HD-noch zugelassen - Page 3

SGBH You state: "I am not saying that OFA is not reliable, just that my experience is I would never spend money again using OFA." What do you use then if not OFA? Birdy...

I take my younger dogs back to Germany at 12 months old and have them x-rayed on the SV system. The older dogs I get from Germany have already been x-rayed on the SV System. The young dog I have now that has been banned because of her father Nero, will be checked under the Penn Hip system.

Elizabeth, et. al. It's not Marketing that made my dogs' hips good -- it's ELEVEN GENERATIONS OF good GENES (ALL OF WHICH ARE IN THIS DATABASE). Did the 10th or eleventh generation dog have an A stamp even - I don't know that they did in the early 50's. But you can be sure that those dogs could manage a large heard of sheep for 10 or more hours a day and still walk back to the house !! There has been so little added about ENVIRONMENT AND NUTRITION - STILL HUGE FACTORS in the final outcome of hips. NEUFIE people are afraid to let their huge 12-14 week old puppies climb stairs - (some actually think it will MAKE them DYSPLASTIC. How about the other side -- correct limited excerise will strengthen muscles and ligiments. A well known orthopedic specialist looked at the x rayhs of a 10 month old pup that I sold - (he was referred because the first vet said the dog was severely dysplastic and had to be destroyed. I met with the specialist and brought the pedigree of 8 generations of OFA hips on the dam side and a semi-famous 9well known family) of an EAST GERMAN DOG on the sire's side -- Immediately, he said -- well, I didn't know this was 1/2 EAST GERMAN breeding -- this changes everything -- The dogs hips are not perfect but quite good -- (and he was never crippled or disabled in any way) Vets' -- including OFA evaluators can rush to judgement. It seems, by and large, that the German system of grading is actually more severe - which is great -- and by the time some of these dogs x-rays reach the OFA - they are 3-4 years older, so they factor in the 'degree of deterioration based on age" and they get their good or fair -- LASTLY -- I got a Nufie breeder to change FOOD and nothing else -- and within a couple years (3-4 litters) he had about 80 percent better hips -- He was not feeding correctly for a GIANT BREED and it showed up in their lousy hips !!

One of the reasons you may see such a difference in the SV rating and then OFA is the age of the dog. My vet is used by scores of breeders for hip/elbow x-rays. He kept his own records and found too many discrepancies between a year of age and 18 months of age in the dogs hips. He now advocates for certifying at 18 months (the youngest). Thus, a dogs hips can improve after a year of age. So, how accurate then is the SV and 'hip scores'? Some dogs mature later in life. My vet also talked about how OFA has will give a certain hip rating and then change it when the x-rays are redone and sent in. He has seen this himself. So, I suppose one can also say how accurate is OFA. In the end, these are tools for us to use and see what we have or don't have. They are NOT the 'whole' picture. I also believe that diet plays a role in HD.

Keep in mind that the OFA hip x-rays are done at 24 months(one time), and the SV hips are x-rayed 12 months and then again at 18 months. Two snapshots are done under the SV system before the hips are rated.

........and the SV hips are x-rayed 12 months and then again at 18 months. Two snapshots are done under the SV system before the hips are rated. Sorry, but this is not correct. You can do it by SV when the dog is over 12 months of age, but when it is over this age and the x-rays are sent to the SV office then it is official. No way to make 2 times official x-rays. Many people here in Germay make x-rays when the dog is 7-9 months old, but this is not official. Nobody else than the owner will hear about a bad result.

wow Blitz thats great tho!!! all this genetic stuff is alot of work and worth every bit of energy that goes into itjust sucks when we are thrown a curve ball!! lol elizabeth... i wouldnt have a problem admitting i agreed with u either.. hips and elbows and genetics.. just when u think you got it all figured out.. something changes!!

Blitzen is a pretty common name in GSDs "wildy" A google search for websites doing GSDs in PA comes up with a colleague of yours with a similar name. Same area code too. Maybe you are mixing them up. I guess he is a competitor of yours??

Huh, are you talking to me, Beam me Up? I don't have a website and I don't breed GSD's right now, never have. I'm thinking about it though. My screen name of Blitzen is the result of 2 things - first I am a big football fan, Phildelphia Eagles, and if you also enjoy that sport you understand what blitzing is in a football game. Blitzing was already in use when I registered with the Eagles site, so I went with Blitzen. Secondly, the first GSD I had any up front and personal contact with was an import called Blitz and I have named my current GSD after him. I'm truly flattered, but please don't anyone waste your time surfing the net on my account, just ask what you want to know. My life will be of no interest to any of you, I promise, it is quite mundane.