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Bunny Hop

Ryan Card

Member
Hi All,

New to the forum and looking for some advise. Ruby is a 8 month old Bullmastiff. She has been with us since 8 weeks. She is not overweight and is a very healthy Bullmastiff. She came from a very good breeder in Maine located near me. I recently have notice her rear legs "bunny hoping" when she runs and plays around outside. She doesn't appear to be in any pain, sites normal, climbs the stairs normal and hops up on the couch just fine. When she runs, both her rear legs move together. Should I be worried about hip dysplasia? It doesn't now run in her background. I made a appointment with my vet tomorrow and would like to know your the experience Mastiff crowd. Thanks a lot in advance.

Ryan
 

marke

Well-Known Member
are you sure she is bunny hopping , it can be hard to see as often the feet are pretty close in time to hit and leave the ground , but not actually leaving the ground at the same time , one can be so close behind the other they appear to be simultaneous ......... if the dog is not in pain , limping , or lame , i don't see what the vet is going to do for you .... walk her and trot her a lot , don't encourage galloping ............... at 8 months it is what it is going to be ............
 

kingmark

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

New to the forum and looking for some advise. Ruby is a 8 month old Bullmastiff. She has been with us since 8 weeks. She is not overweight and is a very healthy Bullmastiff. She came from a very good breeder in Maine located near me. I recently have notice her rear legs "bunny hoping" when she runs and plays around outside. She doesn't appear to be in any pain, sites normal, climbs the stairs normal and hops up on the couch just fine. When she runs, both her rear legs move together. Should I be worried about hip dysplasia? It doesn't now run in her background. I made a appointment with my vet tomorrow and would like to know your the experience Mastiff crowd. Thanks a lot in advance.

Ryan
Welcome to forum. I dont know if bunny hop immediatly means hipdysplasia it could be some other reason. My friend had cane corso who also bunny hoped sometimes even did limp sometimes and now is just fine,so who knows maybe you should do some test or some fiziotherapist with experience for bad hips can tell you something little bit more.
 

Ryan Card

Member
are you sure she is bunny hopping , it can be hard to see as often the feet are pretty close in time to hit and leave the ground , but not actually leaving the ground at the same time , one can be so close behind the other they appear to be simultaneous ......... if the dog is not in pain , limping , or lame , i don't see what the vet is going to do for you .... walk her and trot her a lot , don't encourage galloping ............... at 8 months it is what it is going to be ............
I'm not 100% sure she is bunny hoping. It defiantly looks funny like shes bouncing in the rear like her knees are in sync. I will walk her a lot more and trot her. Thanks for your help.
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
You're talking like the both rear legs pushes up at the same time when she is running? My puppy did that and he still does that sometimes. You should not worry until there is a real problem.
 

Ryan Card

Member
are you sure she is bunny hopping , it can be hard to see as often the feet are pretty close in time to hit and leave the ground , but not actually leaving the ground at the same time , one can be so close behind the other they appear to be simultaneous ......... if the dog is not in pain , limping , or lame , i don't see what the vet is going to do for you .... walk her and trot her a lot , don't encourage galloping ............... at 8 months it is what it is going to be ............
Thanks Marke
 

maryl

Well-Known Member
It sometimes can be an early sign of hip dysplasia or it can just be growing puppy. If you are worried have your vet do prelim OFA xrays. If he/she is not comfortable reading them you can send them to OFA for a reading.
 

marke

Well-Known Member
I'm not 100% sure she is bunny hoping. It defiantly looks funny like shes bouncing in the rear like her knees are in sync. I will walk her a lot more and trot her. Thanks for your help.
watch her feet , if she's bunny hopping , they'll hit the ground and leave the ground simultaneously ...... my question would be , if you take him to the vet and they tell you your pup is dysplastic , what would you do ? personally I raise every pup I've had in the last 25yrs as if they were dysplastic ...............
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
Does it look similar to this when Hector uses back legs to propel himself when he is about to pick up the speed? His legs didn't move as parallel as I've seen it, but if he was off leash trailing something, you would see his rear fly up and off he'll go. His hips show good on xrays, but he does have spinal stenosis and that hasn't bothered him since he recovered 2 years ago.

 

marke

Well-Known Member
to me hector is loping , one foot hits the ground before the other ....... a normal gait , he is a little stiff in his back , but all dogs bounce when they lope ........ here's a dog bunny hopping at around 7-10 seconds in this video ....... tired pups do it , it's usually a strength issue in a pup......

