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DottiesStars User is Offline

Kansas City, KS

SH
Posts:42

01/15/2008 11:43 PM
Now the question is going through my head because of a few recent post I've read & I've decided to try to do a little survey. I would just like to see how many of you prefer to Pen Hip & how many of you prefer to OFA. Please let me know which you prefer & why. Thank-you, Dottie J

bravepoint User is Offline

North Gower, ON Canada

MH
Posts:894

01/16/2008 5:47 AM
I have done OFA hips on my girls. The results are more easily understood by breeders IMO. The vet was able to take the X rays without putting the dogs under a general anaestethic which I prefer. We did OFA elbows at the same time as the hips. I may be wrong but a lot of field people (certainly not all) do Penn Hip rather than OFA. Here in Canada, we also have OVC hips (Ontario Veterinary College) which give a pass or fail rating, I believe. I didn't go with that as I always seem to breed to American males and OVC wouldn't mean anything to their owners. Gail

Gail, Moka, Avery, Terra & Rayne Bravepoint GSPs

Trey

SW Iowa

MH
Posts:516

01/16/2008 6:34 AM
Either, most puppy buyers can understand and know what ofa is. The benefits of Ofa, most vets can do it, cheaper, widley accepted by most buyers. Pennhip, can be done at an earlier age, you get a number put on the hip joint that is a measurement of how loose it is. I am happy if the dog has either and is not dysplastic.

Fieldmaster User is Offline

JH
Posts:25

01/16/2008 9:17 AM
We use and prefer OFA. Personally we don't breed anything that isn't at least "Good" or "Excellent", some turn to Penn Hip for a second reading/opinion or evaluation when they get un-desired results from one or the other. Robert

KDTsGSPs

MH
Posts:206

01/28/2008 4:30 PM
I do OFA with all of my dogs because there are too many people, even breeders who don't understand or know how to read the Penn Hip. I don't breed anything that isn't at least a good, but prefer an excellent. I noticed not too many people responded to this. It makes me wonder how many people care enough to do either. In my area there are a lot of what I would call "back yard breeders" or "puppy mills" so they don't have any health checks on their dogs at all & most don't even know anything about the pedigrees. I just had a couple inquire about 1 of my babies who couldn't understand why they needed to fill out a questionair or why I needed to know anything about them to get a dog from me. (LOL) They were so worried about me screening them because they said they had never had anyone ask questions before when they got their last dog, including a well known breeder that I know, but won't mention. I really wish there was a way to educate people more.

Rebecca KDTs GSPs where the history making GSP (AM/CAN CH, UKC UWPS UWPCHX GRCH KDT's Blazin' Bleugras JH RN CGC) lives! The 1st GSP to ever get weight pull titles!

Ken Lynch

Hudson Valley in NY

MH
Posts:201

01/28/2008 6:51 PM
I have found that although the PennHip is done at an earlier age it results in a number of what I call false positives. They call displasia when it does not exist. Research on the internet confirms this opinion. PennHip tries to determining the existence of displasia by measuring the tightness of the hip joint. However tightness is influenced by the condition of the dog and the ability of the Vet to position the dog properly for the X-ray. The latter seems to be more of a problem than the former. Part of the problem is caused because the positioning for PennHip Is different than OFA. Since PennHip is not as popular as OFA a lot of Vets are unaware of the differences. It is even possible for a dog to pass PennHip at an early age yet by the time it reaches maturity to fail (although not very common). OFA requires that the dog be over 2 years of age before giving an opinion as to the existence of displasia. They want the dog to be two years of age to ensure that it has reached maturity. I have had one example where this was the case. I sold a dog. About 20 months later the owner informs me that they wanted their money back because the dog failed its PennHip. I took the dog back with no questions. However, I immediately noticed that the dog was out of shape and had been basicly ignored. After working the dog back into shape by allowing the dog to run I took the dog to the local Vet and had him take an X-ray of the hips when the dog was 2 years of age. In his opinion there was nothing wrong with the dog. So the X-rays were sent into OFA and came back with a OFA Good. The dog is currently with a new owner who is more than happy with the hunting ability of the dog.

hjackson

West Mansfield, Oh

MH
Posts:131

01/29/2008 11:27 AM
I used to OFA but I am seriously considering switching to Pen Hip - Ofa is an opinion of 3 vets (for the perms) and Pen Hip is scientific. There is no pass or fail in Pen Hip - just signs or no signs of DJD and then the joint laxtisty. I found in my mastiffs that OFA can be very subjective and if the dog isn't laying just right you do not get a good reading. I have seen dogs that should have failed passed and dogs that have passed that should have failed.

~ Heather neverbendgundogs.angelfire.com

DottiesStars User is Offline

Kansas City, KS

SH
Posts:42

01/29/2008 9:28 PM
Thank you to all who responded to this. It has been very interesting to see which all of you prefer. Dottie J

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