# 13wk Puppy, Question on hips



## SamTheDog (Apr 4, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I've moved on from being worried about his ears standing up to being worried about my pups hips. He is 13 weeks old. After reading about all of the symptoms of hip dysplasia, I am looking for them constantly. I know my pup is still growing and developing, but are some of the things he is doing normal for this age? For example, when he runs fast his back legs are together. When he goes up stairs he bunny hops up. I also notice that he kind of sits like a frog. I can't tell if he is swaying when he walks, and he doesn't have any pain. I will try to get a video of him running up soon. Is it too early to worry? Is some of this normal for a clumsy puppy? Thanks in advance for the advice.

-Matt


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

That sounds normal for a 13 week old puppy. They tend to bounce more than run, and the splayed sit at that age is very normal too. I call it the "lazy puppy sit", and my 2 year old that just OFA'd Hips "Good" still does the puppy bouncing when running and playing, and still did the lazy puppy sit until he was about 18 months old. 

Not very likely to show symptoms of HD at 13 weeks, but keeping an eye on him and getting prelims done when he is about 6 months old can do a lot to ease your mind, if you really are worried.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

If you went to a responsible breeder and both parent dogs had great OFA x-rays, I'd not be worried at this point. Instead I'd call the breeder and tell them what you see and ask how the littermates are doing!

Far as sitting, puppies all sit weird. 

Here's a video of my puppy running and sitting at about the same age. I've found tons of appropriate exercise really helps the NORMAL growth of bones/tendons and ligaments so is important.


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

some of it is....I would limit steps as much as possible at this age...he may just be a clumsy "loose" puppy....some types are more gangly than others at this age - I have been at shows and watched pups walking whose back ends look like egg beaters crossing over and their owners are not concerned...

I would not worry as long as the pup is active and moves around alot when awake! If he sits alot and does not want to run around and play, then he can be x-rayed at 4 months - I NEVER do x-rays this early myself and ONLY would if the pup seemed abnormal or painful!

Lee


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

I'm not an expert but you may be worrying too early. Your pup is still trying to figure out how to use all of his body parts and therefore he does things funny. He will run like he has no spine for a while and hop because he probably doesn't understand he can just walk up/down the stairs. German shepherd pups have a tendency to grow body parts at different rates, so they get long legs and don't know what to do with them.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i got my pup at 9 weeks old and he
bunny hopped for a while. then he had pano.
oh man, was i worried. so my puppy is roached,
bunny hops and has pano. it was ugly. try not
to worry to much. once he learns how to do the
steps and he developes some muscle he's going to be
fine. you have a nice looking pup.


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## SamTheDog (Apr 4, 2011)

Very glad to hear it. Ive watch a bunch of videos on here of other peoples puppies and i dont see any difference. He is super active, never wants to sleep, and doesnt seem to have any pain. He was at the vet today (somehow caught kennel cough), and the vet felt his hips and legs and said everything seems fine as of right now. I will get him xrayed when he is older just to make sure. Thanks for the replies.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

If you are worried you can do an x ray as early as 4 months and get a decent idea of what is going on , especially if there is a problem. If there is you can address it nutritionally to minimize damage by building ligaments , cartilage, and muscle. 
Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## 4TheDawgies (Apr 2, 2011)

Don't worry about it puppies are the most awkward little things.


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## CuriousKira (Mar 15, 2011)

I'm with you on this one! Kira turned 13 weeks yesterday & at first I was worried about those floppy ears & now hips. Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not the only one worrying. Everything you described is what I'm dealing with also, bunny hops, froggy sitting & wiggly bum! Hopefully they grow into theirselves soon!


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)




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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I've only owned one dog that obviously had hip problems at 8 or 9 weeks of age ... you could feel them/hear them popping in/out of joint. Other that that I've been pretty lucky with my dogs, adopted one with H/D, had a couple with questionable hips (BUT I only x-ray if the dog is showing a problem walking/running or if hips happen to be in an x-ray for another problem).


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

poor child --- older than you would think - that is not baby gibberish -- proportions on legs wrong


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

carmspack said:


> poor child --- older than you would think - that is not baby gibberish -- proportions on legs wrong


Agree - that child has a birth defect. Prader–Willi syndrome? Downs?


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

I thought Prader - Willi is male only ? I know about the compulsive need to eat anything .

Over lunch with my micro-biologist friend this came up because there is only one chromosone difference to normal and that one day things like this can be detected and prevented by "deletion" of that one errant chromosone .


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

No PW can occur in females also. Disorder results from deletion of PATERNAL copies of genes on c'some 15. Disease characterized by intellectual delays, extreme obesity (due to hyperphagia, and lack of muscle/physical development), small hands/feet, facial abnormalities, extremely flexible etc - all of which the girl displays. 

There is a loss of genes here so further deletion will not help. She would need an insertion of functional copies to compensate for her deletion. If this girl was tested in-utero, the disease would have presented itself through genetic testing, but it is rare so parents probably never thought to do so.


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