Hi there everyone

im just wondering if anyone can help me.Ive kept a female pup back from a gorgeous litter of german shepherds i bred and wanted to know what is the best age to hipscore a german shepherd she is female and hasnt had her first heat cycle yet and turned 12 months last week.The reason why im mentioning the heat cycle yet is because ive herd stories about how you shouldnt hipscore if they are about to come into heat or are in heat dont no how true it is.I have just had her older sister hipscored and elbow scored at 2 years old ( 1 1/2 months after last heat cycle) and hers have come back great hips 12 elbows 0 planning on having a litter from her next heat cycle june/july but i just wondered if i could get her sisters hips done sooner than 2 years.Any advice welcome.

cheers

Whether it is true or not (as bitches statistically have slightly worse scores, it may be true) scoring half way between seasons and when their skeleton is mature makes sense.

As the skeleton has not finished growing until puberty it makes sense to wait for her season anyway.  So I would go for about 3 months after the season assuming your bitches don't have short cycle intervals, then it would be two months).

I usually have mine (medium size breed 20kg) done around 18 months or so as there is no hurry as they won't be bred from until between 2 and 3 years old.

Is it wise to have a litter which would be due to go near Xmas? Especially in a commonly bred breed.

In response to Q i had my bitch done at 18 months she also didnt have a season until after the 12 months, just over i think it was. Came back with an excellent score. Will stick to having bitches done as this age and males will be done at 12 months.

We score at about 18 months to 2 years old when the dog stops most of its growing.

I spoke to the researchers working on the EBV ( Estimated Breeding Values) for Labrador HD and they mentioned that many people are in too much of a rush to score at 12months. The later the better for true accuracy in how the hips have developed.

Many breeds will have not put their 'bulk' on at 12 months so it gives a false picture of how the hip copes under adult/ mature weight.

> many people are in too much of a rush to score at 12months. The later the better for true accuracy in how the hips have developed.
>

Maybe that is why they are in such a rush to score as soon as??
In many countries you used to be able to score earliest at 2 years because of this very reason...

There is no doubt that many health test to get 'the golden ticket' - not to truly KNOW the health status of their dog

and if you have a better chance early -then they test early.

I had my boy tested at over 3 years old. His score was hips 2/3 elbows 0, so if they are good they will stay good. If there is no reason to rush in then I would possibly wait until after a 2nd season.