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Bea is a 3 year old FS German Shepherd. I am concerned about her conformation and generalized lack of muscle mass. I have attached a profile picture of her. Based on her exam findings and conformation, I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to be proactive in preventing future problems.
Her neck is tense as well as her biceps. She appears to have a shortened shoulder angle and there is decreased extension of both the left and right shoulders. She resists extension of her shoulders but she does not seem painful with palpation of the Teres major muscle and she did tolerate palpation of the first rib. There is also a mild decrease of carpal flexion (L>R), her paraspinals are tense and there appears to be muscle atrophy of these epaxial muscles, there is deceased rib springing and decreased side bending, the quadriceps are tense. Flexion and extension of the hips is good There is atrophy of the gluteal muscles as well. She does not appear painful with palpation along the spine. She has mild kyphosis, her back is long, there is moderate to severe angulation of the hock.
Bea was evaluated by a veterianry surgeon who found no significant abnormalities. I am concerned about the development of L-S diease in the future. I am not sure what to think about the decreased shoulder angle.
I am happy to take measurements - standing joint angles, ROM
Any recommendations/suggestions you have are appreciated!
Juli

Hi Juli,

So as with most cases that I can't get my hands on and/or get the full history one, I have more questions:
1. How does the owner exercises this dog? And is she otherwise fit?
2. Any soreness in any of the other forelimb joints?
3. How does she look when she walks? When she trots? Or runs?
4. How is her abdominal motor control & timing (i.e. the 3-leg stand - sliding of one leg off the ground to assess for core stability)?
5. Does she have any lumbo-sacral tenderness now?
6. You say she resists shoulder extension... but can you get full extension? Is there pain with 'pure glenohumeral extension'?
7. When you say she has decreased shoulder angles - do you mean she's more upright / straighter?
8. Does she always stand 'under herself'?
9. Is she stiff at the area of the kyphosis?

So, back to you!!!

Cheers, Laurie

Laurie,
Bea actually belongs to me!! ) so ask any question you want...
1. I run with Bea 3 times a week, sometimes twice a week. We run 4 miles at a pace of 11:30-12:00 min/mile....I am old and slow!! :-0 I try to walk Bea at least 2 other days of the week. I also throw the ball for her every morning! She is happy when she is active....mentally and physically. I think her overall fitness is pretty good.
2. I can not appreciate any pain with palpation of the forelimb joints
3. what I have noticed with her gait is that she has a short stride in the front and she appears to flip her front paws in the swing phase (or as the front legs move forward). In the rear, I have noticed that she internally rotates, her stifle moves inward when she steps down while walking. I have also noticed that her back legs shake when she squats to defecate.
She also has a narrow base in the rear while standing..... I tried to video her tonight but I the videos are too short to really appreciate her gait. I can try again.....oh I just discovered that I have a slow motion option on my phone!!
4. When I slowly slide her right rear leg off the ground, she drops on the left. When holding up the left rear leg she can stand for 10 seconds or more but when I hold up the right rear, she drops in less than 10 seconds
5. I can not appreciate any limbo-sacral tenderness
6. I would say her shoulder extension is moderately decreased
7. Yes, I think her shoulders are straighter, less than 30 degrees
8. Her topline often looks flat to me....I will attach another picture.
9. Yes, she is stiff at the area of the kyphosis. I also feel heat in the T-L and L-S regions

Well, I thought I added another picture, but I am not sure where it is....sorry!
Juli

Hi Juli,

So what do you know about her hips?
The upright front legs are what they are. The gait alteration (flipping of paw) is a technique to gain a bit more extension in dogs that have upright shoulders. I have a Training Video on conformation that talks about bit about the gait compensations for conformation issues. (Training Video 14)
To make improvements in the front, I'd suggest muscling in non-concussive ways (digging would be one of my favourites or swimming). If there's no pain in the front legs, and you're up for the challenge, you could try trotting her down a hill. I once had a show dog do this and it really did help his reach... but he was a Samoyed... not sure how fast you have to run to keep up with a GSD!

Now, if hips are good and even if not, I think you'd find that building muscle in the rears would be advantageous.

• Jumping ONTO a platform, bed, back of vehicle
  Walking UP steep hills
  Sit to stand facing up hill
  Tug of war
  Pulling
  etc

I'd also play with standing practice - to help retrain her to stand and to build her core.

• Using stacking blocks or Fit Pawds
  I like two cinder blocks or stools and slowly space them farther out - letting her accomodate to each. (Sort of like doing a plank). Stimulate - poke / tickle - her abdominals as she does this.

Then work on the 3-leg stands (Look at Training Video 16 - for motor control and timing). In Bea's case you may need to stimulate the abdominals or you may need to stimulate the gludes on whichever leg she is standing on. If glutes, then do some timing work using an E-stim as you do the exercise.

You can try some generic mobilizations in the kyphotic area, but it could be that she has 'grown' this way. Working on the 'planks' might help. As well, I'd try exercises to encourage her to stretch out.
Front feel up on a step / stool while getting a cookie.

• Rear legs up on a step / stool and luring her to reach for a cookie forwards and towards the floor (but not stepping off the stool.

Hope this helps for the next phase of 'figuring her out'!

Laurie