Can "bad" hips be made to look better?

There is no question in my mind that a set of "bad" hips as you put it can
be made to look better. Lets say for example that the dog is mildly
dyslplastic. The owners who are very concientious and well meaning have been
giving the dog food with glucosamine, glucosamine supplements, Vit C., and
etc. in hopes that it will prevent the dog from becoming dysplastic. They
have been doing this because the breeder they bought "Jack" from recommended
it and a lot of their retriver owning freinds do it also. Now Jack is
a pretty good dog and they are proud owners (as they should be) and when
he reaches two years of age their neighbor wants to know if they want to use
Jack to breed to his female. The owners say sure why not. They call their
vet to see if they need to do anything special. The vet recommends that they
have both of the dogs radiographed prior to whelping because of the prevelance
of CHD in retrievers. Jack's owners say okay and take him in. Well Jack is
a pretty well mannered dog and so the vet decides to take the films without
anesthetizing the dog (anesthesia is always a risk). Jack does okay but he
doesn't really like being on this cold table on his back with strange people
pulling and twisting on him in the dark. He is very tense and is resisting
(tightening up). Well about that time the receptionist pages Dr. Doinighisbest
and so he is in a hurry to get it done. Bing, bang, boom, Jack relaxes (apparently)
for just a second and the doc thinks he's got the shot. CLICK, it is over.
Now apparently all is well here, right. Lets look at what really happened.
First, due to the fact that Jack has been on supplements all his life, he
while being dysplastic has not developed a significant amount of osteoarthritis.
So as far as CHD is concerned, really the only sign of CHD that he has at
this time is the inherited excessive joint laxity that is the true cause
of CHD. Also he is just a good hunting dog, Jack was never ran in competitions
or trained real hard so his joints have not taken the beating that another
dogs might. Now at the vets, Jack was tensed up. The vet due to being rushed
or in a hurry took a quick shot when he did not quite have the rear legs
rolled in as much as he should and this gives Jacks hips the appearance that
they are firmly seated in place. With little to no osteoarthritis and no
joint laxity apparent on the films, Jack easily gets a passing grade and
becomes OFA certified.

DR.J
Good Luck and Good Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!