Dog Food, Nutrition and Hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is considered to be disease where genetics, nutrition and environment all play a role in whether the hovawart develops the disorder. The genetic factors are those that the breeder should consider, and new owners should be concerned about the environment and aim to provide the best possible care for there young hovawart; because once the puppy is born, the environment becomes 100% of how that puppy will develop within the possibilities of his genes. Research to determine the affect of diet on hip dysplasia does not yet provide all the answers.
The frequency and severity of HD can be influenced by weight gain in growing dogs sired by parents with HD, or by parents with a high incidence of HD in their offspring. Additionally hovawarts who gain weight above the norm are more likely to be prone to HD, as well as more severe HD than dogs with a weight gain below the norm.
Diets with excessively high calories are the most likely cause influencing the rapid rate of growth, so it is important to monitor the calorie intake of young hovawarts during the maximum growth phase, up to 9 months of age. Rapid growth does not mean that the adult dog will be larger, in fact it may potentially increase the risk of problems, including hip dysplasia; remember the Hovawart has 238 other joints as well.
Some Hovawart owners tend to overfeed their puppies, having the best of intentions, they desire to see a 'big dog' and to do nothing which might risk the dog not attaining the greatest possible size; and some owners are just unable to restrict their puppy's diet. Hovawarts that grow too quickly for their biology to keep up with may even show some signs of rickets perhaps with some bowing of the forelegs; they may have large soft joints due to the inability of the body to deposit calcium in the bone at a rate equal to the rate of growth.
You can often see uneven growth in height, with the rear end growing higher over a few weeks, then the front end trying to catch up. As the rear leg assembly grows disproportionately, and the puppy is 'high in the rear', the mechanical leverage that the muscles are able to exert across these straighter angles is reduced. A result of this has to be a decreased ability of the muscles to protect the joints from injury.
Some articles on nutrition in large breed puppies have suggested that there can be very early metabolic problems with over feeding. Some studies have shown that overeating, even within the first 2 weeks of life, can affect the outcome of a puppy's hip conformation for example.
Some bitches can give way too much milk, and for some food is too readily available, and they do not even have to go out and exercise in order to find it! So wisdom dictates monitoring the rate of hovawart puppies weight gain and to avoid any overeating problems such as diarrhoea and colic, and possible eventual hip problems. Try keeping the bitch out of the whelping box for a period of time every day.
The studies and articles imply that it is more than just weight bearing that is involved in the eventual state of hips in puppies which are over fed. Dogs whose opportunities for exercise are maximized, and are free to run and play all day and night with other dogs of a similar age tend to grow more slowly, because much of their food (energy) intake goes into play and running; they rarely suffer an injury and usually have symmetrical hip sockets. In contrast, where the hovawart's exercise is confined to an hour or two of intense play or jogging when their owners return from work, tend to grow very large, and very fast, often suffer injuries and can have hip sockets of different depths.
When an injury occurs to a rear leg, whether it be to a toe, the stifle, a soft tissue injury, or a hip injury, the result is often a decreased amount of weight bearing on that leg over a period of days, weeks or even months. When this happens, the mechanical forces applied to the living bone tissue inevitably change, the hips can become asymmetrical, with the injured hip becoming shallower.
Continuous and strenuous exercise is a very important environmental factor in a puppy's life. Since this is often impossible for owners to arrange, one consideration could be to restrict the diet of the growing puppy and to avoid strenuous exercise which will exhaust his muscles and leave him unable to protect his joints from injury. The puppy should be given frequent moderate exercise instead. This requires a different kind of time commitment from the owner.
If a young dog shows too rapid growth during the growth phase, it is possible to change from a puppy diet or growth formula to an adult dog food diet. The change to a maintenance diet should provide adequate nutrition with a lower calorie content. BUT because maintenance diets usually have a lower calorie level than growth diets, the puppy must eat more to meet its calorie needs. Additionally if the calcium levels are similar between the two diets, the puppy will actually eat more calcium on the maintenance diet. Excess calcium intake may cause damage to the growing skeleton. When the calcium content of the diet is increased, and all other nutrients are provided in normal amounts, the incidence of other skeletal abnormalities increases.
Calcium levels for a growth diet should be between 1% and 1.6%. Again some suggest that puppies could be switched from growth to maintenance diets to avoid calcium excess and skeletal disease, though any such change must be treated with caution. (see above). Feeding treats containing calcium or providing calcium supplements also increases daily calcium intake.
"The way in which excess dietary calcium changes normal bone development is thought to involve changes in bone remodelling. High calcium intake results in excess calcium being deposited in the skeleton, and reduces intestinal absorption of calcium. This then triggers compensatory increases in plasma phosphorus levels, due to the actions of the calciotropic hormones. The hyperphosphataemia depresses the activity of the osteoclasts, which are important for bone remodelling during growth. The excess calcium deposited in the skeleton, coupled with slower bone turnover results in pathological changes in skeletal development, particularly affecting endochondral ossification." Osteochondrosis Source:http://advancepetfood.com.au/
Avoid supplementation - with calories, vitamins or minerals. That means all the treats and titbits you give should be considered a part of the hovawarts total diet, and do not give other "supplements" unless under orders from the vet. The old rule of "thirds" can be handy: simply place all the food for one day into three (four for a puppy) equal separate portions. Give one third in the morning,(feed the puppy midday) one third in the evening, the remaining third is used for treats and training.
