Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease in the Old English Sheepdog: A Rare Match

It would be highly unusual. This disease is documented almost exclusively in toy and small breeds, and there's no meaningful pattern of it occurring in giant breeds at this body scale.

The leading explanation involves a disruption in the tiny blood vessels supplying the femoral head, and the specific biomechanics of a small, lightweight hip joint appear central to why it clusters so heavily in toy and small breeds rather than large ones.

For a dog this size, hip dysplasia or a luxating patella are far more likely explanations, both of which are genuine documented or plausible risks for this breed, unlike Perthes disease.

X-rays are the standard first step, allowing a vet to assess joint conformation and rule in or out conditions like hip dysplasia rather than guessing based on symptoms alone.

It's reasonable to ask if you've read about it, but don't be surprised if your vet redirects the workup toward hip dysplasia or patellar issues instead, given how much more plausible those are for a dog this size.

In the small breeds where it does occur, it typically appears in young dogs between four and twelve months old, a detail that's useful mainly for contrast with how large-breed hip problems tend to develop later and more gradually.

Not at all, large breeds carry their own well-documented hip risk in the form of hip dysplasia, which affects far more dogs at this body size than Perthes disease ever does.