Question: Why do poodles get bad hips?

@baileymymie8: Hip dysplasia (where the top of the leg bone doesn’t align properly with the socket of the hip) is a common genetic health issue in pure bred poodles. This doesn’t mean that ALL poodles will get it, but that a lot of the population is affected. Health issues like this are quite common in pure bred populations of dogs. This is because there are limited mating choices within the pure bred population and most dogs in the population HAVE the issue – AND it’s once passed on by a genetic basis, the problem continues, and sometimes even intensifies, or gets worse.

To help with these health issues (whether it’s hip dysplasia, droopy eye lids, short faces, etc.), breeders can get their dogs vet checked before breeding with them to make sure they are fit to breed. In hips, vets normally take x-rays of the pelvis and hips and assign a score based on the angles of the bones. A low score is good. A high score is not good. Most breeds will have an average score for hips within that breed. Progress to reduce a health issues within a population can be made by choosing to breed with only the dogs who have low hip scores. Over time, the average hip score will come down.

A more radical way to improve the health of a population of dogs is to out cross to a completely different breed or mixed breed that has a better record for sound health in that problem area, but pure breed enthusiasts don’t tend to like this idea.