female shepherd

[jdtp0203]

She is only a year and a half old, but I am going off of an unknown hahaha person giving me advice on the site and creating a new post for hip problems. When I was first given (inherited) these dogs she was about a year old. Nothing but skin and bones, and had no problem with me but would not let anyone else near her (actually growled at my uncle who is only about 3 years older and male)....kinda liked how she did not like males, fit me well. Now she is doing well. I supplemented her regular dry food with 1/2 dry with 1/2 wet. The Male I got did not do so well with this combo (combined with human food because gramma always fed our outside dogs scraps and nothing else....trust me, learned my very expensive lesson with the white one). ANYWAYS, now SHE is very healthy, and the only problem I see is her hips. She does not whimper ever, but since she was a year old when I got her you could "see" that something was wrong. Now that she has gained weight it is not as bad, but still there. Can I help prevent it before it starts if she is starting the hip thing shepherds are known for?