Can Hip Dysplasia be Prevented?

Any or all of these may help.

Chiropractic when the dog is young

Animal chiropractors treat dogs with misaligned and poorly moving (subluxated) hips, pelvis and vertebrae. This leads to altered movement patterns, joint angles, ranges of motion and muscle tone that affect the hip. It is reasonable to suggest that subluxations can lead to altered hip joint function and thus dysplasia.

Therefore it is reasonable that early chiropractic intervention to attempt to prevent the laxity and subsequent dysplasia. Pelvic and spinal misalignment can often cause a functional short leg, strained, tight and weak hamstrings and gluteal, and strained hip flexor muscles. This can cause a change in the movement pattern leading to laxity in the hip joint. This poorly controlled motion putting abnormal forces on the soft cartilage is often the start of the spiral down into dysplasia. 

Chiropractic when the dog is old

Most dogs with hip dysplasia also develop limited hip extension in the coxo-femoral joint. They still try to run and this forces excessive extension into the pelvic joints and lumbar spine due to compensatory movement patterns. The chronicity of these spinal problems usually causes spinal degeneration and spondylosis.

Often the spinal problem irritates the nerves, and those nerves go to the hip area, so you end up with weakness due to the hip dysplasia and due to a spinal problem causing a compressive spinal neuropathy/myelopathy. The nerve problem often causes muscular atrophy and increases the hip instability.  If the hips are weak and sore, they shift their weight bearing and propulsion to the front limbs, which causes problems up front, too. All older dogs with hip dysplasia need spinal care for these compensations. 
 

Exercise & Weight Control
Limit exercise especially jumping exercises like frisbee until mature. But do exercise the dog to increase rear-end musculature, like moderate occasional off-leash running (nothing repetitive like fetch) and swimming.  At 3 months old limit walking to two, twenty minute walks a day, preferably on a slightly rolling terrain. At 4 months of age increase the pace but keep the duration to twenty minutes. At 5 months of age increase distance to about two miles. At 6 months keep the distance at about two miles but add more varied terrain, hills, trail, side slopes, and a little jumping and some stairs. At eight months gradually increase the exercise to two walks of one hour per day. Always exercise to tolerance - if the puppy wants to stop, then stop.

Weight management. A slightly calorie limited diet early in life slows growth and thus delays the amount of force on the immature hip joint until after the joint is turning to bone. Puppies on a slightly calorie controlled grow more slowly but attain the same size as puppies allowed to eat freely.

Supplements that may help: Glucosamine and chondroitin, MSM, green lipped mussels, essential fatty acids from fish oils, turmeric. Cannabidiol for pain and inflammation.

Helpful tip:  Buy a spring or summer puppy who has had room to romp outside on a farm or larger backyard from a breeder that will limit exercise to several short romps per day. Cold weather and puppy mill set-ups limit appropriate early exercise causing weakness in the hip musculature needed to stabilize the hip joint.