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Demerrall Hungarian Vizsla's

Hip Dysplasia

 
Hip dysplasia is common in larger dog breeds including Vizsla’s.  It is a breeder’s duty to make sure this debilitating condition is prevented and risk is kept to a minimum.
Hip dysplasia is basically a badly formed ball and socket joint in the hip which can cause arthritic changes and lameness .
In the UK the hip scoring scheme is run by the UKKC/BVA and involves an x-ray being taken of a dogs hips once he or she is aged over 12 months of age.  The x-ray is then scored by the UKCC/ BVA. Scores are between 0-106 which is severe dysplasia.  For breeding purposes a Vizsla’s mean score should be 12 or below.
 
Preventing hip dysplasia
Several factors can influence the hip score a dog achieves these can include -
1. Age
2. Exercise
3. Diet
4. Hereditary (hip joint shape)
5. Hormones (seasons)
We recommend feeding a high quality dog food and puppies should be fed puppy/junior food until they are at least a year old.
Exercise should be limited until a dog matures; we use the five minute rule i.e. five minutes per month of life daily so a 8 week old puppy would want a 10 minute walk daily, a six month old would want 30 minutes daily.

Normal Versus Dysplasia