Screening for hip dysplasia?
[Never tried this poll function before, so please bear with me...] Kristine  |
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| a friend told me after i bought wilbur - hes going back to the vets in about a week and they will be screening him for it then... |
| How old is Wilbur?
KB |
| When we got Carl, his "breeders" said that they x-ray for hips but don't certify because as long as their vets said the x-rays were okay then they were okay. Just an FYI people, not any old vet can read an x-ray and give their approval. You should really have someone who knows what they are doing check the x-rays AND have them certified through the OFA.
Toby's breeder does certify hips but you are pretty much on your own to look them up on the OFA site and do your own verification. It's not that hard to either copy and paste the link to the sire and dam's OFA certs or scan their verts and have them ready to be sent to puppy people!!! Ok, deep breath. |
Maxmm wrote: When we got Carl, his "breeders" said that they x-ray for hips but don't certify because as long as their vets said the x-rays were okay then they were okay. Just an FYI people, not any old vet can read an x-ray and give their approval. You should really have someone who knows what they are doing check the x-rays AND have them certified through the OFA.
Yup - what Mandy says. There's a reason some vets go on to specialize in reading x-rays, and most of our regular vets don't specialize in this and will tell you so. The cost of submitting the x-rays to OFA (www.offa.org ), for instance, to have the radiographs evaluated by three radiologists, is nominal ($30 right now, it's going up to $35 on Jan 1 '08 - $40 for both elbows and hips when submitted together after 1/1/08 ). Well worth it. Kristine |
| Here's something else to keep in mind:
When a breeder claims the dog's parents' hips were OFA'd, EXPECT TO SEE A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE. If the breeder will not furnish you with a copy, simply ask for the dogs' registered names/ideally #s and go online (www.offa.org) and check for yourself. In fact, if such a claim was made but no paperwork furnished, and you have the parents' names/numbers (even if you never registered your puppy, if the puppy's parents were AKC registered, your puppy should have come with a registration slip and that will contain the parents' info - quite frankly, if the parents were OFA'd, it will be part of their registration information. It will say something like OFA26G), go online now and check. There have been cases where, yes, indeed the dog was OFA'd - it was OFA'd dysplastic. And of course a number of cases where the parents' were never OFA'd to begin with. It is OK to do your homework. You're not being unduly suspicious; you're being smart. If we want to put a stop to unhealthy breeding practices, it starts with us. Ask and verify. We deserve that. Our dogs deserve that. Screening for good hips is such a basic thing. That's not to say that a puppy whose parents and grandparents etc where screened will never develop CHD. But it vastly improves your chances of getting a puppy with good hips. If you do have a dog who was diagnosed as moderately or severely dysplastic, please consider helping out with the research: January 19, 2007 Ostrander Hip Dysplasia Study Participants Wanted! As some of you may know, the Old English Sheepdog has been chosen to participate in a research study being conducted by the Ostrander Lab to locate the genes for hip dysplasia. They are looking for 20 unrelated dogs who have been diagnosed by OFA with Excellent hips, and 20 unrelated dogs who have been diagnosed with Moderate to Severe hip dyplasia by your vet, OFA or Penn Hip. Participation in this study requires a blood sample, 3 generation pedigree, and a copy of your dog's Hip x-rays. If OFA has the copy of your dog's hip x-rays, then a consent for release of the x-rays will need to be signed. If your dog generously gave blood for this study at the 2005 Centennial Show and was rated OFA Excellent or with hip dysplasia, contact Dana Mosher in the Ostrander Lab to complete the requirements of the study. If you have any questions, need to sign a consent form, need supplies for drawing blood samples, or to further discuss the study, please contact: Dana Mosher Samples Manager/Ostrander Lab - CGB/NHGRI/NIH Bldg 50 Room 5347, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-8000 Phone: 301-451-9390 - Fax: 301-594-0023 - mosherd@mail.nih.gov For additional questions, you may contact Amy Spaeth, DVW at jacksonpethospital@charterinternet.net - she's part of the OESCA Health and Research Committee and she can help steer you in the right direction as well. I know it says they want a 3 generation pedigree, but Dana has been accepting x-rays and DNA samples even without that. If you do have a dog who qualifies, you would like to help and you DO have some basic pedigree info (the dog's registration slip), PM me and I can probably get you the pedigree. Have a Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the US, and may all of our OES be jumping out of their skins healthy and naughty. 
