Has anyone ever had a clicking hip?
Bailey, our 6&1/2 month old boy has a hip or something that clicks every once in a while. He is very big, at 6 months, he weighed 61 lbs. We have always had him on large breed puppy food. First, it was Science Diet and it has been Nutro for the last six weeks. When we first got him, our vet suggested not feeding him by the bags instructions, just let him eat for twenty minutes, which we did. So, he has always eaten a little less than the bags recommended. His sister, Madison, weighs about 75% of Baileys weight. They both play very rough at times. We have moved all of the furniture out of their/our family room so hopefully noone gets hurt. Maddie has hurt her leg once and we just kept her confined a couple days after letting the vet see her. The clicking was first noticed by our 14 year old daughter. I would try to hear it, but could only her what sounded like his toenails hitting the floor. It is very faint, but you can hear it once in a while. She is not sure what to do. They are both scheduled to be fixed on the 16th so I just told her to wait until then and we can get it Xrayed to see what it may be. Has anyone ever experienced this? Naturally, you go right to thinking the worst, but I figured maybe it is not so bad. Anyone with 2 OES puppies. Do they play rough? I think it has been worse since I have been out of town, but they have always played hard together. They each have their own crate, which they get to visit when I cannot get them to calm down. They get lots of walks, not too long to help let those bones grow properly. Also, we never use the crate as punishment. They stay in them while we are at work. I come home for lunch to let them out also. They sleep in our bedroom at night. I just did not know what else to do when they start playing too hard. If anyone has any advise, it would be great! Hopefully, the spaying/neuturing will help some. If anyone thinks we need to get that clicking checked sooner, let me know. Thanks for your help. This has always been such a great place for Sheepie info. Eric |
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| Eric,
It may be nothing - but I'd have the Vet check for hip dysplasia. I think it wouldn't be something you need to check before the 16th though. Hopefully you'll find that he's just fine - but better be safe than sorry. Kristen |
| I agree with Kristen. Sometimes during growth spurts one bone will grow faster than the other, so the clicking may just be that. Once the rest of the dog catches up it may be fine. It can't hurt to check though.
It sounds like you are doing everything right, so if it does turn out to be HD don't blame yourselves.  |
| Thanks for the replies.
I will take him in tomorrow. Can't ever be too safe. Have a nice day! Eric |
| Well, I don't have an answer about the clicking hip....but I can respond to the question regarding playing. I have two sheepies, Baxter is 3 yrs old and Cassiopia is 1 1/2 years old. And their play is extremely rough - at least to my eyes (furniture is rearranged and we've learned to quickly move out of the way or be knocked down). However, both dogs love to play that way! |
| Yes, I can relate to the clicking hip issue. I noticed the same thing with my Bam-Bam when he was a young pup. I told the vet about it and he said these are such fast growing puppies, I was to make sure he did not over eat and gain his weight to fast. Happy to say Bam-Bam out grew the hip clicking at about 1 1/2 year old. To this day he is a very light eater and the vet is pleased. He said the wear and tear on his large bone frame will be alot less if he remains lean. |
| The vet said he was okay, just keep an eye on it.
It really is amazing how fast they both grew. Bailey weighed 12 lbs at eight weeks and madison weighed 9. They have always been that same difference in percent. I know you don't want them to grow too fast, but they just do. They are lean and we plan to keep them that way. To date, they have never had human food. After my toy poodle lived off nothing but people food it seemed, she lived to be 14 before the cancer got too bad, it seems mean not feeding them. But guess what, they never bug us while we are eating and they are perfectly happy. Since they have never had our food, they won't know what they are missing. It is also nice being able to eat dinner in peace. The playing will just have to continue. They seem to love it. We moved all the glass furniture out of the house and got some lightweight tables from IKEA. They were cheap and light. When the dogs hit them, they move easily and hopefully will help prevent injury. Now if we can just keeping them from sliding through the sliding glass doors. 
Thanks for the replies. It really helps having others to discuss issues with. Have a nice day! Eric |
I noticed Fozzie's leg is really clicking today. I'm concerned about it and will discuss it with the vet at our next appointment. Maybe he's growing too quickly  |
| Barney's hips click and when we had him neutered at 7 months we had them do an xray while he was under and it looked like hip dysplasia. But they said that at that young of an age it's hard to tell how bad it will get in later years.
Barney's 2 1/2 now and we give him glucosamine with his dinner as a sort of preventative. His hips don't really seem to bother him, but when we had him boarded for 3 days they sent a note home saying after the first few hours of play he had trouble standing up and they had to give him extra rest time and extra padding... I'd say just watch it and you're doing all the right things with keeping them lean. That's very important. |
| As an update, we are having no signs of pain in our kids and no clicking. We give Cosequin DS still at the initial dose. We feed good food and keep them lean. We don't feed any human food which was a hard habit to break. It was worth it though. If these guys begged as much as my 10 lb poodle, we'd have big trouble.
They are doing fine though. Our orthopedic doctor advised us on the above and so far it is working well. They still beat the stuffing out of each other at times. They are very playful. Still probably best to check with your vet though, just to be sure. There are some options if you catch it early enough, but our kids already showed some arthritis at 7 months old, so they did not want to do the TPO surgery. Good luck! I know it is stressful worrying about it, but so far we have been lucky. Have a nice day, Eric |
| Glad to hear that the clicking was nothing serious. Your pups are cute. You are doing a great job. I have a Lab with hip and back problems and we have to be very careful with her weight. Just this year I have had to limit and say no to her retrieving things. The mechanism of grabbing a ball and twisting to return the ball causes her pain. Can you imagine a retriever not being able to retrieve!!! We try to walk more |
| Hi Eric,
Your post stirred up a memory for me of a member asking this question some time back. I've been around this forum for a few years so my memory is hazy but thought perhaps if you do a search you can find the post. Glad your furkids are doing well and sending belly rubs to them! Marianne and the boys |
| Hello,
I thought it might be interesting to know that I had exactly the same problem with my sheepie puppy around that age. His hips and knees were clicking quite regularly but started all of a sudden, we too put it down to his nails at first on the wooden floor but later realised it was his joints. I took him to the vets and he said not to worry to much as Alfie (my dog) was very flexible and didnt appear to be in any pain or making any sounds as if he was uncomfortable. The vet said it was probably where he was growing and not everything had quite caught up with its self. He said keep an eye on it but after a couple of months the clicking went away and we havent heard it since (hes now 1 1/2 yrs). If it pursists for too long then take him to the vets but the vet said he couldnt really take any x-rays to see what the joints were doing until he was about 1 1/2 - 2yrs old and abit more formed. Hope this is helpful, obviously every case is different but dont panic. Hope all works out well for you. |
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