# My pups bum wiggles when he walks....



## FuzzButtMum

I have grown up around GSDs and other dogs but Finnick is my first pup to whom I have sole responsibility! (I know, I know....GSDs aren't for first time owners). So far we are doing really well though! Crate training is going great, he has learnt "Sit", "stay" and"down"...only 1 accident in the house since we got him last Monday! He's so calm and placid. He's just lovely! We will be going to puppy playgroup and training classes when he can get out and about. 

However, I'm so paranoid about hip dysplasia  is it normal for his bum to slightly have a wiggle when he walks? He's so clumsy (I know all pups are), he lays down a lot, but I honestly think that's due to him being lazy! We're off to get his second jabs next week so I will get the vet to look his hips over....but I just thought i'd ask you guys if you think it's normal for his hips to wiggle? Other than that, I don't think he has any lameness. 

Thanks x


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## wyoung2153

Without seeing a video or something, it sounds like a normal puppy wiggle butt!!


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## Harry and Lola

It could be just puppy wiggle.

Good on you for being aware of HD and ED - grow them slowly, don't over exercise, allow, minimise high impact exercising such as jumping, don't allow fast sprints with sudden stops etc.

Not to alarm you but a dog walking with a wiggle generally has HD, my 5yo GSD girl has HD, she is fairly even on both sides with it and has a score of 38. She walks like Marilyn Monroe, hips wiggle from side to side. To manage her she gets a glucosamine and chondroitin capsule every day. It is important to note, there are degrees of HD and ED, those with mild to moderate can live a happy life with supplements andgenerally won't require surgery.


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## TigervTeMar

this is really interesting to me. my guy started at a trainer and the lady mentioned his rear legs are cow hocked. but I've seen pictures of other 4 month old GSD puppies and they all look the same. is he supposed to have larger & stronger hind legs at 4 months? his butt also wiggles from side to side when he walks, but this too was like other GSD puppies this age I've met


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## Amurphy26

We had a collie with HD and have been terrified our GSD will have bad hips. She's 18 mths and getting hip scored in a couple of months at the same time as getting spayed. She comes for short runs on the beach but we're careful about the ground she runs on. It's just to put our minds at rest and if there's any problems found we can manage it from early on. Our collies bum didn't wiggle and he looked in perfect health so he came running with us from when he was 2yrs. By the time he started showing signs the damage was done. For a while I thought our GSDs bum wiggled too much but was recently told by a professional that she had great movement and conformation. I think we can over think things and panic too much. 


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## FuzzButtMum

Thanks everyone. I'll try and get a video of him walking tomorrow, hopefully I can upload it here so you can see and give me your opinions. 

We have a medium sized yard, he loves bombing around it.......I should really stop him from doing that then...because he suddenly stops abruptly and runs the other direction, that's probably quite high impact on his hips? Not sure how i'll stop him from doing that apart from leashing him whilst out there? 

TigervTeMar - It's so hard to tell, I kept thinking my little guys legs were cow hocked too, but then I look and I think "no they're fine". Probably best to get vets opinion...I'd love to hear back if you see a vet about his legs.


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## TigervTeMar

he has a vet apt tues for shots so I'll ask the vet for their opinion. I'm less worried now than when the trainer first said what she did. I've looked at tons of photos and he's at least 'like them'. but I will def fill you in on what the vet says


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## FuzzButtMum

TigervTeMar said:


> he has a vet apt tues for shots so I'll ask the vet for their opinion. I'm less worried now than when the trainer first said what she did. I've looked at tons of photos and he's at least 'like them'. but I will def fill you in on what the vet says


Thank you  Good luck for the vets! I'm so anxious to see our vet, just to get a second more professional opinion on his hips. I'm hoping it's just me being paranoid, but I know what GSD's are like :\ if both our little guys butts wiggle, hopefully it just comes down to the "puppy butt wiggle" and nothing more serious!