Kristine |
| Ummm, Kristine, I fall in the first category.
I got copies of my puppy's parents' OFA records from my breeder. 
Thanks BTW, for the great puppy!  |
| Yes, well, you're very welcome. He couldn't have gone to a better home.
But even with him there are no guarantees and we do his hips & elbows etc once he's old enough. With everything he does, it'll be good to make sure everything's in working order
Kristine |
wilbursa wrote: a friend told me after i bought wilbur - hes going back to the vets in about a week and they will be screening him for it then...
just an update - at the time of this post i think we had just got wilbur he was about 4-5 months old, the vet told us he was too young to get tested... ever since we've had wilbur ive noticed he appears to have been getting a slightly funny run... almost like a two footed bunny hop after wilburs parvo virus run in i asked the vet if we could get him tested for hip dysplasia, but she said he was too young - everyone else was telling me that i was imagining it!!! i noticed over the past few weeks or so hes really been struggling climbing the steps to our house, getting in the car, and jumping on the bed, etc so at the last check in i asked again if he could be screened - wilbur is now about 9 months old... the vet was still reluctant to do so am not sure why??? anyhow the xrays confirmed my suspicion and he does in deed have HD... now in the process of seeking the mest oral medicines for him and i guess we will just have to monitor him to see how it goes... |
| Since I got both at the same time vitually I have to vote twice I think. One came with all the documentation (as well as Baer testing). The other one I think only one parent was tested - I am going to have to go check the paperwork. Yep dad Hips tested and cerfed - mom only cerfed. |
| my answer isn't one listed:
I was told that the problem won't show up until after 2 years; and the mother of my pups was under that age. At least I think that was the situation. |
Darth Snuggle wrote: my answer isn't one listed:
I was told that the problem won't show up until after 2 years; and the mother of my pups was under that age. At least I think that was the situation. Just as a clarification: the problem can show up by 5-6 mos old. More severe cases are usually detected by a year old. We had a six mos old come into rescue who already had at least moderate unilateral dysplasia per his x-rays. In fact, that's the reason the owners dumped him at the shelter. Didn't want to have to deal with treating him. We - and MN rescue - are both familiar with his breeder and she does not screen for hips, by the way. Now, as for the screening process - no, OFA won't certify hips until 2 years old. But you can do a preliminary x-ray (and get a prelim rating by OFA) at any age. So no excuse not to x-ray. Though the dog needs to be re x-rayed at 2 to be certified free of evidence of CHD. According to the OESCA code of ethics, no bitch should be bred before two years of age (remember, this is a slow maturing breed - that requirement is to allow the bitch to mature before bearing the burden of a litter) and no dog (male) before 18 mos. The male needs a prelimmed if someone insists on breeding one this young (most wait). AND needs to be re-x-rayed at age 2 or older. Kristine |
I saw the paperwork on the dad. The mom was under 2 years old - she went into heat unexpectedly and by the time the breeder caught it, it was too late  The breeder was very upfront about the situation, explained that typically she would not breed a bitch before the certification was done, and showed me the preliminary evaluation.
At the time I knew absolutely nothing about dogs in general and sheepdogs in particular. So it's a great credit to Bailey's breeder that she went through the effort of educating me, even though she didn't have both certifications. |
| In Canada we don't have an online source for hip certifications, though some send through for OFA as well as OVC (Ontario Veterinary College)
Mine are certified through OVC, and I provide copies of the certs to new puppy parents along with other paperwork. In Canada also they can be certified at 18 months, though I waited til after 2 with all of mine anyway so could easily send to OFA at any time as well. |
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