why do German Shepherd dogs usually have hip problems more than other dog breeds!?

Answer 1

They don't. Check the link I provided. You can change the order of the results by selecting number submitted, breed, etc... at the top. They are one of the most popular breeds so you will hear it more but statistically, they are not even close to the number one breed for bad hips. You can also search other heatlh statistics by going to 'search ofa records' on the left and selecting the disease you want.

Keep in mind that it isn't ALWAYS bad breeding. HD seems to be caused by multiple genes which makes it hard to predict. Even two OFA excellent dogs can have a dysplastic puppy. You can now do PennHip which does appear to be helping reduce the instance of dysplasia further when done along with OFA hips. It tells you how tight your dogs hips are. Dogs with looser hips are more likely (not guaranteed) to become dysplastic later in life. Unfortunately, this cannot be done on elbows yet. The second link provides information on PennHip.

Answer 2

In the early 1900's the first German Shepherd was first recognized by AKC and everyone in America wanted one.
The problem was that the Germans did'nt want us to have them and refused to sell to Americans as well as any of our allies.
At least until there came a time when there were a whole lot of pups born in German kennels that were well below breed standards.
With Americans begging for the pups and the breeders not wanting to put them down rather than make a profit they shipped these poor quality pups off to America.Problem solved for the Germans.Unfortuneatly for the breed the problems were just starting.
People who had these poor quality dogs thought they'd make a killing breeding them not realizing they were poor quality.After all everyone still wanted one and there were few in America.So inbreeding and overbreeding occurred frequently by stupid people out to make a quick buck.And the hip issue was of little concern as it was not realized yet.The money the pups brought the lucky owners of these dogs was all that mattered.The Germans thought this all a big joke on us.Because we stupid Americans caused the problem to be famous around the world by our own greediness.
But you can't get good quality pups from poor quality breeding stock.So the German breeders are just as guilty of giving the breed a bad rep on this issue as we are.
Over the years alot of breeders have strived to produce good quality pups that would'nt be prone to having bad hips.The effort they put into the breed drives up the price of each pup but greed and ignorance still run rampant.With the first heat the new owners want to make their money back and then some without effort.

The German Shepherd is well known for having hip problems but many,many other breeds have it as well.Any large breed is susceptible to having hip problems.Vets recommend that any large breed pup especially those weighing over 100# at adulthood be fed a high protein,good quality puppy food to help the joints form properly because the bones grow so fast.

Answer 3

This is a question for Chetco! He says he breeds them.
With any large breed dog it's all in the breeder. Also it's a sign of over breeding and poor breeding. Shepherds had this problem many years ago but I know that the good breeders out there have worked very hard to resolve this in the breed.

P.S. Even with all the right medical certifications a dog can still have hip problems. It can sometimes skip a generation or 2. It is better to have these certifications but it is still no guarantee!

Answer 4

because german sheperds, like golden retreivers and other popular dogs of America are inbred so much that they start getting mutations and problems. because they are bred so much and there's usually not many other breeds bred with them, they develop bad things. read up on it! if you're looking for a german shepherd but are scared of hip problems, try a mixed dog with mostly german shepherd and another breed. my dog is half aussie and half black lab and is an awesome and very dog.

Answer 5

German Shepherds do not usually have more hip problems than other breeds!! The breed ranked number one with 73.9 percent dysplastic is the bulldog!!!! The GSD is now ranked number 40 on list with OFA. http://www.offa.org/hipstatbreed.html

