Would you allow your Stud to be bred to a bitch whose Dam did not pass elbows? When it says Degenerative Joint Disease on OFA, does that mean they didn't pass elbows?

yes, does the bitch have clearances, if so , then someone made progress.

Yes, It means she didn't pass.
I would breed to the daughter if my boy has a clean history of good elbows.

As long as I feel my stud dog comes from a solid line of strong, passing elbows, especially from his bitch line, yes I would. Also, I would hope that bitch's dam was the only one in that line to fail elbows. If it was consistent fails or elbows not done, then I wouldn't feel right about it.....

I'm not trying to be fussy but don't you think this should be a concern of the bitch owner too? Did they possibly express it?

I know *if* I were in that situation, I would want to use a boy with strong orthopedics in his pedigree.

So when breeders discuss pedigree research, this should be one of the things breeders should be looking for. Especially if there was a non-pass within the bitch line, you would think the bitch owner would want a strong elbow line in the stud dog. ~Jmho

Really ? Are you people serious ? OR is it that you have only been in Labradors for 5 minutes ?

It was not that long ago , that nobody even did elbow films. My last dog just passed that did not have elbow films,[15yrs] NOT because she didn't pass or that there was something to be hidden[ from the internet searchers], but because the Labrador community was not doing them at all. We did hip/eyes , and that's it. Only in the last 15 years have WE decided that we should use every clearance known to man to eliminate our breeding stock.
I'm sure this post is going to drive the judgmental OFA researchers/newbies on a mission, into a frenzy, but reaally , there are breeders that have been around for 30 /40 years, that just have lived through the passage of time of all of the clearance requirements, and perhaps the dam of this dam to be bred was in that group. You know , back in the day where we used our knowledge of pedigrees to do breedings, and were interested in maintaining breed type as first and foremost.

Well, am in it to breed healthy, beautiful, super temperament Labs. We keep one or two from a litter, but the others go to pet homes who deserve a healthy pup they can hopefully have around for the next 13/14 years. Why would we not use all that is there to use to try to do both. Breed to the standard, and have them as sound as possible ? I don't want to just win, I want to be well thought of, when I have to give up breeding. Not a newbie for sure.

NOT a newby. My first dog to have elbows done was evaluated through the old Wind-Morgan program that is, sadly, defunct. It was probably around 1989 or 1990, and others had been using the program for several years before me. So some people have been doing elbows for longer than 15 years. Why did I start? I had a litter with multiple dogs with really bad elbows. The one I kept on a co-ownership could not trot- she only paced. So I sold the mother to a pet home, only bred stock with clear elbows, and that problem is behind me. I haven't had to discard a dog for elbow problems for something like 15 years. It is a myth that only newbies care about clearances as much as they do type. We have more tools now than we did when I first got into the breed over 35 years ago, but I think the tendency is to take clearances LESS seriously, at least in some circles. I remember a quote from a breeder, still around today, about a favorite specialty winning dog whose hips didn't pass. " I placed him immediately because I was afraid if I kept him, I'd be tempted to breed him." Does everyone today resist that temptation?