4 month pup hips clicking.

[worzel]

Hi all first post on here and it's a bit of a worried one, I have a 4 month old bullmastiff x olde english bulldog. I noticed over the last two weeks his hip's are clicking. Not on every step but more when he stretches after sleeping. I can also feel his hip popping if I put my hand on his rear as he walks. He moves and runs absolutely fine and is no sign on pain at all. He got a vet check up in 2 weeks,should I get prepared for the worse? I will also add he has had a big growth spurt over the past 2 weeks.

Many thanks.

 

[musicdeb]

It could be hip dysplasia or the beginning of arthritis. A vet check is necessary. Start him on glucosamine. You can also feed raw chicken feet which you can usually find at ethnic markets, Asian or Spanish.

BTW, welcome aboard~ Do you have pics of your boy? What is his name?

 

[worzel]

Thanks for the reply. I will post a photo and info in introduction forum.

mant thanks

 

[Robtouw]

Puppy pops between ages 2-6 months are quite common in mastiffs and usually stop as the joint devolops and the growth plates close. Quite often if you stretch the rear leg backwards slightly you will not only hear the pop but feel it as it slips into the socket as well. If you put your pup on joint supplements this early, keep in mind that when they are needed in the senior yrs they may not be as effective when you desperately need them to be. A lesson I learned when dealing with a displaysic senior years ago. Limit hard exercise and walk lengths and monitor.

 

[krisx]

glucosamine is a great idea. so is vitamin c (500mg) but if you can only afford one, get glucosamine, its more important.

chicken feet are the best natural source. if you're having trouble finding this beef trachea is also good, so is chicken neck,
and good-but-not great is any raw connective/bony parts.

 

[worzel]

Hi all thought I'd give a update. First off thanks for all the advice, it very much eased my mind. We've just got back from Rummages vet check and no sign of HD. Also a completely clean bill of health. "He is a very healthy puppy,your doing a a great job". Very nice words to hear.
Here is a nice picture I took of him the other day so you can put a face to the name.

 

[musicdeb]

Good to hear Rummages is doing much better! Love his face!

 

[DrZaius7]

Great Pic!

I have found in my experience that many large breed pups when going through growth spurts end up with a 'hitch in their giddy up' at some point. For large breeds I always try to supplement glucosamine and chondroitin. You can find them on amazon.com at a reasonable price.

Nick

 

[babyjoemurphy]

Thank you for this post
We just adopted a 5 month old EM and the vet felt popping in his hind end. I am super concerned. His walk is amazing and I dont hear anything. I have read that glucosamine suppliments are not good for.pups so I am introducing chicken feet. We have only had him 3 days now. What a shock it was when the vet said possible HD. But we will do what ever it takes IF thats what it is

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[DMikeM]

I think gloucosamine is good but not as a suppliment during the first year. If you can get it to them naturally like in bone broth or ckicken feet I think that is different and go for it.

My vet told me that clicking in a young dog is natural especially in the back legs and knees and it is just because they grow so fast things might get tight or things might get loose. Young dogs should have limited rough play to prevent connective tissue or growth plate injuries.

 

[babyjoemurphy]

Thats where I am confused....what exactly is limited.....he is a puppy and so far from what I see he looovvveeess to jump around and run. So when people say limited are we talking once a day play for 10 mins? And what is limited walks exaclty 10 mins a couple times a day once a day for 1/2 hr etc. No one says what "limited" details.
And when does the limited stage stop?

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[Th0r]

Thats where I am confused....what exactly is limited.....he is a puppy and so far from what I see he looovvveeess to jump around and run. So when people say limited are we talking once a day play for 10 mins? And what is limited walks exaclty 10 mins a couple times a day once a day for 1/2 hr etc. No one says what "limited" details.
And when does the limited stage stop?

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My interpretation of it is that let them do whatever they do in play naturally. Just don't excite them or cause them to do any extra.

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[babyjoemurphy]

That's perfect advice. But....I want to take him on 1/2hr to 1 hr walks and dont know if thats too much. Of course that would only be once a day with shorter around the block walks daily

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[DMikeM]

That I can't answer. I allowed Jade lots of play with my older dog Dozer from 10 weeks on. She has had several problems with her legs, both front and back but so far nothing dibilitating. I had restricted my new pup Odi to supervised play with Jade and Dozer until he hit about 50 to 60 lbs. Right now he is 6 months old and over 100 lb and I still crate him in the morning until noon then allow him to be with them from lunch on.

 

[DMikeM]

4 months or 16 weeks might be too young for an hour hike. 1/2 hour should be just right. (Especially if it is on asphalt)

 

[Th0r]

It's probably okay to take 1 long walk once or twice a week or 3 shorter walks a week.

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[babyjoemurphy]

Our neighbours have 3 sheppards and we introduced one last night. Boy did Linc love it. The other dog is older and was not to impressed with the jumping going on so she put Linc in his place by being the alpha dog and Linc settled and they walked around together and bonded quite nicely. He then started running amuck but not into her space. She then proceeded to run and play. The other 2 dogs are way more hyper. Maybe should wait to let them free run and just walk them on leads together. Im so puppy confused lol

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[babyjoemurphy]

Oh I love all you guys for helping. I would try and keep him on soft ground as I did with Murphy
Confusion is whats too much but its making sense now. I do not allow stairs except the porch stairs and he is crated for relax time and sleep

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[DMikeM]

I found this.
1 minute for every week of age (5 mins for every month of age).
So, a 12 week old pup gets 12 mins walk per day - a 6 month old pup gets a 30 min walk per day.

Also a link with some pretty good puppy advice.
Mastiff Puppy Raising Tips - Dreamfield English Mastiffs

 

[DennasMom]

We let Denna play at her own speed, and I also followed her lead on walks around the 'hood (on cement/asphalt). We started out with really short walks, i.e. 1 or 2 blocks, and worked up from there.
Any time we could do our walks on dirt, we did.
By the time she was 5 months old, I think we were already doing the 30 minute 1.5 miles walks that we still do... she had a lot more energy as a puppy than I had expected from an EM.

I didn't ever tell Denna to stop with her zoomies around the yard - which included jumping up/down a 1ft rockery wall... sometimes I wondered if maybe I should have - but it wasn't repetitive, and so far, she's been fine (knock on wood).

If you have some dirt/grass hills around, I might do some play time on those, short sessions to start with - going up hills is good for building hind-end muscle, too.

I think the key is to learn your puppy's limits and work within those - push to the edge on occasion, but try not to go over.