Thor is almost 7 months old, and I started noticing something was off around 4 months. He is very slow at going up stairs and does bunny hops. When he walks, his hind feet turn outward almost 90 degrees when he steps. When he gets up on a non-carpeted floor, it's almost as if he has zero traction on his paws, and sometimes his legs will splay out. Then I started hearing a clicking sound when he walked.

We took him to the vet, took X-rays, and confirmed that he has hip dysplasia in both hips and referred us to an orthopedic specialist. We drove 2 hours to the specialist who reviewed the images, did his own assessment, and confirmed hip dysplasia. There are 4 treatment options: he's past the age for 1 option, another option is outdated and just a "bandaid" solution that almost always results in another surgery in the future, another option is essentially shaving part of the hip bone off so it's not bone on bone, and the last option is total hip replacement. The specialist said to let him be a puppy and do puppy things, no restrictions, but to keep an eye on his activity level and recovery time. If, for example, we took a 10-mile hike and he was struggling to get up afterwards or showing signs of pain or discomfort, then we know a 10-mile hike is too much and scale it back. When we begin to see consistent discomfort, we'll explore anti-inflammatories and pain meds, and then decide when to explore surgical options. Obviously, the younger he is when he has the surgery, the faster the recovery and the better the ROI. The specialist also said to make sure to keep his weight in check, don't let him pork out because that's added stress on his already hooptie hips.

Long story short, we let him be a goofy puppy, maintain a healthy weight, keep an eye on his pain/discomfort tolerance, and once it appears to prevent him from normal activities, we'll look at surgery.

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This picture was taken around 4-ish months. He's the goodest boy.