# Age and chondrodysplasia



## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

At what age can you breathe a sigh of relief that your dog has normal leg development?


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Are you concerned about Mojo's leg developement? I mean,  I noticed you also started a thread about when the growth plates close. I hope everything is ok?

If you are concerned you can ask your vet or even with soaping the legs and standing him for photos there are people here who can give you opinions on whether they look normal or you need to see a vet for more info.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

When the growth plates close but if there's a trauma it can bow one or both legs. I don't think that has anything to do with CD though.


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

No, 19 month old Mojo's legs look as normal as can be. I just wondered when I could relax about the subject. Mojo's parents have straight legs, I just worry about a number of things I probably shouldn't worry about because I've never had a pure-bred dog before. And as I understand it, there are several other health problems that go along as a sort of syndrome, if a dog has CD.

With mutts, there's nothing that you know in advance is a breed-related health problem, so you have no foresight as to what might happen. Thus, nothing to worry about, until something happens, or doesn't, as generally holds true with mutts.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

If his legs look normal, as the saying goes, don't borrow worries.  I think you have a much higher rate of concern in regard to his patellas if you allow him to jump off of things than you have to worry about CD. In my opinion, there is too much unknown about CD and too much speculation out there anyway.


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Thank you. Fortunately my girlfriend who has had Cotons warned me about jumping even before I got Mojo, so he hasn't been allowed to get anywhere he could jump off of. Or I should say, I put him down off the sofa or our bed, I don't allow him to jump off, even though he would.


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## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

In reference to patella problems: Can they jump off of couches and beds after the growth plates have closed? Like, say, after they are a year old, can they then jump without too many concerns of problems?


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Mojo's Mom said:


> No, 19 month old Mojo's legs look as normal as can be. I just wondered when I could relax about the subject. Mojo's parents have straight legs, I just worry about a number of things I probably shouldn't worry about because I've never had a pure-bred dog before. And as I understand it, there are several other health problems that go along as a sort of syndrome, if a dog has CD.


I'm glad to hear his legs look normal, you had me thinking you were worried about something. At 19 mos., I wouldn't be overly worried about, because he should be done growing.

It's sorta hard to know what's fact and what is only supposition about CD in Havanese because there's information being put out there that hasn't been proven (at least to my understanding).


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Oops, he's 19 WEEKS old, not months.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Mojo's Mom said:


> Oops, he's 19 WEEKS old, not months.


oh! I do that too!  At 19 weeks, as long as he is looking good try not to worry. Keep on eye on him as I'm sure you already do. When you bathe him, you can see his figure best, so make a mental note as he grows and if anything seems odd or out of place talk to your vet and/or your breeder.

Even though you can greatly increase your odds of avoiding problems with careful breeding, genetics can still be tricky~ sometimes things just pop up. That seems to be true of purebred dogs or mutts.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

Havtahava said:


> In my opinion, there is too much unknown about CD and too much speculation out there anyway.


I agree!!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Chasza, the rule in my house is if they can jump on it, they can jump off of it. So Kubrick is allowed to jump off the couch and bed as he can jump on both. Hitchcock is allowed to jump off the couch but NOT the bed as he can't jump on the bed yet.


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## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

Hmmm, Lina,

That sounds like a very reasonable rule of thumb. That makes it alot easier to figure out when it's ok......... also I suppose the rug they jump onto should be as cushiony as possible (I should add some underlayments to my rugs that are on hard floors).

Thanks,

Lynn


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## Annie Clark (Nov 6, 2008)

I try so hard not to let Nala jump off my high bed but since she jumps up on her own I can't always control it. I put some doggie steps up but she won't even go up on them.......

It sounds like the legs are straight now-I hope they stay that way!

Annie


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## RikiDaisyDixie (Apr 15, 2008)

*Jumping puppies*

Riki didn't even know he could jump up on anything until he saw an older havanese do this. Then he got the idea, but he was 9 months before he figured it out.

Daisy jumped up on things as a tiny puppy, even before she saw Riki do it. I worried about her a bit too when she was little. She can still jump so high.

We have lots of steps in our home and our dogs have negotiated them since they were pretty young, both jump in agility. I think havanese are a healthy breed unless they have the unfortunate hereditary conditions from their parents.

Enjoy your sweet puppy. They are so intuitive, they pick up our worries!


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Lina said:


> Chasza, the rule in my house is if they can jump on it, they can jump off of it. So Kubrick is allowed to jump off the couch and bed as he can jump on both. Hitchcock is allowed to jump off the couch but NOT the bed as he can't jump on the bed yet.


Sounds reasonable, Carolina! It reminds me of a rule my son's preschool had: we weren't supposed to lift the kids up onto the playground equipment. They had to be able to climb up there on their own (which meant that they were ready to be able to learn how to get down on their own)!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Jane, that's interesting and totally makes sense to me!


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Jane said:


> Sounds reasonable, Carolina! It reminds me of a rule my son's preschool had: we weren't supposed to lift the kids up onto the playground equipment. They had to be able to climb up there on their own (which meant that they were ready to be able to learn how to get down on their own)!


...and ready to FALL down on their own ;-)


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

> Can they jump off of couches and beds after the growth plates have closed?


 Gosh, I hope so. My two Havs have been on and off the chairs and couches their entire lives. They have stairs up to the bed though....  Their legs are just fine.


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