9 year old German Shepherd dog?

what do you mean your vet casually told you your dog have hip dyspepsia? You can just tell by looking at a dog...you need to do X-ray. You vet should be able to point out where the problem is. Go to a different vet...don't even bother waiting for his call back.

German Shepherds are prone to hip dyspepsia but you will see sign...trouble walking, dog not wanting to walk...have trouble getting up, limping etc.

And he should also either prescribe a pain medication or tell you what other options you have.

My suggestion is to start her on glucosamine...that helps my dog who was "diagnosed of hip dyspepsia" by one vet and told by another that she has a mismatch bone in her hind leg but surgery is not an option for her because it might not help. My dog can't stay off her feet at the time. She was 6 months old...who can blame her. The glucosamine did help her though. So try that and good luck

A gentle leader helps but wont solve the problem, just band aid it. Also, using a harness only adds to the dogs natural need to pull and work so unless hes already behaved thats no good either. Training collars only work on dogs that are bothered by the tightening, not all dogs are. Get a leash that is long enough that you can tie it around your waist and it can still be attached to him and hang loose. Then YOU walk. Change directions, go around obstacles, run one way and suddenly go the other. It will force him to pay attention to you and will reinforce that its YOUR walk, not his. Dont wait for him to follow, expect him to. If you want to delve deeper, dont let him go through doors first, make him do something (sit for example) and wait for food or treats or to come out a door. Hes pulling because he doesnt know you are in charge, he thinks he is. If you do this stuff daily you will start to notice him paying more attention to you and less to everything else. Also, if you are walking a straight line and he pulls pull him back to you in one quick move, when the leash slackens praise him. This stuff will work, it wont hurt him and will give you both excercise and time to bond. But it will take consistancy just like with a kid and you can teach an old dog new tricks. Good luck!

Just sleeping all day isn't an illness so it's hard to say. If she was doing something else different it would help. She may just be hurting enough she doesn't get up as much or she could have something else going on that a blood test may reveal. Some senior pets can get senile and do a lot of sleeping, but I think you would notice other changes. Hopefully it's nothing for you to worry about. Good Luck.

9 is getting up there for a shepherd, and if it is an American bred one, with that sloping back, you indeed could have hip dysplasia problems, and she may indeed be hurting. (And as an aside, the Germ. bred shepherds are not bred with that back... what ARE American breeders thinking???? All it does is produce a defective animal.... no other breed of dog is bred with a back like that, none!!)

The GS is my vet's favorite, and she had had three with hip dysplasia, and in two, she had the hip replaced... There is a vet at Davis (Ca. vet school who does it), and both were quite successful, just expensive. If you're interested, contact them at Davis, Ca and see who does them.

I don't know about the sleeping, but I would do some research on running with hip dysplasia. I have heard any kind of stress on the hips makes it worse - like climing, jumping, running. Walking is probably a good idea, but i would get a second opinion on running.

Has your vet put him on anything like glucosamine with MSM?

As a professional dog trainer for over 16 years, I have to tell you my strong opinion that you need these group classes for obedience training. http://onlinedogtraining.enle.info/?51Uo

Other pet warehouses are there to get you to buy their products and hang around their strore. And their trainers are their employees...never forget they have an agenda. Most of the trainers have very little education--if they had actual training and skills they wouldn't be there making just over minimum wage--trust me on this. But even if they did have experience and talent...a group setting is a terrible place for learning to take place. It's distraction training and it is the LAST phase of training not the first. You wouldn't have your child try to do their homework in a toy store, would you? Of course not...the level of distraction would be too high! It's the same with dogs. Having said that, these classes can be an excellent way to socialize dogs...but not to train them. And while they appear to be cheaper than a professional trainer...you have to attend many more sessions to get the same results because of the poor learning environment--so you wind up spending MORE money for less training than you would with a professional. Save your money and go to someone who actually knows how to train dogs. OR, read books and try to train your dog yourself. There is nothing they train at a Petsmart or Petco that you can't do yourself with a couple of hours of reading.

My guesses are, Little of some blues , they want to play like they use to but cant, because of age, hips. I have a older dog which is a 12yr. old, does not have hip problem, but gets the blues once in awhile.

9 is old for a German shepherd.

My dog had the same thing as your dog, but she was a different breed.Go to the following link to learn more about this disease:

http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/ddyspla.html