were a year. two had a wierd twist to their hind legs when walking......hips and elbows were good. as they matured they improved and they are happy healthy young adults now.

just keep giving him a fair amount of run and play time, walk and play with him on sand every other day and love him for the pup that he is.

 Thanks Ibrahim for posting the link.

 Yes, calcium in your dog food is not the   three kinds..it usually is the cheapest kind the dog food people can find.and it does not distribute into the blood stream , bones and necessary parts . You have to have three kinds of calcium in a dogs body and a humans body.



Yesterday someone posted  about the horrible conditions of the one company I have repeatedly said   DO not buy their dog food , no matter what kind it is.

NOW today , I reiterate...what you feed is more than important..BUT  what the BREEDER did is of more IMPORTANCE...

I am gonna wait , on this one, till you get the HIP report back.
 
An ill bred pup, who was fed wrong and the BITCH that carried it, was fed wrong, and this dog has structural problem that feeding is not gonna correct. Genetics and environmental ignorance on a breeders part is not YOUR fault.

Further comments held back until the HIPS  report are back...SOMETHING  is not right ....if the spine is not damaged and there is no SPINAL disease in this dog...

I would be in panic if this was my pup.

Post what the hips show and PLease POST the ExRAYS when it is over...vet will give you a copy.

Are you sending the xrays in to be read and evaluated by an orthopedic expert  or are you taking a vets opinion.???

YR