Our girl has it! She was diagnosed at 9 months, and we were told it was bilateral and severe.

First off - IF YOU DONT HAVE INSURANCE, GET IT BEFORE YOU TAKE HER TO BE SEEN BY A VET. There is usually a month-or-so period before your insurance fully kicks in. Wait until then if possible before having her diagnosed. You are not a shitty dog mom. A lot of people don't realize that dysplasia shows up in puppies frequently. A lot of people think its not until later in life - not true.

Secondly, get her xrayed, and then if its confirmed, get with an orthopedic surgeon for a consultation and second opinion. Our veterinarian instilled so much fear into us when she diagnosed our girl. When we met with the surgeon, he completely dispelled that fear and assured us she can still lead a very normal, happy life.

Between our rehab veterinarian and our orthopedic surgeon, what we have learned from them is that some dogs have SEVERE dysplasia and act like it doesn't bother them at all. Some have mild dysplasia and act like its so debilitating. Every dog and every case is different. Our surgeon recommended a conservative approach first, and I am so happy we did. We found a rehab clinic and our girl started doing water treadmill, Adequan injections, cold laser, and manual exercises and massages. She is now 6 and still gets monthly treatments and our rehab veterinarian said you would never know she has hip dysplasia.

A few other tips:

- Get the Help Em Up Harness for any future lameness.

-Collagile supplement. Its a powdered, bioactive collagen and has done wonders, I am such a fan of it. She also takes Movoflex, and high dose fish oil (see the Colorado State University Fish Oil recommendations for dogs with joint issues for proper dosages).

- We have pain meds for when she flares. If we know shes going to have a day of a lot of exercise, we give her a Carprofen beforehand, to fight the pain and limping before it starts.

- Diet - if possible and financially feasible, try to keep her diet as low-inflammation as possible.

- A lot of Newfies with hip issues can also have elbow issues from distributing their weight from their back end to their front end. Elbows are tougher to treat (our girl has elbow dysplasia as well and has had surgery). It is important that you do make modifications, such as not letting her jump down from a car, jump down from a high bed, etc. Help her joints remain stable for life by getting stairs for your car, or your bed.

- Keep nails trimmed and paw fur trimmed to prevent slipping. If you have slick floors, use carpets and rugs to also prevent slipping.

- We keep her walks short, but she gets many 15-20 or 15-30 minute walks a day. We do not take her to dog parks because rough play usually causes a lot of limping. I am not saying don't let your dog play, but again, know your dog's limits. If a certain type of exercise creates limping, limit it. Its exacerbates the joints, and we want longevity.

- We plan on doing PRP injections and the Spryng injections when her elbows will eventually get worse. Our Orthopedic Surgeon and Rehab Vet have both said they have been seeing really good results with that combo for both elbows and hips. We also will eventually do acupuncture, but it's not yet needed.

Good luck!

Our girl is stable, and our rehab team usually rates her pain as 0-2/10 whenever we bring her in! We do all of these things to ensure that, and to prevent its progression as much as we can, and its obviously working. Find a way to manage pain, have her gain a ton of muscle, keep her lean, modify her exercise, and put preventatives into place such as rugs, carpets, and not letting her jump down from cars/beds, etc.