Elbow dysplasia is a major cause of chronic pain and lameness in large breed dogs. It is largely heritable, making responsible breeding the most important long-term welfare intervention.
Elbow dysplasia causes chronic pain that begins in young dogs and persists or worsens throughout life. Young dogs showing foreleg lameness are often assumed to have minor sprains; delayed diagnosis allows progressive damage to joint cartilage that worsens prognosis. The bilateral nature of many ED cases means that even when one elbow is surgically managed, the other continues to cause pain. Lifetime osteoarthritis management is a welfare burden — requiring ongoing medication, monitoring, and owner vigilance. The preventable nature of much ED through responsible breeding makes the continued high prevalence in affected breeds a welfare failure attributable to insufficient uptake of breed health testing. Buyers who demand health-tested breeding stock directly incentivise breeders to participate in elbow grading schemes.