Hip Health
What is hip dysplasia?
Hip dysplasia is an abnormal formation of the hip socket, it can cripple a dog by causing lameness and arthritis of the joints. Any breed of dog can develop hip dysplasia. However, large and medium breeds tend to report more cases of hip dysplasia then smaller breeds. Belgian Malinois are known for being a generally healthy breed and hip dysplasia is not considered a major concern in the breed.
How are dogs screened for hip dysplasia?
X-rays of the dog's hips are taken by a licensed veterinarian, usually while the dog is under sedation. Within the United States, these x-rays are usually sent off to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals "OFA" or the Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine "PennHip". The dog is then assigned a passing or failing rating based on whether or not the dog's hips show signs of dysplasia. However, these ratings are limited in that they can only provide information about the individual dog being screened, NOT that dog's offspring.
Is it necessary or beneficial to screen dogs for hip dysplasia?
The limitation with screening for hip dsyplasia is that you are trying to guess a dog's genotype (genetic makeup) by looking at its phenotype (visible characteristics). Only it's not that simple because hip dsyplasia is a polygenic trait, meaning there is more then one gene that controls whether or not it will be passed on to the next generation.
Since there is not a genetic marker test for hip dysplasia the only option is to select parents with the phenotype we want - hips that look good - in hopes of producing hips that are genetically good. But ultimately, even if neither parent has hip dysplasia it does NOT guarantee that their offspring will be free of the disease. It does however greatly reduce the risk. Furthermore, studies have shown that environmental factors such as diet, weight, and exercise can have a greater influence on whether or not a dog develops hip dsyplasia then their genes.
So why screen the parents for hip dsyplasia at all then if screening does not guarantee hip dysplasia free puppies? While there are many factors involved with whether or not a dog will develop hip dysplasia, breeding studies have shown that breeding two dysplastic dogs typically results in litters that are 85 - 95% dysplastic. While breeding two non-dysplastic dogs reduces the chance of dsyplasia to around 30 percent, with this percentage decreasing even more with each generation the disease is absent.
So while there are no guarantees, and no breeder can guarantee your puppy will not develop hip dsyplasia. We can use OFA, PennHip, and any other measures available to us to try and produce the healthiest dogs possible.
Since there is not a genetic marker test for hip dysplasia the only option is to select parents with the phenotype we want - hips that look good - in hopes of producing hips that are genetically good. But ultimately, even if neither parent has hip dysplasia it does NOT guarantee that their offspring will be free of the disease. It does however greatly reduce the risk. Furthermore, studies have shown that environmental factors such as diet, weight, and exercise can have a greater influence on whether or not a dog develops hip dsyplasia then their genes.
So why screen the parents for hip dsyplasia at all then if screening does not guarantee hip dysplasia free puppies? While there are many factors involved with whether or not a dog will develop hip dysplasia, breeding studies have shown that breeding two dysplastic dogs typically results in litters that are 85 - 95% dysplastic. While breeding two non-dysplastic dogs reduces the chance of dsyplasia to around 30 percent, with this percentage decreasing even more with each generation the disease is absent.
So while there are no guarantees, and no breeder can guarantee your puppy will not develop hip dsyplasia. We can use OFA, PennHip, and any other measures available to us to try and produce the healthiest dogs possible.
For more information on hip dysplasia you can go to my Links page.