OFA Cert. question

[George C. Tull]

Ok, I know that they can't be certified till they're 24 mo. old but am I seeing it right when I look at the site where some are actually testing when they're 20 mo. old then to have the actual cert. not process through till 24 mo. or is that some sort of preliminary thing altogether separate?

Will the result usually be the same if a dog is tested at 24 mo. vs 28mo. or so? First time to deal with it & was wondering some input on the process.
Thanks.

[Montview]

I've seen people often do prelims on dogs. They have to be at least 12 months for "official" OFA preliminary results which WILL be posted on the OFA site. After what I went through with my pet-bred girl (severely lame so surgery on both elbows for FCP's at only 6 months of age and hip dysplasia), I ended up doing prelims on my boy just to find out what his joint health was (prelim excellent hips/normal elbows) before he had his final OFA films done. I was pretty gun-shy about joint health after my earlier experiences.

I know that some folks also do prelims for official records just in case some injury happens that interferes with final results- that way, they have "proof" that things looked great before an accident of whatever sort so they may feel more validated (if the orthopedic health of the lines is strong enough) to breed that particular dog in spite of films that may not pass presumably because of an injury (falling out of the back of a truck, falling into a ditch while training, doing the head-over-heals thing which can fracture a piece of bone in the elbow, whatever). Not saying this is right or wrong, but it is that does happen. Some breeders will also do "unofficial" prelims even earlier (like 6-8 months of age) if they have a program where they choose not to keep dogs around who look like they have poor joint conformation from the get-go.

For the question as to whether or not they are the same- sometimes, sometimes not. Usually, good prelim results will have a higher tendency to yield good final results, though.

[Melanie Foster]

Almost. You can get preliminary evaluations on dogs as young as four months of age:

http://www.offa.org/hipprelim.html

We always check our kids before sinking a bunch of $$ into their training.

This link also has some info on the correlation between prelim evaluations and finals.

[Eric Johnson]

Also, maybe those people are doing PennHip which can be done much earlier that OFA. However, a PennHip series often (always?) includes an OFA series as well.

Eric

[Connie Swanson]

Also, keep this in mind: if you do an OFA prelim, results are NOT automatically listed by OFA; for some reason, in order to release prelim results, they require a signature by the owner (or agent) on the form sent in. So if you want them on the OFA site, read the form carefully & make sure to sign it; otherwise your only record will be the Prelim results letter OFA sends you. (tho I'm sure they keep a record somewhere, but I'm not sure how you'd access it).

Connie

[Melanie Foster]

Also, keep this in mind: if you do an OFA prelim, results are NOT automatically listed by OFA; for some reason, in order to release prelim results, they require a signature by the owner (or agent) on the form sent in. So if you want them on the OFA site, read the form carefully & make sure to sign it; otherwise your only record will be the Prelim results letter OFA sends you. (tho I'm sure they keep a record somewhere, but I'm not sure how you'd access it).

Connie

And pups must have a permanent ID at the time of prelims to have them posted on the site. There is no going back and asking to have them posted if you get a permanent ID later.

[George C. Tull]

Pennhips, signatures, permenant ID's, etc. Ya'll are confusing me . Maybe I should call & talk to someone there . Sorry fer being so ignorant but, I am from AL .
No really, I just want to do what's the responsible thing for I think to have a good blooded female that is doing rather good that can maybe reach the finished level. I've tried so hard the past two years to get her to where she is & just wanted some much needed info on just how to go about it. Thanks for the replies.

[beawingman]

hey george c tull when you find out what this id is let me know too. allie will be 2 in 2 months

[George C. Tull]

hey george c tull when you find out what this id is let me know too. allie will be 2 in 2 months

Help me keep an eye on the thread here......may take two Alabamians to figure it out.

[Montview]

Almost. You can get preliminary evaluations on dogs as young as four months of age.

You can, but like I mentioned in my post above, they can't be posted on the OFA site until the day they're 12 months old.

To the OP- are you posting asking about prelims on a male that you're thinking of using for a breeding? I'm a bit confused now (and I'm not from AL, LOL) about what "responsible thing" you're asking about?