Your 7-month-old Labrador has been limping on his shoulder for a few weeks. He plays, eats, seems happy, but the limping persists and worsens after exercise.

Your vet mentions a "cartilage disease".

This diagnosis may come as a surprise: your dog is young, apparently healthy, and well cared for. Yet this is exactly the profile osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) often affects: young, growing large-breed dogs, especially those experiencing rapid skeletal growth.

Engdahl et al., Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 2024

Osteochondrosis (OC) and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) describe different stages of the same disease process

Osteochondrosis (OC) is a developmental disorder of articular cartilage.

• Normally, cartilage gradually transforms into bone (endochondral ossification).

• In affected dogs, this transformation is disrupted: the cartilage thickens abnormally.

• This overly thick cartilage weakens, cracks, and can eventually detach from the bone. • This is then called osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) when a fragment floats in the joint and causes inflammation.

Affected joints: shoulder first

OCD may affect more than one joint at the same time, although not every affected joint will cause clinical signs.

• Shoulder: the most frequent site, with the best surgical prognosis.

• Elbow: often associated with elbow dysplasia.

• Stifle: less frequent, with a more guarded prognosis.

• Hock: rarer, especially reported in Rottweilers.

Established risk factors

Breed and genetics:

The disease affects almost exclusively large breeds. The predisposition is polygenic (no commercial genetic test is available to date.)

Sources: Slater et al. (1991); Merck Veterinary Manual (2025); Engdahl et al. (2024)

Sex 

Males are significantly more affected, with a risk 1.76 times higher than females (Engdahl et al., 2024). 

Age 

It is a puppy disease. The median age at diagnosis is 9 months. Signs usually appear between 4 and 14 months. 

Nutrition (the most modifiable factor) 

This is the most well-documented and directly actionable environmental factor.

• Energy overfeeding promotes excessively rapid growth.

• Excess calcium interferes with normal skeletal development in growing puppies, particularly when growth is already rapid.

• In contrast, lack of protein is not considered the main cause: the risk is linked more closely to excess energy and mineral imbalance than to deficiency.

Rapid growth itself is considered a risk factor. In large-breed puppies, the objective is not to grow as fast as possible, but to support slow, steady skeletal development.

Large-breed puppies predisposed to OCD are often also at increased risk of other developmental orthopaedic conditions, including elbow or hip dysplasia.

Important to remember 

A specific "large breed puppy" diet is not a luxury. It limits calcium excesses. Supplementing it with calcium or vitamins when it is already balanced can increase the risk of orthopedic pathologies. Large-breed puppy diets are formulated not only with appropriate calcium levels, but also with an adapted calcium-to-phosphorus ratio and controlled energy density.

Clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment 

Clinical signs 

Progressive lameness worsening after exercise, stiffness when getting up, pain on shoulder extension, progressive muscle atrophy of the affected limb. 

Diagnosis 

Radiographs are usually sufficient for diagnosis in many dogs. CT, MRI or arthroscopy may be recommended when lesions are difficult to characterise or when surgery is planned.

Treatment 

Surgery or arthroscopy is the gold standard treatment when a clinically significant cartilage flap or loose fragment is identified. The prognosis is excellent for the shoulder, more guarded for the stifle and hock. 

Important to understand 

Even after successful surgery, secondary osteoarthritis can develop. Weight management and adapted post-operative activity are as important as the intervention itself. Early treatment improves comfort, but it cannot completely erase the damage already sustained by the cartilage.

What you can do now 

• Diet: Use "large breed puppy" kibble without supplementation.

• Exercise: Avoid repetitive high-impact activities while allowing regular, controlled exercise appropriate for the puppy's age.

• Monitoring: Any lameness lasting more than two weeks in a young large breed dog warrants an orthopedic consultation with radiographs. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources

1. Engdahl K. et al. (2024). The epidemiology of osteochondrosis in an insured Swedish dog population. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 
2. Merck Veterinary Manual (2025). Osteochondrosis in Dogs. merckvetmanual.com
3. Slater M.R. et al. (1991). Breed, gender and age risk factors for canine OCD. J Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol, 4 : 100–106. 
4.  Richardson D.C. (1997). Nutrition and osteochondrosis. PubMed PMID 9463862
5. Snaps F.R. et al. (2014). Diagnostic sensitivity of radiography, ultrasonography and MRI for shoulder OCD in dogs. PubMed 24844132 
6. Hedhammar A. et al. (1974). Overnutrition and skeletal disease in Great Danes. Cornell Vet, 64(2):Suppl 5.