The £3,000 Cavaliers are advertised currently

My vet is an orthopedic specialist & has treated all sizes of dogs to relieve HD & ED.

He had a GSD referred to him because of chronic rear lameness-from a very famous kennels, not HD but a complicated ligament/tendon problem, The referring GP vet had thought the hips looked bad, however they scored evenly under 10. Happily the problem was solved, the referral vet had advised a total hip replacement.

You cannot diagnose HD/ED without good quality rays assessed by trained assessors, the layman/GP vet cannot correctly assess  a dog based on movement alone

>I’m definitely on the side of testing for everything just in case

There's a saying that the more you look for trouble, the more you'll find! I really can't see the point in testing for every conceivable condition whether or not affects an animal's quality of life just because you can. There's one site that recommends testing for some conditions that even most vets have never heard about, let alone seen. So simply testing for the basic conditions that are known to be most likely to cause a welfare or management problem (hips and possibly elbows in larger breeds, patellae in smaller breeds, and the rest - hearts, eyes, BAER etc) are pretty much breed-specific.

I'll tell you a story about this testing thing.  I, together with quite a few others, bred one of my girls to a visiting American Champion.  Unfortunately one of the resulting litters failed a Gonioscopy test and her owners kicked off big time.  As a result I had Prof. Bedford on the phone saying I needed to test my litter from him.    My reply was I had nothing to suggest my litter might be the same and I preferred not to have them checked, at that time.  He backed right off.  It was later discovered that the bitch who produced this test result carried a line back to others who had actually developed glaucoma.  Hum.   The male concerned, who had gone back to the States by then, was tested back home and found to be non-affected.

So I have to agree that it's not always necessary to test, test, test.   In fact within my breed now, many leading kennels are testing eyes as a matter of course, and clearly using this as an advertising ploy

Of course I’m not suggesting we subject all dogs to a bunch of invasive tests just because, but there are some non-invasive ones we should be doing much more frequently. You have to balance the likelihood of a particular dog developing a condition with the need for anaesthetic for the test, etc.

Like I said, a big dog is unlikely to develop patella luxation but a quick feel by the vet is easy, not painful, doesn’t require anaesthetic or imaging or a special visit. So you might as well, right?

A bundled DNA test for hundreds of conditions uses a couple of swabs, just like a single condition one does. Depending on where you go it might be cheaper to buy the bundle even if your breed only needs a couple of tests. Might as well, assuming you can get a bundle that covers everything. I paid I think £90 for 212 conditions plus colour and other traits, which was cheaper than the three from the Kennel Club, plus I wanted FVII as well so that would mean a separate test (2 more swabs). Seemed like a no brainer as I’d end up with dar more infuriation with the bundle.

I have seen Cavalier hip score results that show there is no room for complacency.

All breeds really ought to be scored.

Very few Bulldogs are acored in rhe UK,  yet under USA OFA statistics they are the No 1 worst breed for HD.

In the 1980's I had my breeding Cavaliers hip x-rayed. (1 male, and 2 females). This was under the original Pass, Fail, Breeders Letter system; two were scored as a Pass, and one was a Breeders Letter - she had already had one litter, so was never mated again. To the best of my knowledge the results have never appeared on their records but I still have the certificates. This was towards the end of my time showing Cavaliers. The male was eye tested at shows, (shown on his record), and he was graded heart clear by Peter Darke - but before the scheme started, so that was never recorded.
My last two Cavaliers were 14 when they died, and I had several that reached 12 and 13. To the best of my knowledge I only had one with syringomelia - she was one of the 14 year olds and was pain free up to her last couple of months. I must admit that we didn't fully understand what it was forty years ago, I just had a vague diagnosis of a neurological complaint.

I have seen Cavalier hip score results that show there is no room for complacency.

Don't you think it's the odd ones out with a problem that's most likely to be scored, so not a true picture? Just 23 scored in 15 years.

but the scores aren't  vreat,  and we all know some terrible hips move well.

I remember a Ch Groenendael of the late 80's that was a lovely mover,  but a hip score in the 40's.

Imagine how much damage a popular sire producung bad hips could do to a breed that already has serious issues.

Back in 1992 my first Cavalier scored at 6:6, not X-rayed because he had a problem, but as a matter of course in case anyone had wanted to use him at stud(yes he was shown & gained his studbook number)