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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Best age to X-ray for sport, not breeding? (11 replies)
Best age to X-ray for sport, not breeding? by Emoore on 01 February 2012 - 03:46 |
| I have a 13-month old male working-line GSD that I'm doing agility with. Right now we're keeping the jumps pretty low because I haven't had his x-rays done yet. I'm wondering what would be the best age to have them done, and if it's worth it to go ahead and got OFA's or pre-lims? I'm wanting to do both hips and elbows. |
Emoore by TingiesandTails on 01 February 2012 - 03:52 |
| Best time still is 24 months...only then, your dog is fully matured, unless you have one of those monster sized dogs. However, prelims can show if the hips are really bad. I wouldn't do prelims. If your dog has big problems with hips, you will notice before your dog is 24 months old. |
TingiesandTails by Emoore on 01 February 2012 - 03:59 |
| He's 75lb and I can see his ribs when he runs, so not monster-sized. I was hoping to maybe do his x-rays and start competing before he turns 2, but I don't want him jumping 26" without x-rays. If waiting until 24 months is the best thing I'd rather do that. |
by BlackthornGSD on 01 February 2012 - 04:34 |
| If it's just for your information, x-ray at any time now that he's over 12 months. If he's having any problems at any point, xray then. You could always start trialling him at "performance" level until he's over 2--isn't that 22"? By the way, if you're doing USDAA, if you see any of the Intro classes being offered, I highly recommend you entering them and getting your toes wet. :) Christine |
BlackthornGSD by Emoore on 01 February 2012 - 04:57 |
| Those intro classes look good, thanks for the heads-up! You're right, "performance" is 22". I'm paranoid, though, so right now we're jumping 12". Even though he makes it a point to leap over the couch at least once a day. :) |
by Blitzen on 01 February 2012 - 15:41 |
Our club usually suggests hip and elbow xrays on GSD puppies before teaching them most of the agility exercises. |
Blitzen by joanro on 01 February 2012 - 16:35 |
| I always do h/e at twelve months before any serious training to make sure I'm working with a pup with sound h/e, then OFA at two. If you're working a youngster and they come up lame in front or rear, you don't have to second guess was there a problem to start with in the joint. Then if you have to re-exray for a lameness and there are changes in the joint, you know pretty much an injury probably has occurred and not a preexisting condition. That's my philosophy anyway. Also, as an aside, when you exray before training, you do not spend months on a pup that can't withstand the work in the the long term. |
by SitasMom on 01 February 2012 - 17:19 |
A recent publication* compared the reliability of the preliminary evaluation hip grade phenotype with the 2 year old evaluation in dogs and there was 100% reliability for a preliminary grade of excellent being normal at 2 years of age (excellent, good, or fair). There was 97.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of good being normal at 2 years of age, and 76.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of fair being normal at 2 years of age. Reliability of preliminary evaluations increased as age at the time of preliminary evaluation increased, regardless of whether dogs received a preliminary evaluation of normal hip conformation or HD. For normal hip conformations, the reliability was 89.6% at 3-6 months, 93.8% at 7-12 months, and 95.2% at 13-18 months. These results suggest that preliminary evaluations of hip joint status in dogs are generally reliable. However, dogs that receive a preliminary evaluation of fair or mild hip joint conformation should be reevaluated at an older age (24 months)." |
by VKGSDs on 01 February 2012 - 17:21 |
| I do lots of sports and x-ray at 6-7 months, I just have to know! |
VKGSDs by hunger4justice on 01 February 2012 - 17:23 |
| What about monster dogs...mine are all just at standards (not above) and are DDR/Czech W/G but one really looks the DDR dog type. Would you wait longer than 24 months? Since we are trying to title (he is one year now) I didn't think I could/should wait longer but since they are slow to mature I thought I ought to wait until 24 months (going to send to the SV not OFA). |
hunger4justice by Emoore on 01 February 2012 - 20:37 |
| Good question, Hunger4Justice. My pup is primarily DDR and his sire was a lot "thicker" at 4 or 5 years than my puppy is at 1 year. I don't think he'll get much taller but I do expect him to broaden quite a bit. Also, I'm not worried about sinking money into training/titling him. He's not a serious "work" prospect; he's my friend and I like taking classes with him. If he can't do agility we'll do rally or obedience or nosework or something else. Either way I'll be spending money on training him. |
by Blitzen on 01 February 2012 - 20:46 |
| LOL, VKGSD, I never made it much past any dog's 6 months anniversary without xraying its hips. I just had to know too!! |
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