Great Dane - "Cow-hocked"
Keith Sveinson
a registered dog from who we thought was a reputible breeder. We
have now been told that the dog is "cow-hocked". The breeder says
that this is from a lack of exercise and is not genetic. Can
anyone shed some light on this situation or point us in the right
direction.
Keith and Samantha
AlGreen
>We have purchased a Dane pup "now 13 weeks old". She is
>a registered dog from who we thought was a reputible breeder. We
>have now been told that the dog is "cow-hocked". The breeder says
>that this is from a lack of exercise and is not genetic. Can
It is pretty doubtful, especially in a very young puppy, that this is
from a lack of exercise. Structural faults are genetic, especially if
they are obvious at 13 weeks. You say that you thought the breeder was a
good one. If you look at your dog's pedigree, do you see many champion's
in the parent's and grandparent's generations. If you do, and cow hocks
are not a serious flaw in Great Danes, (although they may be), it may be
that they were successful at showing them anyway. if you do NOT see any
show dogs, then it sounds like your breeder went ahead and bred dogs that
may not be structurally sound. You may want a second opinion on the dog's
build: I had a friend leave a match show ring in tears, after the "judge"
make some critical, unfounded remarks, about her new puppy. Sometimes
free advice is worth very little.
Ann, Twzl & Sligo
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cy...@cris.com
In article <440nt3$a...@panix.com>, <alg...@panix.com> writes:
>
> >We have purchased a Dane pup "now 13 weeks old". She is
> >a registered dog from who we thought was a reputible breeder. We
> >have now been told that the dog is "cow-hocked". The breeder says
> >that this is from a lack of exercise and is not genetic. Can
>
> It is pretty doubtful, especially in a very young puppy, that this is
> from a lack of exercise. Structural faults are genetic, especially if
> they are obvious at 13 weeks. You say that you thought the breeder was a
> good one. If you look at your dog's pedigree, do you see many champion's
> in the parent's and grandparent's generations. If you do, and cow hocks
> are not a serious flaw in Great Danes, (although they may be), it may be
> that they were successful at showing them anyway. if you do NOT see any
> show dogs, then it sounds like your breeder went ahead and bred dogs that
> may not be structurally sound.
Then again, the dogs may have been structurally sound but just happened to
produce a cow-hocked puppy! For all you know, it may have been the only
cow-hocked puppy in the litter!
Did you buy the pup as a show/obedience prospect, or did you tell the breeder
that you were looking for a pet dog? If you were sold this pup as a show
prospect, and the breeder didn't mention this fault, or, worse, didn't know
about it, I'd say you were "taken." For a pet, cow-hocks are a little
unsightly (depending on the degree of the problem) but shouldn't be a real
problem, and it would have been legitimate for the breeder to have sold you a
cow-hocked dog as a pet. I have working sled dogs, and a couple of them have
slight cow-hocks and they can pull a sled all day and keep up just fine with
the more "sound" dogs on the team. So don't be too concerned, unless you did
purchase your pup as a show prospect.
Cindy Eliason
Nancy E. Holmes
<7556...@CompuServe.COM> writes:
>
>We have purchased a Dane pup "now 13 weeks old". She is
>a registered dog from who we thought was a reputible breeder. We
>have now been told that the dog is "cow-hocked". The breeder says
>that this is from a lack of exercise and is not genetic. Can
>direction.
>
>Keith and Samantha
Some dane pups appear cow-hocked as they have excessively angulated
rears. Young pups MAY grow into these rears and get control of them as
they mature. Muscle strength WILL help this. Uphill and down hill walks
or play will strenghten rear muscles. Cow hocks hold cows up just fine!
If you bought the dog as a pet relax this is not fatal. if it was
purchased as show go back and see the pup the breeder kept and see how
it looks now. Some breeders LIKE lots of angulation in show potential
pups as they know their line matures into it.
OTOH cow hocks may mean the hips are not doing a good job of supporting
the rear so the hocks are pulled under to help hold it up.Get your vets
opinion on this pup and its rear assembly. make sure the vet is Dane
familiar tho - i remember one who told me the pup I brought him was
going to be crippled and hsould be destroyed as the front feet toed out
and the growth plates were malformations of the joints. He'd never seen
a Dane pup that age before. the pup turned out massively boned and tall
and fine just as I predicted much to the vet's shock!
good luck
nancy
AlGreen
that I alg...@panix.com has a Great Dane.
Cyndy, please go back and re-read the thread. I commented on the cow
hocks, saying that this person should get another opinion. But I don't
OWN a Great Dane!!!
Ann, Twzl & Sligo(we are Goldens!!!, but mom says that at the bridge are
a whole bunch of our Great Dane cousins who used to live with her cousin.)
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cy...@cris.com
> In <NEWTNews.12092...@crc1.cris.com> cy...@cris.com writes:
>
> that I alg...@panix.com has a Great Dane.
I don't think I said that... I included part of your original reply, but I knew
it wasn't *your* Great Dane! Never meant to imply that it was!
Cindy
Robin Nuttall
puppy is in a crate all day. I believe in keeping large breed puppies in
as large a space as possible while undergoing rapid growth. This keeps
the bones forming correctly.
I don't know about Great Danes, but dobe puppies sometimes go through
awful growth spurts that cause all kinds of ugly looking things that go
away later. They'll suddenly be very high in the rear, or their fronts
will go absolutely straight, or their feet will break down and look like
platters, etc.
Was this puppy noticeably cow hocked when it was bought? How severe is
the hockiness? Can you stack her out of it? That means, when you stack
the puppy as you would for show with the front feet squarely under the
shoulders and the back feet back a bit so that the pasterns are parallel
to the ground, is it easy to get the legs to look straight, or do the
hocks resist being pulled out into proper position and stay looking cow
hocked? If she stacks out of it easily, this may be a temporary problem
due to growth. If not, and if her hocks have always been tipped in, then
it's probably permanent.
Is this a show prospect puppy? If so, I would talk to the breeder about a
replacement, and I hope you got a written contract. If it's a pet
prospect, you will be spaying her anyway, and the cow hocks shouldn't
matter!
Robin, Jasper and Dreamer
ro...@imed.missouri.edu
(my opinions are my own!)
http://www.hsc.missouri.edu/people/robin/rjntp.html
Katharine E. Maus
puppies; as their muscle tone improves, they straighten out.
And some puppies are cowhocked early on, and then grow out of
it. But cowhocks can also be permanent.
Katharine Maus