21/02/2025
๐ฉป ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ - ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ง & ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ข ๐๐ง?
Hip scoring is an important process carried out by responsible breeders before breeding their dogs. It is used to assess the health of a dogโs hip joints and involves taking X-rays, which are then sent off for evaluation and scoring.
Each breed has an average hip score, calculated by adding up the total scores of all tested dogs and dividing it by the number of dogs assessed. However, in breeds with a small sample size, this average may not accurately reflect the overall hip health of the breed. In such cases, it can be useful to compare breed averages from other countries for a more comprehensive perspective.
๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐ (AVA system) - but we also want to see balanced numbers from left to right hips, if there is a big imbalance, this isnโt ideal.
๐ซข Some breeds do not test hips at all. Why not? Their breeders may suggest that they don't have hip issues. I might ask, how would they know if they do not test? It is a myth that you can look at a dog and tell whether it doesn't have healthy hips or not...unless you have x-ray eyes that is.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ (๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐):
Griffon Bruxellois: 30.58, 53 dogs tested
Irish Wolfhound: 1.85, 20 dogs tested
Poodle (Standard): 8.18, 216 dogs tested
Newfoundland: 15.09, 117 dogs tested
Samoyed: 10.92, 296 dogs tested
Labrador Retriever: 8.26, 2,730 dogs tested
Golden Retriever: 9.82, 2,263 dogs tested
Staffordshire Bull Terrier: 14.45, 22 dogs tested
American Staffordshire Terrier: 17.45, 96 dogs tested
Affenpinscher: 36, 2 dogs tested
Australasian Bosdog: 21.50, 2 dogs tested
Australian Cattle Dog: 13.21, 72 dogs tested
Australian Shepherd: 7.04, 928 dogs tested
Bernese Mountain Dog: 7.87, 642 dogs tested
British Bulldog: 34.20, 117 dogs tested
Bullmastiff: 14.84, 243 dogs tested
French Bulldog: 17.15, 466 dogs tested
Neapolitan Mastiff: 18, 34 dogs tested
Pug: 23, 37 dogs tested
Rottweiler: 8.60, 903 dogs tested
Great Dane: 6.49, 146 dogs tested
๐ช๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ & ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐?
๐ค ๐๐ง ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐?
There are 2 different systems to evaluate hips, one is called PennHIP and its testing provides an estimate of the risk for painful osteoarthritis of canine hip dysplasia later in life.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐๐๐ฃ is the newer method in Australia although has been conducted in America for much longer and is more common there.
This evaluation type can be done from 4 months of age, although not many people are happy to put a 4-month-old under to check hips if they don't suspect a problem though.
The other method is called the ๐๐ฉ๐ (Australian Veterinary Association) Hip Dysplasia Scheme โ This system follows a scoring method similar to the British BVA/KC (British Veterinary Association/Kennel Club) scheme. It evaluates specific anatomical features on standardised hip X-rays and assigns a numerical score based on the degree of hip dysplasia present. Lower scores indicate healthier hips and this is what you'll find on our Australian ORCHID system.
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ฆ
Some people score at 12 months of age, others at 18 months, and others at 24 months and they all have their own reasons, often not based on fact so we contacted the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) in America which has a database for mostly American dogs and are looked at as an authority on health testing.
The OFA allow breeders to list their dogs results on their database from 12 months of age, however those taken between 12-24 months are called preliminary results, the reason they do this is because breeders may want early knowledge of the hip status on puppies in a given litter.
The OFA state that "preliminary hip evaluations may be as valuable to the owner or breeder as the final OFA evaluation. This allows early selection of dogs for use as show/performance/breeding prospects and dogs best suited for pet homes. If the dog is found to be dysplastic at an early age, the economic loss from the cost of training, handling, showing and so forth can be minimised and the emotional loss reduced.
๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ซ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ & ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ
A previous OFA veterinary journal publication compared the reliability of the preliminary evaluation hip grade phenotype with the 2 year old evaluation in dogs and there was 100% reliability for a preliminary grade of excellent being normal at 2 years of age (excellent, good, or fair).
There was 97.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of "good" being normal at 2 years of age, and 76.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of "fair" being normal at 2 years of age.
Reliability of preliminary evaluations increased as age at the time of preliminary evaluation increased, regardless of whether dogs received a preliminary evaluation of normal hip conformation or HD.
๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ต.๐ฒ% ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ-๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐, ๐ต๐ฏ.๐ด% ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ-๐ญ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฑ.๐ฎ% ๐ฎ๐ ๐ญ๐ฏ-๐ญ๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐.
These results suggest that preliminary evaluations of hip joint status in dogs are generally reliable. ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ (๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐)." as their score may actually improve with age.๐
โ
๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ
๐ Do not hip-score bi***es 6 weeks before or after their season or pregnancy.
๐ Weekly underwater treadmill 6-8 weeks before scoring to improve subluxation results - study shows marked improvement. Book in at our Western Sydney clinic: https://www.balanced-canine.com/hydrotherapy. Depending on budget book in 1-2 times per week.