 

PippatheMastiff

Well-Known Member
I would be proactive. 8 months is a great time to check for any ortho issues. Slipped patella can show as bunny hops. Sooner you find out, treatment can stop before worse problems! Do some X-rays. Google it!


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marke

Well-Known Member
I would be proactive. 8 months is a great time to check for any ortho issues. Slipped patella can show as bunny hops. Sooner you find out, treatment can stop before worse problems! Do some X-rays. Google it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
having ddb , i've had more dysplastic dogs than non-dysplastic .......... what would the treatment be ?

here's some pups many of them intermittently bunny hopping

 

PippatheMastiff

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, surgery is often required. I have heard of homeopathic treatment but in a dog as large as Mastiff, the weight on the kneecaps can do some real damage later on. I've never had this happen, but only what I've read and heard from breeders and vets. I would be proactive myself if my pup ever displayed any strange changes in gait.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
having ddb , i've had more dysplastic dogs than non-dysplastic .......... what would the treatment be ?

here's some pups many of them intermittently bunny hopping.

That's a lot of hopping! That's what Hector does when he's hopping around playfully or when he wants to launch himself, but it's just for a few initial steps and then he'll go back to loping as you call it. He always looks stiff in the rear I think because his rear legs are quite straight. He really doesn't have a problem moving, maybe not for long distances, but he's not bad. I honestly wouldn't start panicking unless xrays showed otherwise or the dog actually showed major signs of changes in gait and I'm saying this with a dog that had a spinal injury and brief lameness. Let us know what you find.

 

marke

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, surgery is often required. I have heard of homeopathic treatment but in a dog as large as Mastiff, the weight on the kneecaps can do some real damage later on. I've never had this happen, but only what I've read and heard from breeders and vets. I would be proactive myself if my pup ever displayed any strange changes in gait.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
i had a neo with luxating patellas , surgeon told me i could let it go and it would happen less often as she got older , if i remember correctly he told me calcification would be the reason it would diminish in occurence ..... she lived to 14 , and it did stop , she did become arthritic , but died blind deaf and full of cancer ........ we had a poodle previous , vet told us it needed surgery , within 6 months and 2 botched surgeries she was put down .......... it actually never caused them to bunny hop , would cause the leg to lock up , we'd knock them over on their side and straighten the leg while sliding the patella back in place ............ if a vet offers you surgery as an option on an 8 month old dog with hip dysplasia , i would definitely see another vet .........
 

marke

Well-Known Member
That's a lot of hopping! That's what Hector does when he's hopping around playfully or when he wants to launch himself, but it's just for a few initial steps and then he'll go back to loping as you call it. He always looks stiff in the rear I think because his rear legs are quite straight. He really doesn't have a problem moving, maybe not for long distances, but he's not bad. I honestly wouldn't start panicking unless xrays showed otherwise or the dog actually showed major signs of changes in gait and I'm saying this with a dog that had a spinal injury and brief lameness. Let us know what you find.

he looks like you did a great job rehabbing him ......
 

Ryan Card

Member
That's a lot of hopping! That's what Hector does when he's hopping around playfully or when he wants to launch himself, but it's just for a few initial steps and then he'll go back to loping as you call it. He always looks stiff in the rear I think because his rear legs are quite straight. He really doesn't have a problem moving, maybe not for long distances, but he's not bad. I honestly wouldn't start panicking unless xrays showed otherwise or the dog actually showed major signs of changes in gait and I'm saying this with a dog that had a spinal injury and brief lameness. Let us know what you find.

Yes this is very similar to what Ruby is doing. When Hector starts to run from his sit. Ruby does this the entire run.
 

Ryan Card

Member
i had a neo with luxating patellas , surgeon told me i could let it go and it would happen less often as she got older , if i remember correctly he told me calcification would be the reason it would diminish in occurence ..... she lived to 14 , and it did stop , she did become arthritic , but died blind deaf and full of cancer ........ we had a poodle previous , vet told us it needed surgery , within 6 months and 2 botched surgeries she was put down .......... it actually never caused them to bunny hop , would cause the leg to lock up , we'd knock them over on their side and straighten the leg while sliding the patella back in place ............ if a vet offers you surgery as an option on an 8 month old dog with hip dysplasia , i would definitely see another vet .........
Thanks. I think I am going to hold off on seeing the vet as of right now. She's not lame, climbs stairs normal and is jump8ng around just fine. Maybe is just the puppy in here. This is also all happening on snow covered ground...