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You have a perfectly healthy young dog. All of sudden you notice that your dog has started to limp on one of its front legs. You probably think that it was running too hard yesterday or maybe banged its leg against something. But as the days turn into weeks, the limp doesn’t disappear; in fact it seems to have gotten worse. It’s beginning to interfere with your dog’s daily exercise. You decide to bring your dog to the veterinarian and they tell you that your dog has ‘elbow dysplasia’.
           
There are three conditions that are commonly diagnosed in dog elbows- osteochondritis dissecans, un-united anconeal process, and fragmented coronoid process. These terms may sound confusing, but this article will attempt to give you a basic concept about elbow problems (‘elbow dysplasia’) in young dogs.
           
Every joint in a dog’s body is a junction of the ends of bones, covered by cartilage and lubricated by fluid to allow smooth movement. The elbow joint is composed of three bones. The humerus is the bone that runs between the shoulder and elbow joints. The other two bones that meet the humerus to form the elbow joint are the radius and ulna. The radius is the bigger bone that bears most of the weight when the dog walks. The ulna runs behind the radius, and is an odd shape. At the level of the elbow joint, it has two ‘arms’ that hug partway around the top of the radius. The ulna also comes to a point, forming that bony point that you tend to rest on desks and tables.
           
It all starts with osteochondrosis. This is a problem that can affect many different joints, including the elbow. It happens when some of the bone near the joint does not mature properly. In this case, a big piece of cartilage is left where there should be bone. It is believed that the three most common elbow conditions are associated with osteochondrosis.
           
Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) occurs in the same areas where osteochondrosis commonly affects the elbow joint. In OCD, the cartilage core completely or partially breaks off of the joint surface and hangs freely in the joint fluid.
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