I talked to a women who is selling a litter of Old English Sheepdogs. They don't have a big problem with hip dysplasia, but it does occur, of course. She said that she hasn't had the hips certified recently, but she had both parents checked when they were younger and was told that the dog's hips were fine. (not sure if that means the rating, or "just fine") Can you do this? Or does the hip dysplasia only show up later? Does this sound ok? If I go and see the dogs, check out the parents, etc??

Hi Guest

Dogs are only hip scored once during their lives after they are 12 months old.

The breeder you are talking to should be able to tell you the scores and show you the certificates.

I have the BRS covering some of the OES scores so if you know the parents names and when they were x-rayed I may be able to tell you the results if you leave your email address

Christine

hi guest
yes, it is possible to have a vet X-ray the hips and give an opinion. The hips could be 'OK' which they possibly were for that dog at that time. However, it could also be that they were not so good, and the plates were not sent off for scoring....?
Just a thought.

Hi Guest

Unless the vet is very experienced in x raying for HD & scoring they usually have little idea what are good or bad hips

The only sure way is to have the x ray plates scored

I would never buy a puppy from a breeder unless both parents were X rayed if the breed has any history of HD problems which OES do.

HI, although this is not my breed and perhaps I should keep quiet- One thing not mentioned is that each breed has an "acceptable" score, which can be found out by contacting the breed club. Each hip is "scored" so a perfect hip score is 0-0. Few dogs acheive this, so each breed has its own "acceptable score". the score is obtained by adding " both sides " together, so a dog with a 6-7 score has a hip score of 13. Just to have hip scored parents is not enough, it should be a low score- usually I think a total of under 20, which would cover most breeds, but generally the lower the better. There also may be other health problems in OES, which can be screened or tested for, again the parent breed club will advise you what tests a puppy's parents should have had and passed. HD is usually not detected until puppies are several months old or could be nearly into adulthood.

Hi Katie
Take your point, but as I said, it was only an opinion, I would hope that if a dog had HD the vet would be able to spot it, or I would want a different vet! He may have to send it off for scoring, but as I have been told only KC reg dogs can be scored, what would happen to a crossbreed in this situation?

Hi

I don't know about X breeds that are not KC reg but it would be worth the KC fee to get a score if anyone wanted to breed from a X breed

You would be surprised at the number of vets you think hips are bad when they are only mindly affected

My own vets are rubbish at reading plates & I don't use them for scoring but the are good for treatment

The practice I use for X rays are brilliant(but too far away for regular use for treatmenT)

The two vets especially the female are rarely more than a point out & use a sling to posiyion the dog instead of a table & the plates are always excellent quality So many breeders use the practice they offered me a commission(not accepted)as it helped to het them established when the branched out on their own

A dog was X rayed at one of these ultra modern "hospitals" declared to have severe HD & died having an insurance paid for hip replacement

When the hips were scored at the breeders insistance after viewing by above mentioned vet they came back 4:4=8 but with the comment they were poor plates & that if re X rayed rescoreing would be allowed ! The case is still going through the courts & a complaint is yet to be heard by the BVA

Sadly the dog cannot be brought back to life & should never have been operated on makes you think ! doesn't it

I would take it from her answer that they are not scored. I would never buy, especially a large breed, form unscored stock!

There is a good site Canine hip dysplasia resources, which then links to lots of info.

If you know the Kennel Club name of any dog, you can ring the Kennel Club and find out if it is scored, and the score, as all results are now public, it is info that can be divulged, the same for Eye testing, though that should be repeated no more than 12 months before mating, to be current. I would imagine OES need eye testing too.

OES should be tested for Hereditary Cataracts. They are also under investigation for Congenital Hereditary Cataract and Multiocular defects.

Regards, John