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OFA result, what to do?

9K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  ErinsEdge 
#1 ·
Since I don't have alot of faith in my mail man I called OFA to see if my results were mailed and they said they were finished today. They gave me the results over the phone and it was not what I was expecting after the Vet that took them gave me alittle different info. OFA gave the score of Fair on the hips and Good on the elbows. I have only seen ratings of normal on the elbows so not sure if they are now scoring different. I was hoping to stud him out but not sure if I should or not, I read that this score is still within normal. I quess I am looking for some guidence since this is still new to me.
 
#4 ·
It is "normal" for elbows. I"d bet the receptionist was new. As for hips, I'd want to see the xray positioning and why they were scored Fair personally. Did you pay to get your films back or do you have a digital copy?
I did not know I could get the film back. do they send any other info with the certificate? I know they take the 2 out of 3 ratings.
 
#7 ·
Wait a few months- Get a 2nd xray, from a vet who does a lot of them, and resubmit. Maybe you get better results. If you dont -then you have to see what you want to do.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I don't let local vets do OFA radiographs anymore because you never know who is doing them and what their level of training or lack thereof is. I have a female that came back fair I waited a year and sent her to the University of Georgia and had them redone and they were good, same deal with a male only he came back excellent. Take your dog to a university teaching hospital where qualified people will be involved and since it is a teaching environment they will do it until they get it right whatever the outcome.
Also if it is a female make sure you are at least 4-6 weeks either side of a heat cycle.
 
#10 ·
The Dr. I went to has alot of years taking X-rays for OFA in fact he is still on the OFA board. I will wait until the paper work comes in and make sure the lady told me correctly, then I may contact the Dr. and see what he has to say. I did wait longer to have them done by what I have seen on here, He will be 4 in Oct. If I have them retaken I will pay to have the film sent back. Thanks
 
#11 ·
Interesting comments on here. Yes, poor positioning will make good hips look bad. BUT- no matter how many times the vet takes the xrays, it won't turn a dysplastic dog into a normal one...

Fair is still within the limits of normal.
 
#14 ·
Fair is passing, but I can guarantee with all the studs out there that are good or excellent, a fair will be passed over unless he is very special. Fair is not dysplastic, but I got a fair on one dog and had it redone by someone that does a ton of xrays and he came back good. Yes, malpositioning is very common. Was the dog anesthetized? I would have them done again by someone without anesthesia.
 
#15 ·
Fair, Good, Excellent? OFA certification is important, but how much difference is there between a fair and an excellent? It's Doctors looking at an xray. If people have them redone and move up a grade aren't we "splitting hairs" sometimes? Positioning, anesthetised, not anesthetised... I say they either have evidence of dysplasia or don't.

I know that elbows are rated normal if they're good. I'm surprised they have so many steps in hip certification.
 
#16 ·
Fair, Good, Excellent? OFA certification is important, but how much difference is there between a fair and an excellent? It's Doctors looking at an xray. If people have them redone and move up a grade aren't we "splitting hairs" sometimes? Positioning, anesthetised, not anesthetised... I say they either have evidence of dysplasia or don't.
It matters to a lot of people that breed or that are looking for pups that have had dysplastic dogs. I won't buy from a Fair, and I don't breed Fairs. As far as bad positioning, I have had 3 when I had local vets do them, 2 subsequently rated excellent and one good. I sure would hate to waste a good dog to a bad x-ray and I can guarantee that when it happens, other people feel the same way.
 
#20 ·
I'd also ask what age and size is the dog. Had one big male ~100lb adult weight our vet said would come back Mild-diplasia when she took the x-rays at 2 years. 'Dang!!" The lady has never been wrong in her ratings before they're sent in. However also She also felt it was because the pup was not done growing and advised us to wait and retake x-rays @ 3 yrs. Which we did, he came back Good @ 3 yrs. It's really nice to have a orthro vet that knows what they're doing ;)
 
#22 ·
Age, 3 years 8 months. as far as size the last weight in was 97lbs. I think I may do the rest of the test and go from there, my wife and I would like a pup from him because we like most of his traits. his drive for retrieving is very strong, IMO he would have done better with someone that knows what they are doing.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I think Keith's suggestion is a good one - if you want more than a subjective assessment of your dog's hips then PennHip is the way to go. It does cost more money, but worth it for all breeding stock for an objective assessment of hips and hip joint laxity. One of the views on the PennHip can also be submitted (or re-submitted) for OFA. PennHip recommends that if you are planning on breeding a dog that it is above the 50th percentile on its distraction index. There is alot of good information on PennHip and hip dysplasia on the PennHip website: www.pennhip.org.

It always is a great debate on whether we should eliminate dogs with genetic or health issues from the gene pool by not breeding them - hip dysplasia is just one of those. For Labs, EIC and CNM are others that many choose to carry on. The choice to breed or not comes from many factors such as performance and bloodlines as well as health and genetics. In the end breeders make that choice, which may affect the integrity of the breed in both positive and negative ways - hopefully mostly positive.
 
#25 ·
OFA recommends being 4 weeks either side of a heat cycle because of a hormone , relaxin I believe that is present during heat cycles and pregnancy that can cause some temporary joint laxity and or subluxation. I go for 6-8 weeks either way to be safe.
 
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