Is hip dysplasia genetic, or caused by how a puppy is raised?

Both. Hip dysplasia is inherited, but it is not purely genetic: genes set a dog’s risk, and how a puppy is fed and raised can influence whether it shows up and how badly. Testing the parents lowers the odds. It cannot guarantee any one puppy’s hips.

How much of it is inherited?

A large study of Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) records across 60 breeds put the inherited share of hip scores in Anatolian Shepherds at about half. Estimates in other studies and other breeds run both lower and higher. The American College of Veterinary Surgeons calls heredity the biggest single risk factor.

That is why we x-ray our breeding dogs and tell you the grade they earned.

What do the OFA grades mean?

OFA gives passing hips one of three grades: Excellent, Good or Fair. All three are within normal limits and receive an OFA number. A Fair hip is a normal hip with minor irregularities. It is not dysplasia.

What can an owner actually change?

The best evidence is about food. In a controlled study of Labradors, 16 of 24 puppies fed freely developed hip dysplasia, against 7 of 24 littermates fed a quarter less. Followed for life, the leaner dogs showed hip arthritis on x-ray years later than the free-fed dogs. That was one breed in one colony, but keeping a growing giant-breed puppy lean costs nothing.

A Norwegian study of four large breeds found more hip dysplasia in puppies that used stairs daily before three months old, and less in puppies that had off-leash exercise on soft ground at the same age. It is a single study based on owner reports, so we treat it as sensible caution, not proof.

Early neutering has been linked with more joint problems in several breeds, mostly retrievers. Anatolian Shepherds have not been studied. Talk to your vet about timing.

What do you do with your puppies?

From the first day our puppies are on carpeted footing, so their feet have something to grip and they tuck their legs under themselves instead of lying flat with their legs out behind. No study proves that footing prevents hip dysplasia. We do it because it is good husbandry.

We weigh every puppy twice a day for the first four weeks, and we raise our own young dogs slowly and lean.

Does the x-ray itself affect the grade?

It can. A grade is a reading of an x-ray, and x-rays vary. In a French study of more than 5,000 dogs, dysplasia was found in 22 percent of dogs x-rayed under anesthesia and 9 percent of dogs x-rayed awake, because a relaxed dog shows looseness that a tense dog hides. OFA does not require sedation but recommends it.

A grade is strong evidence about a dog’s hips. It is not the whole dog. We look at the grade, the pedigree behind it, and how the dog moves and works at 24 to 26 months old.

The information on this page is general information about the breed, drawn from the sources listed and from our own experience. Individual dogs vary. Nothing here is a guarantee about the health, size, temperament or working ability of any particular puppy. The terms of any sale are those in our written contract.