HI everybody
I just read an article at www.leerburg.com/hipart.htm (sorry cant do the link thing

I just wanted to know what you all thought, as I had my dogs done by my own vet who by his own admission does'nt do many, about 2 a year he said.

If it's that easy to tell poor positioning why don't the kc note it or make vets more aware (maybee they do) can you have a re test done or is that not allowed?

Perhaps the difference it makes is very minimal and not worth correcting especially considering the dog would have to undergo the whole procedure again, and we all know the risks with GA and sedation.

I am only asking out of curiosity as my dogs scored fine at 3:7 and 6:8, I will be getting a new puppy soon and so It will be some time before I need a hip score doing, but do you think it would be better to use a specialist vet or don't they exist?

any opinions would be great, I'm just trying to broaden my knowledge.

Cheers
Kelly

PS. Mine are labs.
PPSS I can do the link thing http://www.leerburg.com/hipart.htm :D

A few things spring to mind.

1/ The KC do not score hips. that is done by a pannel of vets, specialist in that field.

2/ The pannel can only score what they see, not what the might or might not see from a slightly different angle.
(That also applies to hips which appear more open because the plates are rather "Thin".

3/ The plates should only be sent for scoring when the vet (and owner) is happy that they are as good as possible. You pay the bill so you have the final say, or should have!

4/ The BVA list guidelines for taking and submitting plates, they are freely available to both vets and the general public.

I find it a bit horrific that your vet only submits about 2 per year! I can only take that to mean that only 2 breeders in your area breed? Seems rather unlikely!!! So that must mean that there are an awful lot of breeders not testing their dogs!

Hope that answers a few of the questions.

Regards, John

HI John,
Thanks for your reply, could you tell me where to find the BVA guidelines, it must be worth a read.

I think that the reason my vet only does a couple is that we are in mainly farming countryside and there are a lot of vets around us I know of 8 within 10 miles of me, I could'nt say how many they test a year, I suppose they must all do them, I have always stuck with my vet as my sister works for them as a receptionist and I had'nt wanted to offend, however I think it's high time I found a vet more used to dealing with small animals.

I have noticed from reading the forums that you seem to be a very knowledgeable Labrador person and hope you might be able to offer some advice, my dog last week developed a small swelling about an inch up from the base of his tail, it does'nt cause him any discomfort and he still wags his tail with great enthusiasm, but it has slightly affected the "line" of his tail as it looks like a kink, my vet said it was "stud tail" caused by a gland, and would clear up, he has'nt been used for stud yet and I'm worried that this may mean me reconsidering my plans for him, have you heard of this?

thanks
kelly

Hi Kelly.
Yes, I can well imagine a farm vet will not have quite the experience of specialist procedures. This is a link to a very basic run down of it.

http://www.bva.co.uk/pdf/chs_hip_procedure.pdf

If you would like the full thing and dont mind me emailing you, let me know and I'll scan it in and email to you.

Stud tail. I've never seen it but I remember it being talked about on here a few months ago. If you do a search I should think you will come up with it. I know its here somewhere. Failing that, post it as a seperate thread and I should think you will get some answers. I think from what I remember you're right about it being a gland.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Best wishes, John

Found it!

[link]http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?tid=26414&hilite=stud%20tail#183478[/link]

Thanks John,
If you could send me the full details that would be great, can you get my e.mail from this?

I looked at the other thread, it doesn't seem like the same thing so I'll post a new question in the health section.

thanks again
Kelly

Will do Kelly, I've just got in from training so I'll scan it in and email it this evening.

Best wishes, John

I've scanned it in Kelly, It will take quite a time to download so if you have any trouble with it let me know and I'll break it into smaller emails.

Best wishes, John

Hi Kelly,

Just wanted to let you know, I too, live in a rural farming area, where the vets are more used to larger animals...cows, horses etc.
My vet did the hip x-rays for two of my dogs, one of them came back 4:3 (my girl) which was great. We then waited another 2 weeks, and my boys still hadn't come back...it was eventually sent back to the vet, because it couldn't be scored, as the dog was completely tilted, when the x-ray was taken. My vet told me afterwards that he rarely does hip x-rays. I haven't taken my boy back yet, as I hate any of my dogs having anaesthetics, or being sedated. Also, it's really annoying, because like you, although my girl scored really well, I'll always wonder if it could have been better, if the x-ray was taken by somebody more experienced.
I've managed to find a vet who does all the local breeders x-rays now, so when my next 2 are ready...thats where I'm going!!!

Just thought i'd share this with you!!

Take care

Lisa