could you please settle a difference of opininion between my sister and myself she has a boxer that she intends to breed from i believe that a hip score is important and she has been told by other boxer breeders that this is not so.Which of us is right

Nicki

Hi

Hip scoring is VERY important when considering to breed boxers AND so is Heart testing.

HELEN.

Hi Helen she agrees with the heart testing but argues about the hips as there is a chance her girl wont pass them her vet has taken a x-ray but told her not to waste her money as the score may not be that good.she has spoken to a few other breeders with stud dogs that dont hip score their boys and has been told it is not important and no matter what i say she wont listen

Nicki

Hi Nicki

Her bitch should not be bred from if she does not make the score , not hip scoring the dog is a very irresponsible thing to do if your sister intends on breeding from her , the breeders she has been speaking to cannot be very good ones ( the words backstreet and fly by nighters screams aloud in my head ) , as most responsible breeders realize the importance of doing this , and most responsible breeders wouldnt dream of putting their stud dog to a bitch that has not had this test done.

I think your sister needs to come on and read this board , as this will be one of many messages that will say almost the same.

Good Luck,

HELEN

Hi Helen

I have every intention of showing this thread of discussion to my sister then i will know i have done my best

Nicki

Hi
I can't believe your sister is still considering breeding when the bitch has been x-rayed and they don't look good!!!Sticking her head in the sand won't make it go away!!
Is she aware that she could be sued by the owners of any pups she produced that had problems!!She is aware of a possible health problem and is choosing to ignore it!!It has been done before(sueing) and has been successful!!
Archer

The MBA for the Boxer is 14 but of those who have been scored there is at least one with a score of 64. Yes 64, that is a severe case of HD

Has the breed average gone down? I always thought it was 16?

The breed mean (average) score is 16, and the Median (most often seen result) is 14. The BVA have only recently started giving the median score on the sheet.

It can be seen from the fact that only 300 Boxers have been scored (we have more of our breed 407 scored than this, and we are a minority breed, where routine scoring has only been done in last 15 years), that few Boxer breeders bother.

From the range achieved 0 to 64 (higher range than in our breed, which has a range of 0-61, mean of 14 and Median of 12), it can be seen that they have nothing to be complacent about and should score all breeding stock routinely to ensure the high scores are not bred from or become more numerous.

As for thye Vet saying the x-ray looks bad. Your sister should have it scored. It may well not be bad at all, as most vets are hopeless at assessing likely hip scores. I know of people being told the plates were not good and result come back with single figure score, and also told they looked good, and they were awful.

Either way your sister needs to know, as if it really is poor then no way should she breed from her bitch.

Brainless is correct it was the Median I gave. Have not got used to the new system. Sorry.

Does anyone have the Median for Dobes please? Have looked on the BVA site but there latest results are from 2001

Christine

9 Christine.

Thanks Jackie, that is not too far from the breed average of 10 although it does not quite tie in with my records (but I can't get them complete because the BVA won't release anything over 8 from before 1991

Christine

Hi,

What is the reason for your sister to breed off her boxer?
Does she show the dog at all?

Has her local vet done plenty of hipscores?
You never know the scores may come back ok she won't ever know unless she sends them t
the panel in London for scoring?

I would definately not breed unless I have the complete picture about the scores.

of both her bitch and the stud dogs.

Briony :-)