Sorry, another query for the experts. Was just wondering ... one of the things that surprised me when contacting lots of breeders when I was pup hunting was the number who *didn't* hip score their dogs, but just said that their line had "never had any problems". I was surprised because assumed in this day and age people were a bit more on the ball and were attempting to eradicate the problem. Anyway, I was wondering ... how soon would a pup with a poor hip score show signs of this? Or, is it usually something that would manifest when he/she was an adult?

Thanks

Jo

Don't ever go with a breeder who says my line is ok I don't need to hip score. Rubbish she might not have had problems but she can't possibly know what her dogs hips are like.

If a dog is going to have hip displaysia it would start to show as it grows perhaps about 7 months. Difficulty in getting up and moving off, stiffness.

A caring breeder has all their dogs hip scored and the stud dogs that they use. What breed where you thinking off. Always go to a breeder who belongs to their breed club.

Don't worry - I wouldn't !!

Was just intrigued to know when the problem would materialize, in light of the fact that so many breeders held this view. Also, whether there could be a grain of truth in this clearly very irresponsible approach to breeding (ie that in a line where no hip dysplasia was evident, they were justified in being confident).

I know absolutely nothing about breeding or genetics, and little about hip dysplasia, other than that it is crucial to ensure the parents of any future pup should be tested and cleared before anything else more exciting takes place!

Jo

Hi let me say this first I do hipscore. You appear to be under the impression that because a breeder uses low hip scored dogs there is no chance of a puppy having poor hips .I am sorry to say this isn't necessarily the case so no dogs will be Cleared as you put it.Hopefully and what is aimed for is that low scoring dogs may have less chance of producing puppies with hip problems.:) Gillian

My 6 year old Lab came from perfectly well scored stock, but has come up 34-21.

I agree that all dogs used for breeding should be hip/eye tested.

Hi Jo

It is Catch 22 - if you don't test you don't know whether you have a problem or not, but, by not testing you can honestly say you are not aware of any problems.

Two low scoring parents are not guaranteed to produce low scoring adults but there is more chance of it, and as to when problems would show - this depends upon the severity but it does not seem to be a major problem in our breed. The more people who test and breed to compatable low scoring partners (remembering that hip scoring is not the only criteria when breeding) the less chance we have of introducing a problem

~~

Other tests it is advisable for the parents to have had are for von Willebrands Disease (one parent at least should be clear) and for PHPV. IMHO puppies should also be tested for PHPV and this can be done between 4 - 12 weeks of age under the litter testing scheme.

~~

As I am one of the two Dobermann Heath Co-ordinators so far in the UK and am the one who collates all the results, I may be just *slightly* more keen on having health checks done than some other owners/breeders :)

Christine

Thanks Christine : )

Thanks everybody for your comments. Hadn't realised that HD could appear in a pup whose parents both had great hip scores. My brain's having a go-slow this week.

Jo