Hip Dysplasia HD
To understand what hip dysplasia really is we must have a basic understanding of the joint that is being affected. The hip joint forms the attachment of the hind leg to the body and is a ball and socket joint. The ball portion is the head of the femur while the socket (acetabulum) is located on the pelvis. In a normal joint the ball rotates freely within the socket. To facilitate movement the bones are shaped to perfectly match each other, with the socket surrounding the ball. To strengthen the joint, the two bones are held together by a ligament. The ligament attaches the femoral head directly to the acetabulum. Also, the joint capsule, which is a very strong band of connective tissue, encircles the two bones adding further stability. The area where the bones actually touch each other is called the articular surface. It is perfectly smooth and cushioned with a layer of spongy cartilage. In the normal dog, all of these factors work together to cause the joint to function smoothly and with stability.
Hip dysplasia joint Hip dysplasia results from the abnormal development of the hip joint in the young dog. It may or may not be bilateral, affecting both right and left sides. It is brought about by the laxity of the muscles, connective tissue, and ligaments that should support the joint. Most dysplastic dogs are born with normal hips but due to genetic and possibly other factors, the soft tissues that surround the joint start to develop abnormally as the puppy grows. The most important part of these changes is that the bones are not held in place but actually move apart. The joint capsule and the ligament between the two bones stretch, adding further instability to the joint. As this happens, the articular surfaces of the two bones lose contact with each other. This separation of the two bones within a joint is called subluxation and this, and this alone, causes all of the resulting problems we associate with the disease.

What are the symptoms of hip dysplasia ?
Dogs of all ages are subject to the symptoms of hip dysplasia and the resultant osteoarthritis. In severe cases, puppies as young as five months will begin to show pain and discomfort during and after vigorous exercise. The condition will worsen until even normal daily activities are painful. Without intervention, these dogs may be unable to walk at all by a couple years of age. In most cases, however, the symptoms do not begin to show until the middle or later years in the dog's life.
The symptoms are typical for those seen with other causes of osteoarthritis. Dogs may walk or run with an altered gait, often resisting movements that require full extension or flexion of the rear legs. Many times, they run with a 'bunny hopping' gait. They will show stiffness and pain in the rear legs after exercise or first thing in the morning. Most dogs will warm up out of the muscle stiffness with movement and exercise. Some dogs will limp and many will decrease their level of activity. As the condition progresses, the dogs will lose muscle tone and may even need assistance in getting up. Many owners attribute the changes to normal aging but after treatment is initiated, they are shocked to see much more normal and pain-free movement return.

Elbow Dysplasia ED ;
Elbow dysplasia has been identified as a significant problem in many breeds.
Importantly, the condition appears to be increasing worldwide. It begins in puppy hood, and can affect the dog for the rest of its life. Since the late 1960s, veterinary surgeons routinely dealing with lame dogs have been aware of an increasing number of problems which arise during puppyhood. Hip dysplasia was the first disease to be widely recognised, and a
scheme to assess and control it is well established. More recently, elbow dysplasia (ED) has been identified as a significant problem in many breeds. Importantly the condition appears to be increasing worldwide and, although the disease begins in puppyhood, it can affect the dog for the rest of its life. The principal cause of ED is the genetic make-up of the animal. Thus, a scheme which screens animals for elbow abnormalities and allows the animals with the best elbows to be chosen for breeding, can be successful in reducing the level of the problem in the canine population.

THE CAUSES OF ELBOW DYSPLASIA
ED is a multifactorial disease, which means that a number of factors can influence the occurrence of the condition. The most important factor, however, is the genetic make-up of the dog. Other factors such as growth rate, diet and
level of exercise may influence the severity of the disease slightly in an individual dog, but they cannot prevent the disease or reduce the potential of the dog to pass the disease on to offspring. However, studies show that ED
has a high heritability confirming that a high proportion of the cause of the disease is genetic.
As individual breeds of dog have a proportion of their genetic make-up in common, it is not a surprise that some breeds are more vulnerable to a heritable condition than others. In general, medium- and large-breed dogs are considered to be vulnerable to ED. Unfortunately ED is not controlled by a single gene or a simple inheritance. It is a polygenic characteristic, which means that it is controlled by the combination of many genes. One way of visualising this is to think of a normal dog as carrying a few of the genes which can cause elbow problems; a dog with subclinical disease will have more of these 'problem' genes, and an animal with lameness will have a higher proportion still.

CONTROL OF ELBOW DYSPLASIA
As the genetic make-up of the dog is the overwhelming influence on the cause of ED, the disease can be controlled by minimising the 'problem' genes in the population. This means selecting sires and dams with the best genetic
make-up. There is no laboratory genetic test available, like a DNA 'fingerprint', to show which animals have the best genetic make-up for elbows. However, dogs can be screened by radiographing (X-raying) their elbows, and looking
for the signs of ED. If sires and dams are only selected from animals with minimal ED, most of the clinical and subclinical animals can be eliminated from the breeding programme, which prevents them passing their defective genetic make up on
to the next generation. Success of such control depends on a high proportion of any breed participating, and making the information public, so that low-risk animals can be selected by anyone wishing to breed. In other countries,
screening schemes like this have been successful in significantly reducing the ED problem. There is an international standard for such schemes administered by the International Elbow Working Group (IEWO), which encourages a coordinated approach to the problem.

ADVICE ON BREEDING
The overall grade is used internationally as the basis far breeding advice. Breeders are advised to select dogs with grades of ID or 1 in order to reduce the risk of ED in their offspring. As ED is a prevalent disease, especially in the breeds listed on page 3, such advice will only be effective if it is continued over a number of generations. The most difficult part of accepting such advice for many breeders is that a number of dogs which have never been lame and exercise freely, also have high grades. This, however, is the subclinical population with the ability to pass the problem on in the breed. To gain long-term control of the disease these dogs ought not to be bred from.

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