luxating hocks

**citronella** · 10-02-2011, 12:22 PM

HI,

Has anyone had any issues with their dogs with luxating hocks. My puppy was at the vets at 6weeks (breeder took them for their shots) and he determined she seemed to have a slight case of luxating (loose) hocks. However when we went to visit yesterday the breeder tested her again comparing to one of the other puppys and there was no great difference. Is this something that she could grow out of or would it get better with exercise?

**BigBrownDog** · 10-02-2011, 03:09 PM

Personally, I think evaluating puppies that small for looseness in joints is ridiculous.

**bett** · 10-02-2011, 03:41 PM

i have a boy with luxating patellas and straight hocks. i rescued/adopted him at 2 1/2 and other than throwing the frisbee not too high, he seems to be ok. i was told by the ortho vet at the animal medical
center in nyc to "let him be a dog".
so we are.

**citronella** · 10-02-2011, 03:42 PM

Yes, because of the change in 2 weeks I was thinking that it was not a major issue. I guess the Breeder does it so that they can better evaluate which dogs they will sell and which they would like to keep for show or breed. Just a noobie's opinion though. I don't show or breed, just want a pet that I can go hiking with do obedience and maybe start into rescue or service dog. Depending on how ambitious I get.

**BigBrownDog** · 10-02-2011, 03:51 PM

I just don't see how evaluation of an infant for this is valid. Maybe one of the breeders on here will chime in on this - but often young puppies show some laxity and grow out of it. I think it is a waste of time to even be doing this - and probably imposes undue stress on the puppies to be manipulating them.

**Dani** · 10-02-2011, 04:45 PM

Evaluating a puppy that young is silly. They will have loose joints, be all gangly and will be in multi-faceted growing stages. This is why you can't even get preliminary hip or elbow scores until a dog is 12 months. I'm hoping your breeder knows this otherwise, I'd be real concerned about the actual knowledge of the breeder. From what I know, there isn't really a condition that is a luxating HOCK, but a patella (the knee-cap). And if the knee cap is luxating, it could be a problem.

Anyways, the most common (though not very common) issue with hocks is OCD.

**citronella** · 10-03-2011, 09:22 AM

Thank you for your comments.
The breeder takes her dogs to a vet who is also a breeder so maybe this is just a Canadian thing.
I feel much better. Thought it might be too early to detect something like this but how would I know. Have heard things off of other dog forums like possible surgery in later years etc. And if it's not that noticable from 6 weeks to 8 weeks, I'm guessing she should be fine.

Thanks for your help!