Hip scores - Page 1

Hi can anyone explain to me about hip scores.  I have had my bitch hip scored and she has scored really unusual and I am wondering if she has had an accident.
She scored 25 on her right side and only 5 on her left.
Is it me or is that really strange?????????????
I have checked the hip scores that I could find and her grandfather only scored 10 in total on her dads side, and her grandmothers father only scored 10 in total. But I carnt find any records of scores for the mothers side.  I can find the pedigrees but not the health checks and scores.
All this is what is making me think she has had an accident, or is it just normal to have such a high hip score on one side???????????
What do other people think???

hi chrissy.IMO.i dont think that this is too unusual.in 1987 i bought a male puppy of mainly german breeding.the hip scores on both parents were low.however my puppy did not look right behind and i was advised by the breeder of the dam to have his hips screened.well we were in for a shock,one hip was completely out of the socket joint.the vet advised that one hip would be very low and the other very high.on having him x rayed and scored at 12 mths.the result was as followed.....45-3.on checking with Dr.Malcolm Willis,in his opnion was that he thought it was probably due to an injury....dislocated passing through  the birth canal,injured when being expelled by the bitch,in play with litter mates or maybe being stood on by the dam or could be genetic,so one cant say for sure.we had him neutered and he lived till 13 when he suffered a torsion and had to be put to sleep.he did develope arthritus in his later years but his hip status DID NOT STOP HIM FROM LIVING A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE..i know 2 of his sisters were scored ,both attaining hip scores of 3-3.Carole Spelman

Sorry I am going to disagree with you all here, it is known that unilateral dysplasia (uneven scores) go on to produce high and uneven scores, sometimes this skips a generation but it is still evident in the lines.
I have an adult male oversize 42kg scored at 13mths 0:0 he has recently had a severe trauma and his hips have been x-rayed again today: perfect no evidence of hd or djd infact they are still the same at the age of 5 years as they were at 13 months.
At times I think too many people especialy in the past have 'used' accident/trauma as an excuse.
there should be no more than 3 points difference between left and right hip when a dog or bitch is used for breeding, and these differences should not be in the same area. personaly I would not like to use a male over 10, and combined scores of sire/dam should not be above 24.
Is it not supprising the BM average in the UK has not reduced in the GSD when people are still breeding from high, uneven or unscored stock, there should certainly be no excuse for not having a full 5 generations of hip scored dogs/bitches in the pedigree. The pedigree scores also needed to be looked at horizontaly as well as vertically.


Yes some things can alter scores like ad lib feeding along with obesity in young pups. But too little exercise is as damaging as too much, mine have free running from 8 weeks of age on grass. But I do not do any forced walking on hard ground, highest score I have had raising a pup from 7/8 weeks as been 2:4.

