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OFA?

Because OFA is not a slam dunk assurance of good hips, we had decided not to require it, but to just require that breeding dogs being entered into the breed have their hips xrayed somewhere after one year of age. I get a hip x-ray at a year and have a radiologist look at it. This works for me, and after being involved with CMDs for over a decade I am not having bad joints reported back to me with any regularity. I have had a few reports of torn ACLs through the years, and no reports of bad hips yet.

One of the reasons I have made this choice for my personal program is that OFA pushes back a start date for breeding to minimum two years. When you are trying to work on a genetic progression, this slows your ability to go forward. If it were a guarantee it would be one thing, but it is not much more of a guarantee than having a local x-ray done.

These conclusions came after talking with multiple vets.

This said, it is really up to each individual breeder and buyer how to proceed. OFA looks good on a website. Posting that the dog has had a hip xray at a year is also good. If you keep a dog past two, and breed it, it’s good to xray again and the OFA is usually not much of an additional expense.

I am not educated on Penn Hip but it can be done at a younger age.

Breedings dogs should have an xray done at a year, and be checked by a vet for over all soundness, and if a person plans to use a dog for having a long breeding life, get the OFA at two.

Comments welcome!