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## FuzzButtMum

Also.......I have a stair gate at the bottom of the stairs to prevent Finnick from trying to go up and down the stairs, I normally carry him up and down (he sleeps in a crate next to my bed), can carrying him harm his hips?


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## TigervTeMar

I don't know if it harms their hips, I hope not. But I don't let my guy jump up or down from my car I just carry him both ways


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## FuzzButtMum

TigervTeMar said:


> I don't know if it harms their hips, I hope not. But I don't let my guy jump up or down from my car I just carry him both ways


I think it probably just matters HOW you carry them, obviously support their hips and chest areas. It's not like a long journey, and most likely less impact than trying to get up and down the stairs/car


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## Amurphy26

We're convinced our collies HD came from too many ball games when he was developing. There was a lot of sharp turns, skidding etc and it was on a daily basis. 


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## FuzzButtMum

Amurphy26 said:


> We're convinced our collies HD came from too many ball games when he was developing. There was a lot of sharp turns, skidding etc and it was on a daily basis.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I going to try my best to avoid strenuous activity for him, hard as he's so lively and playful. How do your collies cope with their HD?


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## Amurphy26

Unfortunately the collie passed away last year. As well as HD he had epilepsy and died following some bad fits. 
He really struggled with the HD but mostly because by the time we discovered it he was used to a lot of exercise and struggled accepting calm, low impact exercise. When we were researching GSDs every breeder we spoke to suggested getting our dog hip scored when the dog is between 1 and 2yrs old. If there are any problems we can tailor her exercise to suit her hips. We're getting our GSD hip scored when she gets spayed in July. She has a lot of energy so rather than drain her energy physically we've done lots of mental games including scenting. She loves them and can now sniff out my car keys. There's nothing complicated with her scenting, it just keeps her busy while protecting her growing bones. 


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## FuzzButtMum

Amurphy26 said:


> Unfortunately the collie passed away last year. As well as HD he had epilepsy and died following some bad fits.
> He really struggled with the HD but mostly because by the time we discovered it he was used to a lot of exercise and struggled accepting calm, low impact exercise. When we were researching GSDs every breeder we spoke to suggested getting our dog hip scored when the dog is between 1 and 2yrs old. If there are any problems we can tailor her exercise to suit her hips. We're getting our GSD hip scored when she gets spayed in July. She has a lot of energy so rather than drain her energy physically we've done lots of mental games including scenting. She loves them and can now sniff out my car keys. There's nothing complicated with her scenting, it just keeps her busy while protecting her growing bones.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I'm sorry, but it sounds like he had a very caring owner in you to look after him. I'll definitely get Finnick hip scored as soon as he is old enough! Can I ask, what exactly is the scenting game? It sounds good, I need to find Finnick more mental stimulating games (baring in mind he's only 9 weeks) x


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## Amurphy26

It was just basic stuff (I am far from a dog trainer) but it was things like teaching her 'find' by hiding treats in the house and garden and getting her to sniff them out, then her tennis ball and now my car keys. It wasn't scenting but I also got some friends kids to play hide and seek with her. I gave them a whistle and sent them to hide in the garden with a treat for her. When they blew the whistle I let her go and she would dash round the garden till she found them then sit and wait for her treat. That was my favourite because it taught her manners with children, helped with her whistle recall and as the game got harder she also had to use her nose to find them. She was doing that from about 10 wks. 

Our collie was a great dog, it was hard watching him when he was ill and vet sad when he went. Our GSD loved him.


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## FuzzButtMum

That's a fab idea! I might try that and then once he gets the hang of it I might try including my two young nieces (4 and 6), I agree...It teaches them that children = positive things and not scary loud things lol! Plus, it's great fun! We don't work with a whistle, we use a clicker....but it's one you can adjust the volume, so also good for recall! Thanks for the idea, hehe. 

