OFA! X-rays... Opinions please? - Page 2

OFA will go with the worst hip, Beatles. 3 radiologists will read the xray and it will be rated according to the majority concensus.

Bubba,  you sound like a person who would justify using dysplastic dogs in your breeding program.

Bubbabooboo: totally agree with you... :)f she gets bad then she is the only one in her family and even faar back who wont get excelent ( that i know she wont get;)... so i really dont think its genetic in that way people think... and also other sicknesses like you are saying like cancer... :) couldnt agree with you moore.. but i really like to know what i have made different from for example my breeder who only have good hips!!? I train agility and she always get to run a lot.... they eat the same food!!?? :) its so hard

OFA Hip Dysplasia Guidelines for Breeders

Breeders and the OFA

Progress in hip joint phenotype of dogs in the United States between the 1970's and early 1990's has been shown through results of a retrospective study using the OFA data base. This improvement was evident as an increase in the percentage of dogs classified as having excellent hip joint phenotype and a decrease in the percentage of dogs classified as having hip dysplasia (HD). The increase in percentage of dogs classified as having excellent hip joint phenotype was greater for German Shepherd dogs, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and Rottweilers than for all dog breeds combined. In addition, the submission screening rate for these four breeds was higher than the screening rate for all dogs. Within these four breeds, the improvement was greatest for Rottweilers, which also had the highest screening rate.

Overall, low screening rates for breeds found in this study offer some insight into the problems involved with reducing the incidence of HD. The typical dog breeder is involved in breeding dogs for about five years. Thus, informed, experienced breeders are continually replaced with uninformed, inexperienced breeders who may not be as aware of the problems associated with HD or of the importance of participating in a screening program. In addition, many breeders choose which dogs they breed on the basis of the hip phenotype of individual dogs without knowledge of the phenotype of related dogs or previous offspring. It can be very difficult to get hip information on siblings and previous offspring due to the overall low number of dogs radiographed in a given litter (most dogs in a litter end up in pet homes). This is the slowest method of reducing the incidence of an undesirable trait or increasing the incidence of a desirable trait. The use of preliminary radiographs as early as 4 months of age can be used by breeders to add valuable information on the hip status of dogs they choose to use in a breeding program.

What can breeders do?

Hip dysplasia appears to be perpetuated by breeder imposed breeding practices, but when breeders and their breed clubs recognize HD as a problem and establish reduction of HD as a priority, improvement of the hip status can be accomplished without jeopardizing other desirable traits. Prospective buyers should check pedigrees and/or verify health issues with the breeder. If suitable documentation is not available, assume the worst until proven otherwise.

Do not ignore the dog with a fair hip evaluation. The dog is still within normal limits. For example; a dog with fair hips but with a strong hip background and over 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a good breeding prospect. A dog with excellent hips, but with a weak family background and less than 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a poor breeding prospect.

OFA's Recommended Breeding Principals

• Breed normals to normals
• Breed normals with normal ancestry
• Breed normals from litters (brothers/sisters) with a low incidence of HD
• Select a sire that produces a low incidence of HD
• Replace dogs with dogs that are better than the breed average

Fair I would say due to the right hip being somewhat shallow.  Best of luck  Nan

OFA good enough is accurate and Blitzen .. perhaps you need some additional science background and some genetics training.  If anyone wants to breed for hips alone please add some Greyhound or sled dog to your bloodlines or better yet just breed greyhounds and/or sled dogs.  What you will find however is that the greyhound and the sled dog breeds have some equally nasty problems as bad hips so if anyone is foolish enough to think selecting for good hips will get you the perfect dog think again.  The current OFA system will be a laughing stock in 20 years and especially some of their new genetic tests for diseases (where is the O in some of these tests??) which are in most cases no better than 70% accurate.  Like I said everyone making money from dogs such as OFA, SV, FCI, AKC, vets, food makers, vaccine makers, and puppy buyers have a financial stake in bad hips being genetic only when in fact dysplastic hips are a combination of genetics, nutrition, exercise, and environment.  From those making money from dogs and dog supplies the use of genetics as an excuse for any and all condition removes liability and personal responsibility for the dogs health from whatever they are selling or in the case of puppy buyers buying.  Just how accurate is the OFA system for dysplastic hips in predicting hip scores for the offspring of OFA hips scored parents??  Nobody knows is the answer but I would wager less than 70% because almost all of the failing hip scores never get reported.  However if you believe the equally full of BS PennHip snake oil sellers .. PennHip is better because they say so.  Good x-rays are useful in determining the hip status of a dog but the SV, OFA, and PennHip systems are all flawed and self serving.  PennHip at 4 months indeed, what a hoot.  The vets are totally on board with all of these systems because they get to retail x-rays at a high price and they are the only sellers of the services in the market.  If you go to most vets and ask for just an x-ray with no OFA BS they still guard their profit center by charging the exact same price with or without OFA.  There are a few honest ones and I got hip X-rays with no sedation for $92 from a local vet with no OFA BS.  It took less than 10 minutes to take the x-rays and process them so $92 seemed fair.  

Thank you nan!! and bubba: the whole system around the world is all about money... i think you are very right! Its a silenced "work" they are doing... 

Whatever you say, Bubba.

More opinions??? 

Happy news for me and my little star! :) 
She was rated out as good....