Hi,i have used the very reputable Marilyn Baker who is in southampton to hip score my dogs in the past.However i have tried unsuccessfully in the last 2 weeks to make an appointment with her on the number i have and have always used.Does anyone out there know if she's stopped doing it now or maybe if theres another number she can be contacted on,i believe in the past it was another lady who used to take the appointments for her.Its just very unusual for the phone to just keep ringing without any message or anything.Thanks to any one who can help.

chelsea I will PM you the number to call...

If you have a problem after 123 has checked the number with you PM me as I will probably see her at the weekend she has the same breed as myself  and I can check her number for you.

roni

Can I ask a silly question. Why would a certain vet be best to perform a hip score?

calmstorm, Marilyn isnt a vet (I dont think) she is a human radiographer and is very well known for getting dogs in the right postition for the best hipscore.  she also doesnt anesthatise (sp :rolleyes: ) the dogs, she just uses a sedative to make them woosey.  Also, marilyn will look at the x-rays straight away and if she feels the position is right she will do it again and again until it is, where as at a vet you just get one shot and tough if its wrong.

Have to say first time ever got a hip score done this year and was suitably impressed with her!  An excellent set up she has.

And she is far more reasonably priced than a lot of vets!

Hi,the number onetwothree has given me is the same as the one i already have but i just cant seem to get through on it anymore,it just keeps ringing and ringing i dont know what else to do,i have got a mobile number for her as she gave it to me once because she didnt have time to send me directions the first time i went to her and gave me the number in case i got lost but on the form it says not to use that number for appointments and i dont want to upset her lol......do you have any other ideas?

Why not text message her, say you wishto make an appointment.

Hi roni,

Please could you PM me the latest contact details for this lady too, I don't need her yet and have used her previously, but a friend wishes to use her,

Thanks,

chocymolly

have PM you.

please can you send the phone number to me thank you

I used her in February - she is fantastic as far as I'm aware she is still doing it.

Sorry don't have the number to hand though.

she is only available in the evenings to answer the phone I think, have you tried her then?

yep thats the number i have always used and i've always rang between 6-9pm mon,tues or wed and in the past have always managed to get an appointment but at the moment it just keeps ringing and has been like it for sometime which is why i wondered if she stopped doing it as i would of thought if there was a problem with the number changing or something there would be a message on the phone to advise of this like there was before when the number changed

Maybe she's on holiday?  Sorry can't help anymore

did you not read my post??

Just makes me wonder how accurate hip scoring is if you could take a dog to, say, three different vets and get 3 different hip scores. I would imagine if a vet was rushed and one wasn't, and then this lady was used, you could have quite a high one, down to a low one. so how accurate are the 'average' hip scores, even when the average can't be a true average if its judged on all hip scores, because so few (in relation to the amount of dogs bred) are actually hip scored? can you appeal the result if its quite high, or very uneven, and have another vet (or someone quallified) do it?

Not very up on this sort of thing and don't know how much you know on the subject either - but it isn't the vet or the lady in Southampton that do the scoring they only do the x-rays and send off to the BVA for the scoring.

Does that make sense?!

but depending on how the dog is positioned can depend on the outcome of the score, or how easy it is to score. 

Yes I did :rolleyes: ~ you said that you "would probably see her at the weekend", even with that she could be away for a few days at the moment hence not being contactable   Or maybe she just wants a break from the phone so has simply unplugged it :D

If she has stopped it is because she is fed up with people ringing her out of hours and discussing her on the www.

>discussing her on the www.

Why? Has anybody said anything negative?

Free advertising I'd have thought.

only trying to help...BMOTA ;)

ive only ever heard great things said about her too

Thank you to everyone who has tried to help me on this one,its very much apprieciated...........tcarlaidh.....you said "if she has stopped doing it is because she is fed up with people ringing her out of hours and discussing her on the www.".......well perhaps if people didnt find it difficult to contact her on the given number at the specificaly requested time,then maybe people wouldnt have to try and contact her out of hours(i for one wouldnt dream of ringing her out of hours,i wouldnt be so rude which is why im reluctant to use the mobile number i've got)...as for discussing her on the web,i have yet to hear anything derogatory said about her,only ever hear people commenting on her expertise and what an excellent service she provides so why would she be fed up with that? I really hope that isnt the case as she's very popular and its usually a few weeks before you can get an appointment booked as she's so busy.Thanks again to you all.

