Hi, i have been advised that an acceptable hip score is 16/20....... is this true? This is for a Choc Lab...... can you also advise against what criteria the dog is scored?
THanks all :)

The breed average for Labradors is 16 ie adding both the left & right scores together the average is 16.

That being the case the scores you give are worse  than average. :(

No,that score is way above average. Give it a miss. :(

Could they have meant a total score in the range of 16 to 20? The BMS is currently 16 for labradors (adding both hips together). Hip scores are generally noted as 1/1 each number denoting left and right hip score or total hip score of 2.
If a dog was bred from with a total of 20 you would be looking for a much lower mate or more preferably that it came from a line of below average Hip Scores.
You can read proceedure notes for Hip scoring and other health tests that relate to labradors (i.e elbow and eye testing) at www.bva.co.uk
Eavie
ps an even score i.e 8/8 is much better than 16/0 although the total is the same

thanks all for the replies.....to be honest i am unsure as to how they were explaining this to me on the scoring front. This is not for a pup i have found, it is for general info, in order to be able to find a suitable pup next year for 2 good friends of mine :). They are dog novices but know they want a Choc lab (he grew up with a lab), i knew that hip scoring was important as well as the regular healthchecks and wanted to be able to provide them with information on hip scoring and the breeds acceptable score. ;)
It's all very complex!

Don't forget the eye and elbow tests too.