Breeding OFA fair to fair - Page 2

Birdwing, I don't think you are correct when you say that - with enough positioning almost anything can  pass OFA.  To get the true picture of a dog's hips, it must be positioning symetrically. If the dog is awake or the techs do not have it positioned correctly prior to snapping the xray, then one side is going to look more shallow than the other, so repositioning is necessary. No amount of repositioning is going to hide degenerative joint disease, flattening of the heads, cupping of the acetabula and various other changes that identify a dog with HD.  I've assisted with a lot of hip xrays, so can attest to the fact that if a dog has DJD it's going to show in a hip xray regardless of how many times it's repositioned and xrayed. 

Some vets and techs are much better at taking hips xrays than are others. I wish OFA were more dilligent about returning poorly positioned films and asking for another xray.  Maybe they are getting better, I don't know. I suspect some have not submitted a hip xray or 2 because their vet told them the dog will not pass when what is actually needed is another film of good diagnostic quality.  I'm pretty sure some GSD's that failed with mild HD - shallow sockets and no DJD - would get a fair or a good if they were done again by an experienced vet. This does not mean these dogs are dyplastic and they would get numbers if the films were expertly manipulated; it means the first xrays done were inadequate and the xraying vet or OFA should have insisted on another xray. It would behoove all those breeding GSD's to educate themselve on what is and what is not a correctly positioned hip xray.