Showing signs of "hip dysplasia" What are the signs???

Hello there Staffy lovers, from Melbourne, Australia.
My wife and I have been blessed to be the proud owners of Gizmo, the 8 yr old male Staffy.
He is a pure bred with papers and is always the center of attention.
Bold and proud yet loyal and very affectionate. Known to all as simply Giz, this Staffy is compared to a piece of iron.
Bulletproof and unbreakable.........or so he made us believe.
A few days ago while on his daily walk, he dropped, could walk no more, and needed to be carried home.
It was a 20 min walk and I could see that gradually his hips and rear legs were slowly stiffing up. Then he sort of
"locked up" is the only way I can describe it. He just couldn't do it. So I carried him.
Once home, 7 mins later, he was walking again but I could see the back legs were tight. 30 mins later and he was running around and jumping on the couch.
Vet gave him a weeks worth of anti-inflamitories and said if he still shows signs, then we need some x-rays.
The Vet seems to think its his weight, 23kg, but I don't know. I think its his hips.
Anyway, it's day 4 of 7 and he is going crazy coz he wants his "walkies" but doc said no walking untill the meds are finished.
Has anyone seen their Staffy suffer from hip dysplasia and how did you manage it?
Thanks for your time

Dave

Hi ya Dave, Welcome to the forum from Flo and me

I've no experience of hip dysplasia but did lift the extract below from a vet web site :-

Joint looseness or laxity
Later disease: signs are related to joint degeneration and osteoarthritis
Decreased activity
Difficulty rising
Reluctance to run, jump, or climb stairs
Intermittent or persistent hind-limb lameness, often worse after exercise
“Bunny-hopping,” or swaying gait
Narrow stance in the hind limbs (back legs unnaturally close together)
Pain in hip joints
Joint looseness or laxity – characteristic of early disease; may not be seen in long-term hip dysplasia due to arthritic changes in the hip joint
Grating detected with joint movement
Decreased range of motion in the hip joints
Loss of muscle mass in thigh muscles
Enlargement of shoulder muscles due to more weight being exerted on front legs as dog tries to avoid weight on its hips, leading to extra work for the shoulder muscles and subsequent enlargement of these muscles

Causes

Influences on the development and progression of hip dysplasia are concurrent with both genetic and environmental factors:

Genetic susceptibility for hip looseness or laxity
Rapid weight gain and obesity
Nutritional factors
Pelvic-muscle mass


It also states that it can start very early in life so I'm inclined to think that your Giz has something else going on but in either case an X-ray is the only way to conclude what is going on inside.

Let us know how your little fella gets on

Has the vet ruled out arthritis?

normally, hip dislacia presents earlier than 8 years old.

you could try giving cod liver oil, and maybe massage some coconut ol into the hips.