I recently found out that my 1 year old female lab has hip dysplasia. We haven't actually sent the x-rays into the OFA as the vet said they looked very bad, and wouldn't pass. Our local small town vet took the x-rays. He took only 1 as far as I know. We were very surprised that her hips would look so bad coming out of the line she did and the care we have given her and food she has had for this specific purpose. (She came out of CH Hedgelawn Sharp Dressed Man, WC and her parents are OFA Good and Excellent.)

After talking to the breeder that we bought her from, she encouraged me to look into this more before jumping and rehoming her right away. She told me to look into how the hips were placed for the x-rays, to get a second opinion, and possibly a second x-ray from someone who specializes in taking x-rays for the OFA or Pen Hip. I live in Eden Valley, MN and have no idea where to find someone like that. I would assume if there is a specialist in MN, they would probably be in Minneapolis/St. Paul area...? I don't know!! I would love to get some names and locations of people who specialize in this.

I am a responsible breeder, and will NOT breed this girl if she really does have hip dysplasia. However, she is a gorgeous English girl with an amazing pedigree and the sweetest personality, so if she doesn't, I want to keep her! Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Ruth

Don't know how close this is to you, but found them on the Penn-Hip site (http://research.vet.upenn.edu/pennhip/LocateaPennHIPVet/tabid/3539/Default.aspx)

GRANITE CITY PET HOSPITAL
DR. KRISTIN LINDQUIST
2935 SOUTH 2ND ST, ST. CLOUD MN 56301
Phone: 320-252-0277
fax: 320-252-5901
http://www.granitecitypet.com

Try Jim Winsor at Inver Grove Heights Animal Hospital.

http://ighvet.com/

I drive 3 hours one way to get to him.

Please watch this and learn from it :)
You sound like a beginner and you need a local mentor.
Best of luck to you, and BTW, 1 is too young to xray.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg-uyaka2Q0&feature=g-hist

Honestly, at this point in time, I would sit back and not worry, UNLESS your plan includes selling this dog to a pet home should she not be worth keeping despite the hips.

I keep my dogs so I don't prelim. Take the next year to find some one to work with and when the time is right, take the dog to a vet that specializes in OFA xrays (not the town vet).

And also take some time do some research and realize that even 2 Excellent parents have a chance to throw dysplastic pups. But my guess is that the vet probably had no clue how to position the hips. I wouldn't waste any more money until you can take finals.

I would not panic over what a small town local vet says. I would wait a while and take her to a good vet who does ofa x rays. Joint problems can come from a number of places other than sire and dam. Just pup being to heavy or to active when small. But can happen with any good or excellant parents. Just happens. Sorry you named, names. Not nessasary.

Thanks for the info everyone, all of this has been very helpful. I didn't mean in any way to blame this on her parents, I know that hip dysplasia is very rarely purely genetic, and often not genetic at all, I only threw her sires name out there to point out what a fantastic line she is from, and why I was surprised at the vet's diagnosis.

Any more info is so helpful, but for now I (and some other more experienced breeder friends) will take a closer look at the original x-rays examining for positioning errors... And then I would like to wait for a while to see if the hip rating get's better if I have any hope at all at that point. :) Possibly take the x-rays to a specialist, we'll see. Does anyone have any suggestions about anything I can do (supplements, exercise suggestions, etc.) to possibly improve her hip rating more?

Like I said, this is a gorgeous girl out a phenomenal line, and I will not give her up unless I see substantial reason to do so! Thanks again everyone for the info...

Ruth

Excellent site to read......

http://leerburg.com/hipart.htm

Thank you, I have read that article and it helped a lot...I knew that positioning was important, but never dreamed it could make such a dramatic difference until recently when I read that article.

Curious why you thought it was okay to name the sire, but not the dam? It takes two dogs to produce a pup. Why just name the sire and not the dam?