The Inanity Of Hip Dysplasia From #BuildABetterDog

There seems to be a crumbling consensus that all these dogs walking around, or more exactly, having trouble walking around with hip and elbow problems, are the victims of years of genetic alteration that resulted in these problems that are wide spread to the point where it is estimated that 70% of all large breeds suffer from hip dysplasia and canine arthritis.

Seventy per cent, that is an astounding number of canine with all the advancements in veterinary science and medicine that we have today. That is because it is inane, thus the title “The Inanity of Hip Dysplasia”. To think of or conceive that in the 1930's when there was no such thing as hip dysplasia, not because vets and dog owners and breeders were not smart enough to spot it, it was because it did not exist.

You can look at vet school data, veterinary research, anecdotal breeder information and any other sources that existed and you will find absolutely no mention of widespread hip dysplasia or elbow problems.

Now, stop and think about this, and I mean really think about this. From the 1930's to the 1950's, a span of 20 years, something happened that caused seventy per cent of large breed dogs which by some estimates started at around 10 million dogs for those heavier breeds, something happened to those dogs. Something happened to about 60 breeds of dogs with thousands of family trees and with multiple thousands of breeders, including great breeders, so-so breeders, lousy breeders , and some who just didn't give a damn, something happened that caused seventy per cent of those ten million dogs to contract hip dysplasia. That is amazing. No, it is unbelievable, incredible and unbelievable. Statistically this is inconceivable, an anomaly.

But, something did happen during the 1930's and beyond that may have seemed unrelated but which did affect all those dogs and all those breeds and that was the rapid growth of the manufacturing of dog food based on the mixing of grains like corn, barley, wheat and soybean meal to make a high protein, high carbohydrate diet that, to the delight of the breeders, caused dogs to grow much faster and be larger and present more confirmation at adulthood. This was, however, a benefit of unintended consequences.

The horse industry has known for many years that when you raise colts on a feeding regimen that includes too much protein during the formative and growth stages, a problem arises, it is called epiphysitis and it mirrors what we are finding in the canine world but very few of those supposed dog experts in the know, are willing to admit.

That situation is that dogs grew too fast and while that was going on, the bones did not have the opportunity to gain mass and strength like they should and this resulted in widespread pain and an inability to make basic movements that historically had been routine to all dogs because those weaker bones and joints could not absorb the stress and impact. We think now that this problem is not genetic but is nutritional in origin.

Think about a dog food company saying, “Oops, we did this”.

Again, we think this problem has nutritional basis and we also think nutrition can prevent this problem and can lessen the debilitating effects of those dogs already afflicted with dysplasia. There is help out there.

Stick around, we'll tell you more about it.