Hips and Elbows
Hip and Elbow dysplasia are 2 of the largest health concerns in the Australian Shepherd breed. A dog's structure is typically done growing at around 18 months of age.
OFA joint certification are conducted by a panel of 3 independent radiologists. A dog must be 2 years of age or older for a certification or younger than 2 years of age for a pre-certification.
OFA hip ratings are either excellent, good, fair, borderline, mild, moderate or severe. Only the first 3 ratings are not dysplastic and/or are acceptable for breeding.
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OFA elbow ratings are either normal, grade I dysplastic, grade 2 dysplastic or grade 3 dysplastic. Only normal ratings are considered acceptable for breeding.
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PennHIP hip certifications are conducted by a veterinarian. PennHip evaluates the laxity measurements of the hips and predicts their growth. PennHip certification may be done at 16 weeks or older.
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PennHIP hip ratings are given on a score scale of 0 to 1. Only dogs with a score of 0.30 or less are considered acceptable for breeding.
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Hartspride dogs are 1 or more of the following - OFA hip certified or pre-certified excellent, good, or fair, OFA elbow certified or pre-certified normal, PennHip certified and scored 0.30 or less, out of OFA or PennHip certified lines.
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For more information regarding hips and elbows please click the links below:
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https://www.ofa.org/diseases/hip-dysplasia
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https://www.ofa.org/diseases/elbow-dysplasia
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https://antechimagingservices.com/antechweb/measuring-hip-joint-laxity
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