Hip Dysplasia
Hip dysplasia can be identified by using the hip scoring scheme. This scheme was set up by a joint effort from the British Veterinary Association and The Kennel Club. Generally all reputable breeders will submit their dogs to this as hip dysplasia is such a common issues for most different types of dogs. The scoring process is generally only done when the dog is over 1 year old. What occurs is that the vet takes x-rays of the dog's hips. These photos are then sent of to be analyzed. Then generally a two person panel will look at the x-rays and give a rating for each hip. Various different areas of the hip are measured. The higher the score on the test the worse the hip dysplasia. In this particular test the worst score possible is 106 (53 for each hip). For a perfect hip then 0 can be given. Different breeds will have different amounts of hip dysplasia, for example the Golden retriever has an average of about 20. It should be noted then that generally breeder should only breed dogs which do not show too much dysplasia, as this condition can be inherited.
It should be noted also that this test does not guarantee that the puppies will not get any hip dysplasia. This is because other factors also contribute to hip dysplasia including, housing exercise routine (particularly large dogs can suffer more hip dysplasia if they are exercised too much) and feeding. It has been estimated that inherited traits only account for 22% of the hip dysplasia.
