Hip dysplasia is a well-known he alth problem that affects a large number of dogs in the world. It is usually hereditary and degenerative, so it is important to know what it is and how to help our dogs in the best possible way.
If your dog has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia and you want to help him with exercises or massage techniques, you have come to the right place. In this article on our site we are going to explain theexercises for dogs with hip dysplasia.
In addition, we will also offer you useful advice and instructions to help your dog better withstand this disease.
What is hip dysplasia?
Hip dysplasia is an abnormal conformation of the hip joint: the joint cavity or acetabulum and the head of the femur are not are attached properly. It is one of the best-known pathologies of the dog, it affects dogs of certain breeds more frequently:
- Labrador retriever
- Irish Setter
- German shepherd
- Dobermann
- Dalmatian
- Boxer
Although we have exposed some breeds that have a predisposition, that does not mean that a fox terrier, for example, cannot suffer from hip dysplasia.
Why happens?
There are several factors that can favor the onset of hip dysplasia: a diet with excess energy or protein, dogs of medium or large size with very rapid growth, physical exercise that is too intense, or making the dog run or jump intensely when it is too young. These are all negative factors that can contribute to developing hip dysplasia.
This malformation of genetic origin must always be diagnosed by a veterinarian through X-rays, but the signs that will alert the owner are: a dog that has difficulty standing after lying down for a long time or a dog that is excessively tired from walks. Given these symptoms, you should go to a professional to confirm if it is hip dysplasia.
What can I do to help my dog with hip dysplasia?
You have several techniques that you can apply to help your dog with hip dysplasia, always with the aim of strengthening and relaxing the muscles (especially the gluteal muscle mass, essential for hip stability and mobility) and eliminate or alleviate pain
We are going to explain below what exercises you can do to help your dog with hip dysplasia. Keep reading!
Massages
A dog with hip dysplasia tries not to support the affected leg because of the pain it suffers and as a result it can suffer muscle atrophyon that leg: massaging the dog promotes the recovery of the muscle, and corrects poor posture of the spine.
We practice a relaxing massage along the spine of our dog: we rub it in favor of the hair with gentle pressure, you can also make circular movements on both sides of the spine. The hindquarter muscles are massaged by rubbing.
If your dog has short hair, you can also massage it with a prickly ball: massaging it against the grain with the ball stimulates blood flow and prevents extreme atrophies.
Yes, it is important not to touch the column and always be on both sides of it and not on top of it.
Passive movements
If your dog has undergone surgery for his hip dysplasia, you can carefully manipulate the affected or operated joint one week after the intervention, in agreement with the veterinarian. To do this you have to put your dog on a soft bed or pad the affected hip.
Passive movements are ideal for correcting joint dysfunctions such as hip dysplasia, whereas a he althy dog should not do these exercises.
The dog's owner must perform all movements on the dog and the dog must remain lying on its side, relaxed and still. Before starting the passive movements, we prepare the dog with a massage or applying heat to the hip area.
We are going to explain the manipulations that we would do if the affected joint was the right hip, but if the affected joint was the other, our manipulation would change accordingly.
If the affected joint is the right hip, we place the dog on its side, lying down with its left side touching the ground, and with its rear left leg perpendicular to the trunk.
- Flection / Extension: With our right hand we are going to hold his left rear leg at the level of his knee, so his leg is supported on our right arm. Then our right hand performs the movements, while the left hand, placed on his hip joint, can feel signs of pain and crackles. We move the hip joint slowly going from extension to flexion rhythmically about 10-15 times.
- Abduction / Adduction: Abduction is the action of moving the leg away from the trunk, while adduction consists of bringing it closer to it. We stand behind the dog, take his bent knee and gently perform the movements about 10-15 times.
It is important that we make sure that the lower leg rests on the ground, and that it is not pulled up. For both types of movements, we have to make sure that only the hip joint moves passively, but only that one.
As in the massage, we have to develop the sensitivity of the dog, making small movements at first and always slow to allow him to relax and that the treatment is not unpleasant. It is important to always limit the dog's pain as much as possible!
Stabilizing or active exercises
Stabilizing exercises are good both for a dog with hip dysplasia that cannot stand long walks as a conservative treatment to avoid surgery, and for a dog that has undergone surgery for hip dysplasia as muscle rehabilitation.
These exercises can be done about 3 weeks after the operation, depending on the size of the dog, after discussion with the veterinarian. When used in conjunction with massage and passive movements, the use of the support and the trampoline have to be left for last, but the same techniques described in those sections can be applied.
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Supports: We place the dog with its front legs raised on a support: for a small dog the support can be a book thick. This posture causes tension in the muscles of the spine and hind limbs. Support exercises are very tiring for dogs with hip dysplasia or that have undergone hip dysplasia: 5 repetitions of each of the three stages that we are going to see are perfectly sufficient at the beginning.
- We stand behind the dog and hold it for balance, grab the dog's shoulder blade and gently pull it towards the tail (towards us). This movement strengthens almost all the muscles of the dog: extremities, abdomen and back. We maintain a few seconds and relax, repeat about 5 times.
- Then we grab the knee joint and also pull it towards the tail, we can feel in our hands the relaxation of the hip and hindquarters muscles. We maintain a few seconds and relax, repeat about 5 times.
- We keep the knee joint high and this time press it forward, towards the dog's head. We keep a few seconds and relax, repeat about 5 times. Over time, our dog will better withstand the exercises and his muscles will progressively get stronger
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Trampoline:The trampoline is an unknown object for the dog, it is important to gradually get him used to this new device: perform these exercises with a tense or stressed dog will not give good results. It is essential that the trampoline can support a minimum weight of 100kg since we will have to climb with it, that it has a minimum diameter of one meter and that it has the mark TUV. A good way to introduce the trampoline is to get on it first, and with the dog held between our legs, wait a few seconds or minutes for it to calm down and reward it with a treat when it allows itself to be handled.
- We overload the left hind leg first and then the right, slowly. We can perform those active movements about 10 times.
- It is important to perform these alternating movements slowly and carefully. So we can feel how the dog plays with his muscles to maintain balance. This exercise is not visually impressive but in reality it exerts an intense action on the musculature, and while it develops the dog's gluteal musculature, it tires it, so do not do too many repetitions.
- The owner must always get on the trampoline first and get off the trampoline last, letting the dog go down first, but without jumping so as not to get injured.
Slalom: When enough time has elapsed after a dysplasia operation, and in agreement with the veterinarian, running a slalom may be a very good exercise: the space between the cones should be from 50 centimeters to 1 meter depending on the size of the dog, which must run the slalom slowly.
Hydrotherapy
If your dog likes it, swimming is an excellent way to strengthen his muscles without overloading his joints. Hydrotherapy on an underwater treadmill is another option: the dog walks on a treadmill, in the water, which allows him to preserve his joints, this technique is carried out by a physiotherapist.
Physiotherapy
For more advanced techniques, you can consult a physiotherapist who, in addition to the above, can apply other techniques such as thermotherapy: cryotherapy and application of heat, electrotherapy, ultrasound, laser and acupuncture.
Remember throughout this process your dog will need more attention than usual for this reason, do not hesitate to consult everything about hip dysplasia to be able to offer concrete care to your best friend.
Does your dog also suffer from hip dysplasia? Do you want to recommend an exercise to another reader? Do not hesitate to tell us if you have ideas or advice from your veterinarian, other users will thank you.
- It is important to stop the exercises if the dog is in pain!
- You can apply these techniques after or without hip surgery as a conservative treatment.
