OFA Results - Page 1

Artiicle from OFA on reliability of prelims.. 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).

DR, Good Info. Thanks for posting it. I would still agree that it's prudent to wait until after OFA's are done before breeding. However when mistakes happen, (and we know they do) It's nice to have the kind of information you have put out there.

I agree, Mitch. 24 months is young enough for any dog to become a parent LOL. I think most breeders have upped the age for a bitch's first litter. When I got my first brood bitch the rule of thumb was to breed a virgin bitch on her 3rd season which could be anytime from 18 months to 24 months. We were getting OFA certs at 12 months then and I suspect that had a lot to do with that line of thinking. OFA may have done the dog world a big favor by revising their age for certification til 24 months since most I know now wait til their bitches are at least 24 months for their first litter. I never bred a bitch under 24 months, so don't know if whelping a litter at 18 months was detrimental in any way, but most that young will not have many titles I guess.

On an intentional mating, We like to see our bitches reach 26 to 28 months, OFA done, would love to have at least an CGC, Obedience Cert, Therapy, BH, or something like that done with the dog before breeding. The oops with my daughters young bitch well it is what it is, no Titles however she does Therapy work and is looking at certifying with the Delta Society. She cuts a hell of a track though noone can figure out what drives her, She's not all that food driven, She just seems to really enjoy tracking, She gets all excited at the find, It's really funny to see her bouncing. Anyway yes in a perfect world all dogs we breed would excell in SchH be Titled all the way, Have OFA of Excellent, and on and on and on. :-) But we are human. LOL

OFA had a real interesting article about looking at an expanded pedigree tree, looking at it vertical vs our current method of horizonal. This means looking at the sibling vs just the parents and grandparents. They have a chart which really made clear how this is much more accurate picture of the HD history of the GSD.

DesertRangers, the siblings are, at least in my opinion, far more important than the ancestors, as if they are in sufficient numbers they disclose what the ancestors are really capable of producing. But with that said, there must be enough data from those siblings in order to make a good determination, i.e., the most who are available for evaulation causes the result to be more meaningful. Per the O.F.A. numbers for the GSD, "normal" hip production translates to approximately 2-3% Excellent, 40-42% Good, 38-36%% Fair, and 19-20% with borderline to severe dysplasie. These numbers are derived from all x-rays SUBMITTED for evaluation, and not the ones who never made it past the examining room. The S.V. claims a success rate of approximately 93-94% at the three (3) classes of "normal" or "passable" and a dysplasie rate of approximately 7-6%. Of course the "a" 3 noch Zugelassen rating may allow many dogs to pass who might not pass with another examining agency. Not that this is 100% a bad idea, as the S.V. does use the Zuchtwert system to score the probability for normal hip production even from these dogs. Of course with the Zuchtwert system ancestors, progeny, and siblings are all included in the calculation. But there is still the caveat of those dogs who were never examined, or were examined but their findings were withheld from the S.V.. It seems that the O.F.A., while not developing a true Zuchtwert system is at least observing the value of one of the basic ideas about this type of system. Since they are not a breed-specific organization I doubt they ever will, but who knows? If one has enough data for as many ancestors as possible, followed by the progeny then one can make a simple spreadsheet in order to calculate whether a dog or bitch is producing normal (100 mean) better than normal (less than 100 mean) or higher than normal (greater than 100 mean) progeny with hip dysplasie. Bob-O

As a breeder this could be a good selling point (if sibling have good rating). Of course this likely will never occur due to the number of people who will not get xrays on their dogs.