For Kimmelot I will explain our system in next post

Evaluating a BVA score
Scores in the first 3 boxes (Norberg Angle, Sublexation, Cranial Acetabular Edge) indicate the conformation of the hip; scores in the remaining 6 indicate secondary changes/arthritis/DJD. Healthy dogs should have 0’s in the last 6 boxes (Dorsal Acetabular Edge, Cranial Effective Acetabular Rim, Acetabular Fossa, Caudal Acetabular Edge, Femoral head/neck Exostis, Femoral Head Recontouring).
With the BVA scheme each hip is given a score of 0-6 except the Cadual Acetabular Edge which score range is 0-5, the maximum each hip can be is 53, possible total of 106, the higher the score the worse the degree of HD/DJD.
DJD is quite often in association with HD it is possible for a dog to have DJD without HD, anything above 1 in the Dorsal Acetabular edge signifies definitive pathological changes associated with degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis), the smallest being minor exostosis, which is usually seen cranially.
Also scores in the Acetabular Fossa indicate detectable bone deposits and is always associated with marked Sublexation and the amount tends to increase in proportion with the increase in the other radiographic hallmarks of secondary degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis).
Scores in the Femoral Head Recontouring are usually awarded only in cases in which secondary changes are well established, when remodelling occurs as a result of the combined effects of periarticular new bone formation and loss of subchondral bone following total destruction of articular cartilage.
Contributing factors
Exercising and maintaining good muscle mass may actually decrease the incidence of the disease. Moderate exercise that strengthens the gluteal muscles, such as running and swimming are a good idea, but avoid exercise that puts strain on the joints such as jumping, i.e. agility until the dog is scored.
Obesity is another high risk factor; avoid overfeeding and supplementation of calcium.
Growing pattern - rapid growth rate and excessive weight gain (above the average for the breed) can both increase the likelihood of hip dysplasia occurring.
Breed - genetic inheritance, BUT specific genes not yet identified. Also multiple genes involved (polygenic).
Muscle disorder - a muscle disease (developmental myopathy of the pectineus muscle) has been described in German Shepherd puppies with hip dysplasia, although no direct link yet proved.
Genetic Base
Since hip and elbow dysplasia are known to be inherited, the ethical approach to breeding policy would surely be to breed only from dogs that do not have the condition. ‘Offspring hip scores could be reduced substantially by using only parents with zero hip score.’ AHT 2002 it is clearly essential that UK breeders of affected breeds give hip and elbow health high priority in their breeding decisions.
In Sweden, the screening and registration of parent dogs’ hip joints has been a condition for the registration of puppies with the Swedish Kennel Club since 1984. The screening programme is reported to have succeeded in reducing the prevalence of hip dysplasia in the breeds involved in the study between 1976 and 1989. Moderate to severe hip dysplasia was reduced by 40-50% in German Shepherd Dogs.

Another article for you to show the Genetic Link:
Oxford University Press

Complex Segregation Analysis of
Canine Hip Dysplasia in German
Shepherd Dogs
V. JANUTTA, H. HAMANN, AND O. DISTL
From the Institute for Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, Foundation, Bu¨ nteweg 17p, 30559 Hanover, Germany.
Address correspondence to Ottmar Distl at the address above, or e-mail: ottmar.distl@tiho-hannover.de.


Journal of Heredity 2006:97(1):13-20
doi:10.1093/jhered/esi128
Advance Access public

Continued
Journal of Heredity 2006:97(1):13-20
doi:10.1093/jhered/esi128
Advance Access publication November 2, 2005


Abstract
Complex segregation analyses were carried out to clarify the mode of inheritance of canine hip dysplasia (CHD) in German shepherd dogs. Data were used from 8,567 animals examined for CHD from 20 families with three to four generations. The existence of a major gene in addition to polygenic gene effects was detected. In the present study, a mixed model with a dominant major gene effect seemed to be most probable for dichotomous encoding (0: dogs without signs of CHD; 1: dogs with borderline/slight to severe CHD). In addition, mixed major gene inheritance was shown for a binary trait where borderline was assigned to dogs scored free from CHD and for a trichotomously encoded trait (0: dogs without signs of CHD; 1: borderline CHD; 2: mild to severe CHD). Although only small frequencies were found for the unfavourable homozygotic genotype AA, the probability of the AB genotype was high in affected animals. Selection schemes to reduce the frequency of the allele A should therefore efficiently improve existing breeding programmes in German shepherd dogs.

Breeders intending to reduce the risk of hip dysplasia should select stock with scores well below the breed mean score (BMS) and not use dogs more than 3 points different between L and R hip.


Part of what I posted on other GSD forums a couple of years ago obviously now there is more up to date research, I have just copied and pasted the relevant parts.
Pam

Norberg Angle:       Right =1 Left =0
Subluxation:                         3           1     
Cranial acetabular edge    2          2 

The last 6 boxes have a large Z through them,is this an acceptable result Wildmoor?

Yes it is  are you in the UK?

the large Z will mean 0 scores in the last 6 boxes

Yes,In UK.
Thanks for reply.