yellow lab hip/leg problem?

Question
Hi. I have a just turned 3 year old male lab. My bf walked him to the park and noticed a limp on his left rear leg. Thinking it was nothing we waited the next day to see how he'd walk. He tends to lay on his left side and we noticed him having a little trouble getting up. He would get up slowly and with a limp. When he walks his butt sways side to side and has a little bit of a limp. He still runs and jumps and is active. He isn't showing any signs of pain. When he sits both his legs are together on the side. I should mention that he is fat. He's kinda tall for a lab and last time he was weighed he was 86lbs. We are changing his eating habits and giving him exercise more often to loose weight but taking it easy with him cause we just started this week. We plan ob taking him to the vets if not any better. Thanks.

Answer
Good for you for putting on a better eating plan. His limp could very well be the beginning of hip dysplasia due to his weight and genetics. Is he AKC registered with parents that were tested by the OFA?

If so you need to look up what their hips scored. They score between poor to excellent. Fair is common and so is Good. No dog should ever be bred that scores below good. The AKC recommends that they be neutered and not used for breeding.

When dogs lay on one side more than the other it's because they are "protecting" the side that hurts. If he sits the way you mentioned consistently, that is also a sign that there are some hip problems going on. Does he "hop" at all?  In other words, does he run with both legs together at the same time? That is another sign of hip problems but they are pretty advanced in dogs that hop.

You should plan on the vet seeing him just based on what you are telling me here. He is not too young to have this disease. Hopefully he was raised on some high quality large breed puppy food until he was a year old. These types of foods have been proven to help prevent or reduce hip dysplasia in most dogs.

In any event he needs to be seen. The vet can recommend a reducing diet (R/D) as well to get him going on some weight loss. When he is done losing weight then he should go on a food such as J/D for dogs with Joint and hip issues. That food has demonstrated to make a huge difference in these dogs.

So cut out all human food, treats and junk for him now and call your vet on Monday and get him in for some xrays and an exam of his hips.

I hope, for his sake, that he DOESN'T have hip dysplasia. Dogs with this disease can live long, happy lives when managed with medication and sometimes with some surgery, so don't think it's a death sentence because it's not.

Please let me know what you find out.

You can read more about hip dysplasia here:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=444