# Bow legs & Bog Eyes?



## Pixie Luna

Hi,
I dont have much expereience with Chi's - when we collected Luna our new puppy, we thought something was 'wrong' with her back legs as she was almost dragging them she was hardly walking 'off' the ground. 
Anyway she is now 10 weeks and she jumps around and walks/runs with no problem but we still think her legs are set in a way I havent seen before? 
Put it this way, from the back she looks like John Wayne walking around! They seem quite square/wide apart? 

Is this something or nothing?
Obviously its causing her no problems but I was just wondering.

We also noticed her eyes, one shows a lot more 'white' than the other, so almost appearing 'bog eyed' again it doesnt cause her any problems but wondering if its anything to worry about for the future? 

We're going to get her insured but obviously if she may have signs of anything occuring in the future we will get her insured 'before' we even take her to the vets for her innoculations.


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## flippedstars

Can you take pictures? Without them it's hard to tell. You may want to get her insured though as often bow legged dogs have serious problems with luxating patellas -- usually over a $2500 surgery. You have to have the dog insured BEFORE they are diagnosed or it is NOT covered. So you can't go ask your vet 1st if she has a problem because then they put it in their records. Petplan covers LP but a lot don't.


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## CarrieAndCalista

Hmm, I have always thought Calista's back legs are a little bowlegged, and then I noticed it in a lot of other chihuahaus! 
Personally... I would get her insured before you do anything like taking her to the vets... we made the mistake of doing a puppy check the day after we got Calista and before she was insured as we knew she had a hair lip... he identified the cleft pallate and BAMN not covered, no related problems covered, etc etc.


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## jan896

Chico has a wide stance on his back legs.... Right leg had a LP... I found out the Left Hip is blown.... so I guess the wide stance helps with the walking


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## flippedstars

You have to have the dog examined by a vet though, before the policy starts, or after, within I think 14 days or so. So if she's been toa vet and they didn't say anything about her knees then great! If she hasn't been, you can go before you insure her, and hope they don't feel the knees/mention them.


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## Pixie Luna

Thanks! I'll get her insured asap then incase.

What problems could bow legs cause? (i'll try get a photo up later)

As shes only 10 weeks its hard to tell if this is the way she'll 'grow'..or is anything avoidable, ie; exersices to help her grow more correctly if her legs are more bow than normal?
If it doesnt cause any pain/effect on walking etc could it be left?

Thanks for letting me know what it might be, I will read about this now.


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## TinyTails

Healthy Paws covers LP as well Pet Health Insurance for Dogs & Cats | Healthy Paws Pet Insurance
That's what I use for my pets. My chi has luxating patellas and his legs bow out a little more than my other one who does not have the LP. I belong to a chihuahua playgroup and one of the chi's that comes had really bowed out legs both left and right since she was a puppy and it turned out she has LP in both - once she was done growing they had to do surgery on both legs  The specialist told them when they are bowed out since puppyhood you can pretty much guarantee they will have to have surgery since those are mostly the higher grades of LP. When the LP is a grade 3 or higher surgery is normally recommended as it becomes very uncomfortable for the chi - the knees are constantly popping in and out. You can find a lot of information about LP on this forum as it's very common in chihuahuas. Good luck!


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## Pixie Luna

Thanks, Ive just got her Insured with 'John Lewis's' - it seems a good cover £7,000 per condition per year etc etc. But how do you find out if they would pay out for LP related treatment??

Im struggling to figure out if it is her knee's that are making her legs appear bowed or actually her 'hips'?? 
(We had guests this weekend and they commented on how her legs seemed bowed and asked if she had hurt her leg!)
Her innocs are due this Weds but the insurance cover doesnt start until 14 days so I cant ask the vets about it until then 

When we got her from the breeder the other puppies did seem to be hobbling around the same which re-assured me at the time, and her mothers legs seemed fine, the breeder showed us a scar on the mothers leg where she said she was knocked over and had broke her leg...


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## TinyTails

It sounds to me like the breeder is trying to hide something. If your guests noticed a problem, unfortunately I'm sure the vet will notice it right away as well which will go on her record  A vet can usually see LP issues just by seeing the legs since it's very common. From reading their site this is not covered - maybe you can ask your vet not to put anything in her file?
"Costs resulting from an illness which shows clinical signs or become otherwise known to you before your pet’s cover started or within the first 14 days of the start of cover"


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## Pixie Luna

This is what I thought, I remembered the story of her mum getting knocked over and thought hmmm or you mean surgery to fix LP! But I cant believe anyone would like like that

From what Im reading on the net, is LP definately genetic if its a puppy with LP? 
If John Lewis doesnt cover genetic conditions they wont pay at all. Jeez..
Would the breeder have known about this then before breeding or are there cases where they 'mother' doesnt have LP but the puppies develop it??

Ive touched her hip and her leg/knee she doesnt show any pain or discomfort etc.

Ive tried taking a photo of her but she doesnt 'stand' still very long with me behind her trying to take a pic lol!


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## flippedstars

There are often cases where niether the mum or the dad display or have LP, but the puppies do. It's a threshold trait so most dogs carry some degree of it in their genes as it has long been a part of toy breeds. But let's say they need 10 degrees of the gene to express it themselves, but mum only has 6, and dad has 5...niether themselves will have LP but all the puppies will. Unfortunately there's not any way to test for it like that. The longer you can keep generations free from LP the higher the likelihood that you can get puppies without it, but for a long time, you will still have random pups show up with it.


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## Pixie Luna

Heres the best photo I could get of her standing still..although looking here it doesnt look as prominent as when shes walking etc, but they certainly arent as straight as Pixies was as a puppy.

Also a photo of her eyes, one that always seems to show more 'white'.


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## svdreamer

Ok, those look like normal puppy back legs. They have that wide stance and as they age, their back legs get straighter, the hip like rotates and the leg gets closer to the body. Had it with all three dog that I got as puppies. Perfectly normal. The eye I am not sure of, but puppies don't have complete control of the eyes for a while, I would take a wait and see with that.


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## Pixie Luna

Thanks thats great to know, Pixies were never like that and when Luna walks she looks so strange she didnt seem to be able to walk more like dragging them at first!
Im glad I got her insured just incase now I know all about LP etc! Thanks


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## lindseyv77

She looks like a normal Chihuahua to me. Her eyes are not bugged out than what is normal, chihuahuas are supposed to have big round buggy type eyes. And my puppy has the same legs, and she is completely normal and healthy! Yours looks fine.


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## flippedstars

The eyes look fine  The puppy is a bit bow legged and it also is "cow hocked" (google the term you can see more pics of it in the pic search), which may or may not get better, probably not as that is fairly pronounced, but, the good news is is HOPEFULLY is not her knees!I still would get her insured tho, but that's just me


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## Pixie Luna

Yeah Ive just been reading about 'Cow hocked' too thanks.
Yay about her eyes seeming ok 

(Lindseyv77 it was the 'white' of her eyes, when she looks at you one eye has lots of white showing, one doesnt - so she appears bog eyed/crossed eyed to a degree) 

Yeah Luna is insured now and the vet didnt say anything about her legs when she went for her first injections  but they did say her eyes were very weepy..
when she goes to the vets again she will be covered to claim on insurance (14 day period) so I can ask all about her legs then


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## bayoumah

hi she looks so cute and perfect to me


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