# Cow hock rear legs



## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

My little guy has cow hock legs. He's 10 weeks old. Anyone have any experience with this? I've had a lot of puppies and i swear each one has something I haven't run into with any other!


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

After 8 weeks old, they go through all kinds of crazy looks, that is why breeders pick them out at 8 weeks.

I have my breeder's dog staying with me, he is supposed to be a show dog, but at a year old he was very Eastie / Westie in the front. She was ready to give up on him, that is why he is with us. All the sudden the past three months ( he is 15 months now ) - that has gone away, we put him in a fun match two weeks ago and he won! He looked absolutely stunning. My breeder is now getting excited about him again. He will start showing next month, but she does not expect him to be really ready for another year or so.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

cubbysan said:


> After 8 weeks old, they go through all kinds of crazy looks, that is why breeders pick them out at 8 weeks.
> 
> I have my breeder's dog staying with me, he is supposed to be a show dog, but at a year old he was very Eastie / Westie in the front. She was ready to give up on him, that is why he is with us. All the sudden the past three months ( he is 15 months now ) - that has gone away, we put him in a fun match two weeks ago and he won! He looked absolutely stunning. My breeder is now getting excited about him again. He will start showing next month, but she does not expect him to be really ready for another year or so.


I'm hoping he grows out of this too! He won't be showing...but I'm still kinda hoping he looses the whacky stance/walk.
Congrats to your pup!


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Piper got xrays today. His walk is...well...just weird. There was nothing obvious on xray. Nothing broken, hips look good, knees look good. His left foot turn out weird when he walks. We are waiting for a specialist to interpret the xrays.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

10 weeks is such a young age. I would never let a general practice vet decide if something is wrong with such a young puppy. Even with a specialist, I would get 2 specialists opinions. To jump to anything at such a young age is very odd. Have you spoken with the breeder? They may have insight on what is happening. It may be that you are being over sensitive to the position of your puppy's feet and legs. Don't rush into anything.


By the way, I have a 10 month old puppy with cow hocked rear legs. They were pretty angled when he was young. As he has grown and developed he has become less cow hocked. He's pretty close to being normal, but I don't expect the cow hocked look to be completely gone until he is 18 months. Remember it takes time to develop muscles and ligatures to hold bones in place. This same thing happens with bite. Dogs can have over or under bites at a young age that they grow out of. My guy again had an under bite until age 6 months or so. Then it was gone one day.


Don't look too hard at your puppy for faults...


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

You don't have to look hard to see there's an abnormality in his gait. Its abnormal. The vet we see has an orthopedic specialist in the practice. That dr was not in today, but will be evaluating him also. It was apparent to everyone that he walks weird...and not really apparent why. xrays have been sent out for a read by a veterinary radiologist. 
I'm not sure why anyone would suggest not paying attention to something you notice with your dog. If there is a condition that can be corrected or needs to be corrected early - I'd want to know and get moving on it.
Also the breeder is of no help. While the parents had hip and elbow clearances, the breeder is not what I would label a "professional breeder". They simply had 2 dogs, got clearances and had pups on a ranch.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

Also: we haven't "jumped" to anything. Nobody knows what the deal is with his leg yet. Surely a trip to the vet and xrays are an appropriate first step


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

I haven't had personal experience with it, but my s/o is a vet and he says he sees it more in the context of GSDs (he works with military service dogs), who often get it due to extreme angulation of their back legs. Can be genetic. Questions he asked me: Did your puppy have it when you brought him home from the breeder? Sometimes pups will develop it when they have large growth spurts and gangly legs due to the angulation, but they grow out of it...this is more likely if your pup was normal before 8 weeks of age, like cubbysan mentioned. 

Hopefully its something he will grow out of. If it were me, and his gait was impacted, I would be doing the same thing you are doing in regards to having the proper people take a look at it.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

I don't remember it being obvious when we brought him home. His gait was not unusual until more recently - or least not weird enough to think about. At first both hocks did seem to turn in a bit. But it's more pronounced on the left now. You can notice some atrophy in the leg muscle when the left is compared to the right.


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## Pipersmom (Aug 2, 2016)

I was concerned we'd find an obvious or at least slight indiction of a hip or knee problem on the xrays. But no dice. Perhaps the radiologist will find something. If not, I guess I better get him swimming to build up that muscle!


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Pipersmom said:


> I was concerned we'd find an obvious or at least slight indiction of a hip or knee problem on the xrays. But no dice. Perhaps the radiologist will find something. If not, I guess I better get him swimming to build up that muscle!


Hey, I don't have any advice about the cow hock gait and stance, but could you post pictures of how the muscle atrophy and her legs look like? 

I had once brought a puppy i was considering for an initial vet checkup, and the vet said that he had very loose cruciate ligaments and a cow hock. he would have needed a knee replacement at 8months. Vet said that the cow hock could be corrected by binding the legs a certain way, and in time his stance could be corrected. 

[not too sure but just telling you about my personal experience, i didn't purchase that puppy due to the health issues prevalent at such a young age... the breeder was terrible] 

Let us know when you hear back from the vet and good luck!


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