"Rapid growth and large body size can negatively impact a dog's hip joint health and dysplasia scores, even if she comes from generations of low-scoring ancestors.
While genetics establish the baseline blueprint for hip structure, environmental and growth factors heavily influence whether that genetic potential is realised. Rapid growth spurts can cause the soft tissues (ligaments, joint capsules, and cartilage) to lag behind the rapid lengthening and bulk of the bones.
When muscles and ligaments don't tighten at the same rate the bones grow, joint laxity (looseness) increases. Laxity allows the femoral head to slide excessively within the acetabulum (hip socket), leading to unnatural wear, micro-trauma, and eventual abnormal joint remodelling or arthritis."
Sounds like Meerah doesn't it? I've no idea why she grew the way she did; I didn't do anything differently. I guess we have to accept that Mother Nature can be cruel, and genetics just sometimes likes to throw a curveball into the mix.
The future for Blanik now has two options, my preferred option being a female from Siska. Now I know she is Meerah's mother and she has therefore produced a bitch with H/D but she is not to blame, and neither is Lucca. We put the best ingredients that we could in the pot, but the cake didn't come out, so we'll have to try again, but with different ingredients. So, yes I will mate Siska again, but to very different lineage.
My second option is through Orin, maybe via Zavi or Kate ... or if a repeat mating is successful, then through a Mattie daughter. The only reason that it's the second option is simply Kaiah, losing Kaiah from this pedigree would be heartbreaking ... Kaiah is not in Orin's pedigree, but with only Siska as an option to keep Kaiah in the future lineage, well there is a possibility that I'll have to move ahead along a different pathway. I'm taking this opportunity to share a photo of Kaiah (With Ross) - just because I can!
