What could this have been?

[fiwen30]

I was at a part hosted by an acquaintance last night, and the host owns a female golden retriever, who is around 3-4 years old.

I’d never met the dog till then, but she seemed happy and sociable. What I did notice though, was her odd way of moving in the rear - instead of stepping her back paws and reaching underneath herself, she would swing her spine side to side, from in front of her pelvis, to move her hind legs forwards. Her whole rear end swung on a horizontal plain from her spine, seemingly in an attempt to reduce movement in her hip joints, I’ve never seen anything like it. I also never saw the dog sit square - it was always a puppy sit, onto 1 hip.

Does this sound like hip dysplasia to you? Or something else, maybe?

 

[Highmileagecob]

Hip dysplasia definitely comes to mind. Old vets who saw a lot of HD years ago would call it the Marilyn Monroe walk. Hope to goodness they don't allow her to breed a litter.....

 

[Sandstone1]

Sounds like HD, poor dog needs a xray to find out.

 

[Ratface]

My old GSD developed this in her later years, after a very athletic life. She developed arthritis and was pts at 14 when medication no longer managed her discomfort. Her quality of life had detiorated and that was my deciding factor.
As an aside, when I went to see the litter, I was interviewed by her sire and dam as well as the breeders. All separately. I then had to wait whilst the breeders had a conversation ( outside) with their kennel staff, who had been silently observing the process. I've had less interrogation from governments!
Fortunately, I passed and ZeZe and I had a wonderful life together, winning training, breed and agility competitions all over the South-east. Thirty years on, I still miss her

 

[fiwen30]

Not sure if she’s spayed, but I hope so. Poor thing was incredibly sweet, but definitely didn’t look right in the back end at all.

Not sure if I should drop the owner a message to suggest further investigation? I don’t know them that well, but I just feel bad for the retrieve.

 

[CorvusCorax]

HD can cause the 'John Wayne' walk.

 

[skinnydipper]

My dog looked as if he was trying to walk in a pencil skirt.

The first thing the dog's vet is likely to do is manipulate the hips to check for joint laxity.

Hip dysplasia progresses to osteoarthritis of the joint.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I would expect any decent vet to pick that up as soon as they see the dog and suggest investigation. It does sound like HD

 

[fiwen30]

I would expect any decent vet to pick that up as soon as they see the dog and suggest investigation. It does sound like HD

That’s fair, it was a very apparent lameness.

I’ll keep my nose out, and hope she’s being seen to appropriately.