HIP Score - Page 1

Can anyone advise me on hip score count practice by many breeders and vet . I do understand there are difference standard in Europe and America? I was understood that hip score 0 means good and anything else’s is not? Is this true? How do I check this with my puppy, he is only 5 month now.  Can anyone comment on this please?

In America most folks use the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) to grade hips. At 5 months of age they will accept and grade your pup's Xrays but only give "preliminary" results. Results are not finalized until 2 years of age. Another method, and in my opinion superior, is less well known and more recently developed called PennHIP (University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Project). PennHIP accrately measures the degree of laxity in the hip joint with far more precision than OFA. A third alternative used by many GSD enthusiasts in the US is to mail their hip Xrays to the SV in Germany for the a-stamp program, and they will accept X-rays as youngs as 1 year of age.

I believe OFA's rules state that Prelim can be done on any dog over 4 months of age.

As SchHBabe said, other persons here in the States use Penn Hip as well which some say is more accurate than OFA. 

Either way, for the best and most accurate results, persons should enlist the services of an orthopedic veterinarian who is more than familiar with correct positioning to take such X-rays.