HD a-Ausland (a6) SZ/1769704 - Page 1

While educating my self, I realized that my charts translate a6 into a (MILD OR SEVER DISPLASTIC) Hip-displacia ratings. Then after looking at the four dogs on the heavy line breeding list in Ulk's pedigree, I realized that one dog (5,5 - 5.. in VA2 Quanto von der Wienerau)is also ausland and another is a6 (4,4 - 5,4... VA5 Lasso di Val Sole). Correct me if I am wrong, but this looks like we have multiplied the bad hips In Ulk more than seven times what his ancesters had? Then I looked at Ulk's Progeny, and the list goes on forever, and a large number of them are also a6. What a serious over sight we create in the gene pool when we fail to look deeper than the skin, or fail to look period. I place, nor point, any fingers here, my only point is education first, breed second. Realizing that any dog that is titled like Ulk was, will be sought out for a parent, and have a heavy, very serious effect on the genetic pool for a long time to come, because it will include thousands of off spring. I will be looking to make sure that I do not have Mr. Ulk in any pedigree that I purchase ever again. Your comments are very welcome, I would like to hear what anyone has to say about this dogs HD history, and your calculations of the exponent for bad hips in Ulk's Progeny?

dave - a6 or ausland means that the dog was x-rayed outside germany. a6 rated hips could be anything from normal to noch zugelassen, but the SV will always list them as a6. this specific dog, ulk v arlett, was xrayed in italy.

Dave- From my understanding I agree with above as far as I know a6 has always meant that the dog was x-rayed outside of Germany but had acceptable hips meaning a1- a3. I guess the only thing you can't tell with the a6 is if they where a a1,a2 or a3. That would be my only concern as personal preference is to try and only use a1 in my breeding program. But guess that would also depend on the dog.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/299251.html I bought the above male years ago and he is also Ausland(foreign)A6. He was taken to France as a young pup, when he came of age he was x-rayed and his SV papers stamped with French markings. Later, the man could not keep him, and brought him back to the breeder in Germany and they tried to get new papers issued, ect, but the SV would not do it. They took new x-rays and all, but the SV just gave him an A6 and that was the end of it.

If you do have a dog X-rayed outside of Germany and receive an "a6" by default, how can you tell what the dog really is then? a1, a2, or a3? Thanks.

Ask the owner or ask the kennelclub of the country where the dog was x-rayed.

I wish to thank you all for your input, and enlightenment of my small SV education. Again, I wish no malice to anyone or their dogs. Apparently there is some room for more improved technical application of HD standards being assigned to the Gene Pool Dogs. I would like to make reference to the Pennsylvania Hips program commonly called or referred to as (Penn-Hips). This program, to my understanding uses a base line as the reference for each new X-Ray received and then continues to up grade the base line over time, thus a grade of 60% this year may be only worth a hip grade of say 55% next year. Each year the curve is raised. The point is, their aim is to eventually eliminate or at least seriously reduce the Hip-dysplacia factor. With an a6 or ausland hanging in the window for reference, how is one supposed to know for sure what they have to use as a base line? Asking the breeder what the dogs hips were rated at, might be as useful as asking the CEO of ENRON what he did with all the money. When the value is that high, integrity often goes out the window,(nothing implied) which is why every system needs checks and balances. I would still like to see a post from someone in the SV showing us what the equivalent of their HD ratings are in FCI and OFA language. Again, the aim and purpose should be, and is for me; to eliminate BAD Hips. Please do comment!

okay, dave, i have been thinking about this post most of the day... here is my response. you come across as educated and accusatory from the beginning, yet your premise is grossly inaccurate. it is obvious that you are a tyro ( or newbie) in the world of GSDs. rather than do an emily litella and say "never mind" when shown to be operating from a false base of understanding, you continue to be ON the offensive and BE offensive. all serious and reputable breeders do wish to eliminate/reduce the incidence of HD (hip dysplasia). Whether we use penn-hip or OFA (or whatever method is available in the various countries), if the dog is not x-rayed in Germany, the SV record will show a6. to address your points: there is not one world-wide standard for assessing hip joint conformation. different ages are considered 'certifiable' in different countries, and differing notations are used to describe the hips. For example, the SV uses a1 through a3 + a6 for certified hips, OFA uses Excellent through Fair; some countries use a numerical assessment of the individual hips such as 0-0, or 0-1. if you wish to know the rating of a specific dog, ask the owner! should you be doubting, ask for a copy of the evaluating body's report. if the certifying body is the OFA, you can search the records yourself at www.offa.org. your remark about the CEO of Enron is indeed offensive, and reinforces your tone of suspicion. do you truly want to know what ulk's rating was? if so, contact his owner. if you want to make a big stink, at least do enough research that your stink has substance. so far, your stink is meritless, self-aggrandizing, and makes you look silly. your goal of reducing HD in the breed is admirable, and many of us share it. be sure to learn enough to interpret what you read, and not jump to incorrect conclusions. posting vehemently from a position of ignorance does you no favors.

I realized that my charts translate a6 into a (MILD OR SEVER DISPLASTIC) Hip-displacia ratings. *************************************** SUPER-DAVE: Just curious as to what "charts" you were using for your translation. Thanks in advance.

The hip grades of the SV are normal, fast normal (near normal), noch zugelassen (still accepted), mittlere (medium) and schwere (severe) hip dysplasia. They correspond to the A, B, C, D, E classification of FCI. In the SV the first three mentioned grades are grouped as "a". "a" - Ausland is an SV-Administration term for dogs of the group "a" with unknown hip situation of their ancestors, related to the Zuchtwert estimation.