BULLDOG 1
PUG 2
DOGUE DE BORDEAUX 3
OTTERHOUND 4
NEAPOLITAN MASTIFF 5
ST. BERNARD 6
CLUMBER SPANIEL 7
BLACK RUSSIAN TERRIER 8
SUSSEX SPANIEL 9
CANE CORSO 10
BOYKIN SPANIEL 11
ARGENTINE DOGO 12
BASSET HOUND 13
FRENCH BULLDOG 14
AMERICAN BULLDOG 15
NORFOLK TERRIER 16
PERRO DE PRESA CANARIO 17
FILA BRASILEIRO 18
ENGLISH SHEPHERD 19
NEWFOUNDLAND 20
BLOODHOUND 21
AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER 22
LOUISIANA CATAHOULA LEOPARD 23
BULLMASTIFF 24
MAINE COON CAT 25
AMERICAN PIT BULL TERRIER 26
CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVER 27
SHILOH SHEPHERD 28
ROTTWEILER 29
HYBRID 30
GOLDEN RETRIEVER 31
GORDON SETTER 32
NORWEGIAN ELKHOUND 33
CHOW CHOW 34
MASTIFF 35
FIELD SPANIEL 36
GREATER SWISS MOUNTAIN DOG 37
SHIH TZU 38
OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG 39
GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG 40
CHINOOK 41
KUVASZ 42
GIANT SCHNAUZER 43
CARDIGAN WELSH CORGI 44
PEMBROKE WELSH CORGI 45
BEAGLE 46
ENGLISH SETTER 47
STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER 48
BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG 49
SPINONE ITALIANO 50
BLACK AND TAN COONHOUND 51
ENTLEBUCHER 52
BOUVIER DES FLANDRES 53
BRITTANY 54
CURLY-COATED RETRIEVER 55
BRIARD 56
POLISH LOWLAND SHEEPDOG 57
PUDELPOINTER 58
BEAUCERON 59
AUSTRALIAN CATTLE DOG 60
HARRIER 61
NORWICH TERRIER 62
AFFENPINSCHER 63
ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL 64
LEONBERGER 65
CHINESE SHAR-PEI 66
AKITA 67
PORTUGUESE WATER DOG 68
TIBETAN MASTIFF 69
WELSH SPRINGER SPANIEL 70
POODLE 71
IRISH WATER SPANIEL 72
IRISH SETTER 73
LABRADOR RETRIEVER 74
KOMONDOR 75
WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIER 76
GREAT DANE 77
AIREDALE TERRIER 78
ALASKAN MALAMUTE 79
NORWEGIAN BUHUND 80
SAMOYED 81
CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL 82
BORDER COLLIE 83
BOXER 84
PETIT BASSET GRIFFONS VENDEEN 85
BOSTON TERRIER 86
ANATOLIAN SHEPHERD 87
FRENCH SPANIEL 88
PULI 89
AKBASH DOG 90
SWEDISH VALLHUND 91
SMOOTH FOX TERRIER 92
GERMAN WIREHAIRED POINTER 93
GREAT PYRENEES 94
STANDARD SCHNAUZER 95
AMERICAN ESKIMO DOG 96
WEIMARANER 97
TIBETAN SPANIEL 98
POINTER 99
HAVANESE 100
AMERICAN WATER SPANIEL 101
COTON DE TULEAR 102
MINIATURE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD 103
WIREHAIRED POINTING GRIFFON 104
VIZSLA 105
BULL TERRIER 106
NOVA SCOTIA DUCKTOLLING RET. 107
LHASA APSO 108
BEARDED COLLIE 109
KEESHOND 110
BICHON FRISE 111
COCKER SPANIEL 112
DOBERMAN PINSCHER 113
KERRY BLUE TERRIER 114
FINNISH SPITZ 115
AFGHAN HOUND 116
AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD 117
SHIBA INU 118
TIBETAN TERRIER 119
DUTCH SHEPHERD 120
ENGLISH COCKER SPANIEL 121
BELGIAN MALINOIS 122
SCHIPPERKE 123
RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK 124
IRISH WOLFHOUND 125
NORTH AMERICAN SHEPHERD 126
DALMATIAN 127
SHETLAND SHEEPDOG 128
SOFT COATED WHEATEN TERRIER 129
GERMAN SHORTHAIRED POINTER 130
FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER 131
BORDER TERRIER 132
BELGIAN TERVUREN 133
IBIZAN HOUND 134
BASENJI 135
BELGIAN SHEEPDOG 136
COLLIE 137
GREYHOUND 138
RAT TERRIER 139
SIBERIAN HUSKY 140
PHARAOH HOUND 141
CANAAN 142
AUSTRALIAN TERRIER 143
WHIPPET 144
BORZOI 145
SALUKI 146
GERMAN PINSCHER 147
ITALIAN GREYHOUND 148

This list was taken from the statistics on the OFA web site link I gave you. They are ranked from the most dysplastic dogs to the least dysplastic dogs. As you can see, there are plent of other breeds that have more problems than the GSD with HD. Heck, even a Maine Coon Cat is ranked worse than the GSD.

Answer 6

They **DON'T**!!!!

It's in ALL dogs-MUTT/MONGRELS as well as purebred animals.

What they DO have is a bunch of dedicated & responsible breeders who TEST for it & try breed AWAY from the problem,instead of ignoring it!

Answer 7

it is in the genetics. i think it has something to do with the hip socket. as they get older the socket wears away and the hip can't stay in the socket. their knees are also straighter than other breeds as because of this it wears faster.

Answer 8

I dont think they are.