I have a stud that has produced over 300 puppies. He has 1 good elbow and 1 bad elbow, OFA ED grade 3 with FCP, Hips excellent, and everything clear as far as I can see on the OFA website. I have only bred him to bitches that have clean lines in all joints. None of his offspring or grands has bad elbow. I'm dealing with one great-grandson puppy now that has FCP. My experience with bad elbows is that, what ever is causing the dysplasia, it can be bred out if bred to a clean line. You are still going to get bad elbows, but you probably would anyways if she had good elbows. Be careful you don't double of bad joints even if it is a different joint. Good luck!

That's fantastic that you have follow up on over 300 puppies!!! That's a lot of data, x-rays, exams etc and it must have cost you a fortune. You really should contact a researcher or OFA with your findings or write a paper yourself. Unbelievable!

I think this is the proper use of clearances. To wash out a dog for the slightest thing doesn't make sense. To use clearances wisely and make breeding decisions based on clearances does. A vet in my office who has several bred Field Champions once told me to not breed a wonderful boy because he had one ear infection - he said it was due to allergies and he shouldn't be bred! The boy never had another ear infection - so glad I didn't listen.

It tires me to have to spell things to people of substandard medical and genetic knowledge, but just for the spirit of the Holidays here it goes: Out of all the puppies my boy had and I kept, none had ED or any other joint problems; same goes for their offspring. All the ones I placed as pets lived without having any Limps. No x-rays were done on most of them, but as pets that is all I want. About the ones that were out of outside bitches, I had not heard bad news from them. Nobody has total control of all the descendants of any dog or bitch. I understand the fact that not everybody reports bad things, but most pet owners would because they want to help and I always ask.

Talk about substandard medical and genetic knowledge! LMAO

Your comment doesn't make sense. Do you care to elaborate?

By your post, I assume that you have not have too many litters and that your experience is limited. If you breed enough, you will have to make decisions based on the information that is available to you at the moment. Nobody has a joint report on all joints on all the puppies that a Stud produces. We can only see what we breed, what is posted in the OFA website, and what other people share to us.
I think that what you don't understand is that elbows are not as predictable as hips or hocks.

from vetbook
"Fragmented coronoid process (loose processus coronoideus) is a common genetic disease of the coronoid process of the canine elbow resulting in elbow dysplasia, osteoarthritis and lameness .
This condition is usually associated with severe elbow incongruity and characterized by a distracted coronoid fragment abrading the adjacent humeral cartilage, causing arthritis and pain ."

↑ Phillipe Duponant
↑ Temwichitr J et al (2010) Fragmented coronoid process in the dog: a heritable disease. Vet J 185(2):123-129
↑ Samoy Y et al (2012) Arthroscopic Findings in 32 Joints Affected by Severe Elbow Incongruity with Concomitant Fragmented Medial Coronoid Process. Vet Surg Mar 5


I have not bred a dog with FCP but I can share with you that a dog who has a littermate diagnosed with FCP is more likely to produce puppies with FCP. That's why knowing about litter mates is so important.

This is very different from breeding a Grade 1 elbow. Many breeders will breed a grade 1 elbow if the OFA report does not also indicate the findings of FCP, OCD or UAP. Not saying this is right or wrong...