Hypothesis 2 – nutritional imbalance

Supporting history—
Feeding Iams large breed puppy formula free choice


Explanation of hypothesis—
Feeding excessive food, including calcium, to growing dogs contributes to developmental skeletal disorders, especially in large breeds.  This leads to overloading the skeleton with prematurely increased muscle mass and body weight.   Rapidly growing large breed dogs have less dense, weaker bone structure compared to smaller breeds.  This leads to aberrations in ossification, and damage to developing cartilage and growth plates. Consequently, premature closure of growth plates occurs, causing improper articulation of the hip joint.