Technically, Vallhunds are supposed to be straight-legged. Even if the outward legs are tolerated in Corgis, it is really not acceptable in the Swedish Cattle Dogs. It’s really not very common for the Vallhunds to have crooked legs. However, it is quite common among dwarfed dogs and retriever breeds. No big surprises there.
When I noticed he has valgus going on a few months back, it has been an eyesore ever since then. Of course, being consciously aware of things bring out a person’s (or a dog’s) flaw much more than a person should care about. While the degrees of angulation [10° and 15° respectfully] from the elbows down haven’t changed, the twisted legs are much more pronounced now his limbs have lengthened.
It is however still difficult to say whether or not the deformity is a result of poor formations of the growth plates due to the nature of achondrodyplasia as a fetus, or the already brittle cartilages were fractured post-birth when he was more rambunctious. After all, everyone knows when puppies are only a few weeks old, they are accidents waiting to happen! Most organisms don’t go lame once growth plates are broken, so it is anyone’s guess as far as when Riley acquired the Queen Anne legs.
Now that being said, it doesn’t affect his performance or his spunk since he is still one heck of a rabbiting dog. Times will tell if arthritis will set in or not.
I took these pictures while waiting for chalaw [trans. "Afghan basmati rice"] and chopan kabob [trans. "charred and spiced skewered lamb"] and training him to be silent left alone unattended outside:
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