Is it worth having my bitch hipscored at 4 years old? She has had a litter of pups and i do intend on breeding her next year and to date she hasn't had it done but i wonder if it is worth it at this age? and whether her age will reflect in the actual hipscore as i imagine most people have it done when the dog is much younger than this.
Thanks

i would definitely get hipscore done, i dont think age comes into it. I myself had my bitch hipscored at the age of 4 before her first litter her hiscore came back as 5/4 which i was more then pleased with

My boy was 3 1/2 years old when he was scored. His hip score is 2/3. His mother was also 3 1/2 years old when she was done. Her score is 5/2. I would definately get it done before you breed again, especially in this day and age where people are more likely to sue if there is a problem. :-(

Personally I wouldn't have my dogs x-rayed before they are 18 months, but that is just me ;-) My youngest is coming up to that age, but is due in season (like, last week ;-) ) so it will have to wait a bit longer :-D

A stud dog I bred was not scored until he was 4 years old and scored almost exactly the same as his sister who was scored at a year.

If the hips are bad then age will affect the score negatively as they will worsen with age, but if they are in the normal good range than age will have little or no negative effect.

One of my girls wasn't scored until she was 5 & came back with a score totalling 7.  If the hips are sound then the score will hardly change throughout their life.  Its when the hips aren't great they will deteriorate with age and the score will increase as the dog gets older.

THank you for the replies. Will get her booked in soon. :0)
x

Has your girl been eye tested if applicable? If it is recommended for the breed better to do this first before the hips.
As she has already had a litter, just wondering if she returned a high score, would you let her puppy owners know?
Eavie

why have you bred her without scoring? im surprised you were able to sell the pups

I'm guessing that the OP has a beagle.  Only 41 beagles were scored last year and it is not required by either their club or the KC recommendations so not sure that we can criticise the OP for choosing not to have done so up to this point. 

Hi there,
Thank you for all of your opinions. I have bred before, although a different breed

Don't think that the dog in question is a beagle. This was on a previous thread.
Eavie

Ah I see.  Well there are still quite a number of breeds not do not have hip scoring as a requirement so best to know before criticising.

I just suggested that if eye testing is a requirement/recommendation that this is normally done first.
Eavie

Yes, that is a sensible suggestion my post was regarding the one criticising her for not scoring her bitch before now :-)

> I'm guessing that the OP has a beagle.  Only 41 beagles were scored last year and it is not required by either their club or the KC recommendations so not sure that we can criticise the OP for choosing not to have done so up to this point

Agree though I have seen some pretty high scores for the ones that have been scored so think the breed clubs really have nothing to be complacent about and should be asking breeders to score.

> Agree though I have seen some pretty high scores for the ones that have been scored

The scoring may have been done because these individuals had a problem.  We don't know if the breed club have been complacent or not.  Their health committee may have looking into this but concluded it was not a widespread problem and the test is not without risk to the animal.  Perhaps the OP might want to enquire.

Hi there,
Sorry for the confusion. My girl is a working cocker (not sure if i'm allowed to say). She had a litter with a previous owner. I intend on doing things properly, so want to have all the appropriate tests done, but wasn't sure on whether age would have affected the outcomne of the hip score. :0)
x

Hello, in a cocker the recommended tests are an eye exam for primary glaucoma (one off test) An eye exam from an eye panellist (yearly) and optigen testing for PRA.
The lack of the eye certs in a cocker would concern me more than the lack of hip scoring (although the ideal would be both) if I was looking for a puppy.
Eavie

Thanks. I've got her booked already for eye testing, just waiting for the specialist to come up. :0)

The optigen test is either a blood test or cheek swab and these have to be sent to Optigen in America for testing. Results can come back as either clear, affected or carrier.
Eavie

I'm a bit confused about the optigen eye test as i thought yearly eye exam was for glaucoma, general PRA & centralised PRA, so if that's getting done yearly do you really need a second test for PRA via DNA testing. I know the DNA test allows you to know whether the dog is carrying the genes for PRA or not and the yearly eye test only shows whether the dog is affected at that moment in time, but am i right in thinking it's testing for the same thing twice? and if i got the DNA test done i'd still have to have my bitch eye tested yearly in addition?
Thanks

The problem is that a carrier will never fail the eye exam but put to another carrier or affected could produce affected pups or carriers. Also a dog can be clinically clear for many years but still be affected.
The gonioscopy (for primary glaucoma) is a one off test.
A yearly test is still advisable as it covers more than PRA but not sure in practise how many people who optigen test still test yearly. Will watch the BRS for numbers!
Eavie
edited to add that carrier to clear can still produce carrier pups

> The scoring may have been done because these individuals had a problem.  We don't know if the breed club have been complacent or not.

These dogs with high scores came from the general gene pool and without general testing the breed cannot conclude there is no problem.  Dogs of moderate build can have pretty high hip scores without exhibiting unsoundness, which is why in my opinion all dogs should be hip scored.

According to US data http://www.offa.org/hipstatbreed.html  only 2.4% score excellent and 18.6% are actually dysplastic (scoring above our 26), compared to 19.7% dysplasia figures for my own breed where all breeding stock all over the world are supposed to be scored.

> Dogs of moderate build can have pretty high hip scores without exhibiting unsoundness

Exactly.  Some breeds, such as the achondroplasic may always have high scores but it does not necessarily mean that they will ever have a problem.  It would be simple and straightforward just to test if it did not involve the risk of anaesthesia and radiation and each breed is best evaluated to their need individually.