Does cow hock mean bad hip?? - Page 1

no and neither does over angled or loose hocks.

best,

Rik

Try to ask a scumbag vet

100% No,have nothing to do with hips

No!!!!  And lots of puppies are cow hocked and grow up not to be, though I know some disagree on that.  One of my males was cow hocked when a very young pup and he has wonderful confirmation with no sign of cow hocking now.  In any case, not at all related to hips and some say in herding breeds it helps on their cornering.  

Thanks all guys Good job Hunger :)

Cow hock is not the cause of the problem and just because the dog is having cow hocks it does not mean that he/she suffers with or will get HD. I would not say that over angulated dog has worse probability of bad hips then square dog. 

  I would not get concerned with cow hocks unless there is a present  really strong warning sign of the hocks  touching  each other on regular basis. That is best observable when the dog is at rest. Also muscle atrophy in the thigh and butt is such sign( the area is concave rather then convex). The reason for that is discomfort and improper functionality of the hip which forces the dog to shift his/her weight forward. Thus often such dog has  really well developed front and underdeveloped rear. 
   However to evaluate the dogs hips solely on looks is silly. If you are concerned about quality of hips of your dog,  I would not make a federal case out of this and at appropriate age I would  x ray the dog.
Also keep in mind that bad hips are not a death warrant and dogs with HD can usually  have relatively normal life and love you and protect you and so should you love and protect your dog. It pains me to no end when people put down 1 year old dog because of faulty hips. When I was a baby I had  faulty hips and I am glad that my mother did not put me down.
:)
Prager Hans

Many thanks to you Prager.

Prager

AN INTERESTING COMMENT
http://www.hausmerkel.com/Cow_Hocks.htm