Thanks calmstorm,yes i will text her,thats a brilliant idea,why didnt i think of that:rolleyes: lol

My post was not a personal dig at anyone, sorry if you took it that way but it is a fact, when you catch up with her ask her how she feels about it.

It could be that it is a little indiscreet to mention the anasthetic/sedation issue, as in fact the procedure notes for hip scoring require the former.

Oops, I didnt know that :rolleyes:

Hi again,just to let you all know that i have finally managed to get through and book my appointment tonight.....hooray.....so it was just a case of keep trying,huh... us females can be soooo impatient :rolleyes:...anyway sorry if i caused a bit of a debate but just glad i've got it sorted now and thanks again to all of you who offered help,it really is apprieciated.......trclaidh.....i dont think you offended anyone i just think people were surprised to hear that maybe marilyn got fed up with having such a good reputation and that we wernt discussing her in a bad way just merely trying to establish the best way to contact her as at that moment in time all else had failed......anyway like i said i have my appointment now and im happy but i will bear in mind what you said about asking her how she feels

Are dogs not supposed to be xrayed by a qualified veterinary surgeon? I only ask because every dog I,ve had hipscored has had to have the official form signed and dated by my vet and also the practice name has to be on the form that is sent to the BVA I,m just wondering as one of the early posts said this lady is not a vet but a human radiographer

She is not a vet, but she has a qualified vet come over from the Isle of Wight I believe, who administers the sedation and supervises the dogs during the process.  Marilyn herself positions the dogs and actually takes the "photos".

we still fill in the green form and it is still stamped by the veterinary surgery where the x-ray is done(the sedation is administered and the dog monitered by a qualified vet),you dont have to be a qualified vet to take an accurate x-ray,quite the contrary,after all vets arnt trained to be experts in radiography,this lady is a radiographer and in my opinion and in the opinion of many other people,this lady is far better qualified to take accurately positioned x-rays,thus getting the fairest and most accurate score as a result,as you will have seen in earlier threads,a lot depends on the person taking the x-ray and it is the BVA who do the scoring not the person doing the x-ray.

Ah I see thanks for that explaination .I,m very lucky as the vet who hipscores my dogs is a fully trained radiographer as well and so far he,s never been out by more than three or four points though he will only gove a guideline score because as he says the final score is largely due to the individuals on the hip scoring panel and their interpretation of the xrays submitted to them.

Ditto, I was trying and trying to find a way to say but very pleased you did. I'm sorry these things are talked about on here as it only makes it worrying for the rest of us that we could lose her superb services. I have never found her difficult to contact and indeed now the new system she has, where one actually calls someone called 'Angela' for appointments has worked superbly as far as i'm concerned.

Di

I use Gil Averis near Leeds Bradford Airport for my hip scoring. She too only sedates the dogs.
She is a dog breeder too & also does the canine fertility clinics.

I know many dog people go to her just for hips & she has been very good in my experience.

Hi Weima

Can I be cheeky and ask how much Gil charges to do this?  I may be interest in a year or so for my youngest SWD.

It was just short of £100. That was for the sedation, 2 plates taken & the BVA scoring. I have a feeling that the BVA price has gone up since last year.

I have always taken my dogs there & have been very pleased with the practise. I know a lot of 'show' goers use Gil for hip scoring.

Ahh thanks weima!!  Might have a show under her before my girl needs doing so I may get to have a natter beforehand and it's less than an hour away from here :d

With her experience I would think she would be good! And she would have plenty of 'at home' experience lol.

Its probably like a plumber or electrician though......you're own are always the last to get done!

hi chelseablue
can i have the number of this lady as i would love to use her to do my dog.

Hi,i have pm'd you with the number.