Identification

• Shoulder dysplasia, or osteochondrosis, is a malformation of the shoulder joints. The disorder can cause lack of balance and lameness, but is surgically correctable.
  
  

Symptoms

• Symptoms of shoulder dysplasia include stiffness and outright lameness in the front legs. Long-term effects of the disorder include atrophied shoulder muscles due to lack of use, with increasing pain upon flexion.
  
  

Causes

• Although any dysplasia is a physical disability at its base--an excessive looseness in the joint, in this case--it is aggravated in dogs that grow too quickly, are large for their breed or are overweight.
  
  

Victims

• Shoulder dysplasia occurs most often in young dogs, with an onset at 6 to 8 months of age.
  
  

Treatments

• Shoulder dysplasia is diagnosed through radiography and X-rays. Treatments include pain killers, anti-inflammatories and analgesics after surgical correction of the joint.
  
  

Types

• Dysplasia can also occur in a dog's hips, with similar causes and symptoms to shoulder dysplasia. Hip dysplasia strikes older dogs than dysplasia of the shoulder.