Should I keep him on the lead a bit more?

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Monty is a nearly nine month old Labrador now and very tall and slim. We do about half an hours walk some days and an hour on others. He has really good recall, especially on the whistle and will always come back to me but the only thing that worries me is that he runs like a bloody greyhound. He is fast and he loves to run. His parents had quite good hip & elbow scores etc but I worry about his joints at this age leading to problems later on.

Should I limit the running about? He likes to hare up the stairs and jump on the dc's beds as well. He always makes a habit of jumping down very carefully and he's very cautious down the stairs. I just worry that he's doing a bit too much.

[tabulahrasa]

Offlead is better for their joints than on as they're setting their own pace.

I would possibly limit the stairs a bit though tbh, that's not fantastic for them.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

No that's what I thought but he loves being up there with the dds. Oh well, will have to limit it a bit. Thanks.

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

Our breeder said to limit stairs and jumping on and off things until our dog was 1

Personally I think a bit of haring about with other dogs is fine but tou may need to step in sometimes and give him a bit of time out as puppies find it harder to regulate their own activity when they're having a really fun game with another dog

Definitely one of the best things you can do to help his joints is to keep him slim. Sadly despite religiously following all the guidelines (and having a breed where hip problems are nowhere near as prevalent as in labs) both my dog and his littermate developed hip dysplasia on one side. My dog has no signs of arthritis and is fit and healthy, but his littermate is already struggling- the difference is my dog weighs 5kg less than his brother who's the same height

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. I know the parents scores aren't a guarantee but you do kind of hope they're a good guide. How old is your dog?

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

He's 2 - diagnosed just after his first birthday - parents' hip scores both perfect

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Oh lord. Is that just bad luck do you think?

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

The vet said that it was almost certainly genetic - especially as his brother has exactly the same thing- and that even though he's been bred from generations of dogs with excellent hip scores that wasn't a guarantee that he would only inherit the 'good' genes

We're lucky in a way in that it was discovered before it was causing him problems so as we're aware of it we can do our best to manage it