Dysplasia ???????? - Page 2

wscott00, you may find the following link to be of interest. http://www.offa.org/monograph2006web.pdf (see page 10)

jdh, While the "best genetic stand agianst HD is breeding ONLY a-nomal stock"(as you said), that still does not guarentee that the progeny will have good(or even acceptable) hips. You can still get severly dysplastic hips after taking that "best genetic stand". Just an observation that I have witnessed over the years. Stephen

jdh, I have to look it up in my other computer (storage). Maybe the next month, too busy right now. I kept some info on it because I found it very interesting. Unfortunately the article was too vague to be able to apply anything in a concrete way. I do not know what kind of a raw diet they were feeding as part of their research. It was published only in German, about 8-10 years ago or so. They made very strong allegations against the commercial pet food industry which was the main reason why they rubbed too many people in high places the wrong way. The feedback I get from other breeders mirrors my experience with the food connection and joint health. Usually once a breeder has had good results they stick with it. Unfortunately some breeders are so set in their ways its hard to have them even consider the possibility. If they get good size and bone and coat with their food, joint health can become secondary. I do not know too many people that have been feeding raw and raising pup on it too. Usually, unless someone can prove to me that they know what they are doing and they have had a low incidence of HD in puppies they have raised in the past, our guarantee will not apply to a pup that will be raised raw. Raw feeding has its pitfalls too and you have to become very educated about what you are doing. I see a lot of organ meats in raw diet recipies, which can be very detrimental to the calcium:phosphorus balance of such a diet, which in turn can be disasterous to development of bone, joint and connetctive tissues.

Stephen I am well aware that there are no guarantees. I believe that I should also have mentioned the hdzw which is of considerable use. My main focus in this, since HD has been demonstrated to my satisfaction as having a relatively low heritability, is nutrition and lifestyle. I have read fairly credible claims to the effect that populations that are kept on certain feeds have had virtually no HD. As these are numbers kept by a large professional breeder of working (guide) dogs with a consistent follow up and supposed impartiality I consider them to be at least as good as any figures generated by SV or anyone else. Best wishes, Jonah

jdh, mind sharing those feeds?

jdh-- Come on, now. You can't dangle that line out there--"populations that are kept on certain feeds have had virtually no HD"--and not expect to get a bite. Please. What has the guide-dog breeder been feeding? ............

see you got there first, 4pack

Hey who doesn't want the magic formula?

We have been into this before, and I do not wish to appear to endorse a product, although I do consider it a good one. Check out www.abadyfeeds.com. The claim is that Robt. Abady formulated the feeds after being unable to achieve a high percentage of normal hips in Bouviers of a-normal parents. They cite Fidelco Guide Dog School of Connecticut USA as having gone from a low but significant percentage of lifetime HD to nearly none after feeding Abady exclusively. They additionally claim that the few (statistically insignificant) cases that have occurred in the last several years could be attributed to the new owners of the dog not continuing with the feed. Whether this is a true prevention or simply a "band-aid" I believe it warrants some attention. Best wishes, Jonah

Thank you Jonah. I'll check out the site later on.