Oh, he sounds like a sweetheart. It's always so hard saying goodbye to our furry kids...sounds like he had a great life with you though <3


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## FuzzButtMum

Here's a couple of videos of Finnick walking (it was surprisingly hard to get him to walk the opposite way to me!) - 

https://vimeo.com/91973824

https://vimeo.com/91973712

(didn't know how to directly attach them here)

P.s I realize he looks very chubby in the videos....he honestly doesn't have THAT much puppy fat! (all that fur doesn't help ). His back legs sometimes looks slightly "cow hocked". Opinions?


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## Amurphy26

I don't really know anything about cow hocked but looks like a gorgeous, big pup. I wasn't familiar with the term before you mentioned it. Hope someone else can help?


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## FuzzButtMum

Amurphy26 said:


> I don't really know anything about cow hocked but looks like a gorgeous, big pup. I wasn't familiar with the term before you mentioned it. Hope someone else can help?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Thank you, he is a rather cute little chunk  

Cow hocked basically means the hind legs aren't parrallel to each other, they kind of play outward :\


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## Harry and Lola

what a gorgeous boy, what is his age and weight?

i did see a bit of wiggle walk, but could be puppy buoyancy 

i also saw what could be cow hocked, but unless you plan on showing him, i wouldn't worry at all, one of the most stunning looking black and red GSD males I have ever seen was cow hocked.


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## FuzzButtMum

Harry and Lola said:


> what a gorgeous boy, what is his age and weight?
> 
> i did see a bit of wiggle walk, but could be puppy buoyancy
> 
> i also saw what could be cow hocked, but unless you plan on showing him, i wouldn't worry at all, one of the most stunning looking black and red GSD males I have ever seen was cow hocked.


Aww, thank you! He's almost 10 weeks old, hes due to be weighed again next week, so i'm unsure what he weighs at the moment. That's what i'm hoping, because sometimes his wiggle is more pronounced than other times. He doesn't seem to have any other signs of it (although I know it's still early). I'm going to be uber careful on exercise and maybe get him on glucosamine pills or something to help his joints in the hope that IF he does get HD, it'll slightly help. 

I don't plan on showing him (I want to keep his cuteness all for me lol)  I don't really know much about how cow hocked legs can affect them?


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## Diesel7602

My boy doesn't have a wiggle bum unless he is wagging his tail. But my boy still is clumsy and trips. I think he trips over his big paws..

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## Diesel7602

FuzzButtMum said:


> Also.......I have a stair gate at the bottom of the stairs to prevent Finnick from trying to go up and down the stairs, I normally carry him up and down (he sleeps in a crate next to my bed), can carrying him harm his hips?


I use to carry my boy up and down the stairs tell he got to heavy, the vet said he is ok to go up, down only with help so he doesn't jump or tumble. So when he goes down I hold his caller. I don't think holding them hurts them or can cause harm,, but my boy hated being pick up he would grumble. I think it's because he knew his cage was up stairs.:sly:

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## FuzzButtMum

Diesel7602 said:


> I use to carry my boy up and down the stairs tell he got to heavy, the vet said he is ok to go up, down only with help so he doesn't jump or tumble. So when he goes down I hold his caller. I don't think holding them hurts them or can cause harm,, but my boy hated being pick up he would grumble. I think it's because he knew his cage was up stairs.:sly:
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yep....Finnick is also too heavy for me to carry him too  I can't believe how quickly he's growing! I'm sure Percy is the same  he goes up the stairs fine but when we're coming down, he stands at the top of the stairs and looks at me as if i'm making him jump off the edge of a cliff  

He gets weighed today (in about 2 hours), and his second jabs!


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## Diesel7602

FuzzButtMum said:


> Yep....Finnick is also too heavy for me to carry him too  I can't believe how quickly he's growing! I'm sure Percy is the same  he goes up the stairs fine but when we're coming down, he stands at the top of the stairs and looks at me as if i'm making him jump off the edge of a cliff
> 
> He gets weighed today (in about 2 hours), and his second jabs!


Oh I'm excited let me know.

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