On Sat, 4 Mar 2006 14:07:15 -0500, "wolfpuppy"
wrote:


"Rocky" wrote in message
...
"wolfpuppy" said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

Hip dysphasia affects around 10% of all dogs across
the board and is generated by inbreeding, [...]

How so?

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Hip dysphasia is the condition when the socket of the hip is too shallow for
the ball of the femur. When a dog is young, it is not as noticeable because
the musculature is strong enough to keep the socket in place. As the dog
ages, and the muscles and tendons weaken and stretch, the ball end of the
femur will want to come out and this is what causes the severe pain. There
isn't too much that can be done for this condition.

Hip dysphasia is caused by inbreeding, that is, breeding too close to the
blood. Breeding littermates, for example. This is a condition that affects
all breeds across the board at about 10%. I found out this info years ago
when I wanted to educate myself on this condition, for I had been told for
so long that this was a trait associated with german shepherds primarily.
I've since learned that this is not so, but is fairly equally distributed
among all breeds. In other words, a disreputable breeder, instead of
introducing new stock into his dogs, will cheat and breed males and females
that are too closely related to save a buck. This is a very good reason for
checking out your breeder very carefully before purchasing.

There is actually no such thing as hip dysphasia. Dysplasia, yes.
And it's not *caused* by breeding to close to the blood, whatever that
means.

Mustang Sally