OFA testing - Page 1

Is it advisable or recommended to do OFA testing on imported male that is going to be used for breeding if said dog already has been advertised as A1 with A stamp on foreign registration papers? Does anyone know the percentage of A1 dogs that get excellent rating from OFA? It seems there are so many GSD's with the A1 hips that don't get excellent rating from the OFA. I just wonder if the US was to start doing the testing at 1 year, before the dogs are worked or used for breeding if there wouldn't be a lot more excellent OFA rated dogs here? Seems to me that it would be kind of heartbreaking to buy an imported male which is A1 then have it x-rayed here and it come back with fair or less rating from OFA. Just curious what anyone else thinks of this.

ROUGHLY 3% of GSDs done here have OFA Excellent Hips....roughly 20% are dysplastic. I don't have the 'a' stamp statistics in front of me, but I seem to remember that roughly 20% have HD....and that 'a' normal is the largest category...there only a small percentage of 'a' normals that should go OFA Excellent - most of the rest correlate to Good, a small portion to Fair and NZ.... It would be MOST LIKELY your 'a' normal would go OFA Good, less likely Fair and even less likely Excellent - but the 'a'normal range is so big it could go any way of the three statistically!

I agree with Kougar. The rating of "Excellent" covers but very few GSD's. Of OFA-scored dogs, the remaining 78%-80% are roughly divided between "Good" and "Fair", with approximately 20% dysplastic. An "a" Normal has at least a 60% chance of being equivlent of O.F.A. "Good". It is not a bad idea to check the hip quality with O.F.A. for an "a" stamped dog, as hip qualiy can change a bit for better or worse as a dog ages. The O.F.A. rating will of couse not change the dog's "a" rating or ZW. I also don't have the "a" stamp statistics available, as I am not home. Because of the availability of the "a" noch Zugelassen rating, fewer dogs are indicated as dysplastic, about 6%-7% with the S.V. system. Bob-O

Kougar, I disagree with your view that most "a normal" SV rated hips go OFA good or fair. My source of information: Stillwater Vet Clinic in Stillwater, Minnesota(which has a lot of draw for OFA hip and elbow Xrays in the 5 state area and has x-rayed a significant number of West German imports with "a normal" hip ratings). The conclusions of this group of veterinarians is that "a normals" when Xrayed at two years or older have a very wide dispersion of OFA ratings with many if not a majority being classified as OFA fair or the lower rank mild dysplasia. The OFA uses the two year cutoff because they believe that statistically it provides a much more valid hip rating (because the animal has matured significantly in bone development). Only on a very rare will "a normal" ever get the OFA excellent, only a very small proportion of "a normals" will have the OFA good, some the OFA fair and a significant proportion will get mild dysplasia, according to this Vet Clinic. I have heard rumors that the British BVA rating system is more stringent and descriptive than the OFA and far more useful than the SV system. When I examine a hip x-ray I always look at socket depth, fit, and the norberg angle. I believe that the Norberg angle is a very useful diagnostic tool.

IMMJAY, I would suggest you re-xray the dog with OFA. You really do want to know the truth about the dogs hips before breeding him/her. Seeing them for yourself and sending them off at an older age should do that for you. Remember the a-stamp is done at 1yr of age, OFA certifies at 2 yrs of age or older. Much can change after 1 yr of age. My import has HD/B "Belgium hip rating" @ 4yrs of age he recieved OFA: Excellent hips so there is no telling if things will tighten up or if things could get worst with age!!! Best to check. Best Regards, Dennis

Preston; can you explain the Norberg angle to me please! Thanx

Great topic guys. A very important subject and I would like to hear more opinions. I myself imported a a2 a fast normal bitch and I wouldn't be surprised if she was dysplastic. I wont bother with a OFA at age 7 as she wont be bred and is retired form Schutzhund. As a newbie I believed the SV hip ratings had some merit. After dealing with my own experience and reading up on the subject, I no longer feel the same. I will pen hip and OFA all my future dogs I plan to breed.

Great topic guys. A very important subject and I would like to hear more opinions. I myself imported a a2 a fast normal bitch and I wouldn't be surprised if she was dysplastic. I wont bother with a OFA at age 7 as she wont be bred and is retired form Schutzhund. As a newbie I believed the SV hip ratings had some merit. After dealing with my own experience and reading up on the subject, I no longer feel the same. I will pen hip and OFA all my future dogs I plan to breed.

I do Penn hip and find it very informative as compared to OFA. As far as the SV hip rating I have had my doubts. But as with everything else all is not infallible. All we can do is our best.

sport, the norberg angle is an estimate of the degree of depth to which the ball at the end of the upper rear leg fits into its socket. It is estimated by plotting out reference points on an OFA positioned x-ray. One reference point is the center of the ball, a second reference point is the point of farthest extruision of the side of the socket facing the dogs head. A line is drawn between the center point of the tow balls and a second and third line is drawn between each ball and each most distant head facing external socket side. The angle for each hip is measured, 115 degrees is the ideal score and 105 degrees okay for the GSD. I like to see at least 50% of the head inside the socket, estimated from the xray by drawing a line from the head facing most outer socket point to the most rearfacing socket point. I have seen some GSDs with 75% and this is the ideal deep type socket. I think a labrador site has a drawing of the norberg method: (http://www.labbies.com/dysp2.htm) Also, the OFA has published an article on their view of the OFA metrhod vs. the Penn Hip method of diagnosing HD: (http://www.showdogsupersite.com/ofa.html)