05/21/2025
🚨AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION - A MUST READ IN FULL! 🚨
I haven’t posted in a considerable time, but I think this is an important discussion. I have shouted from mountain tops for years that I prefer PennHip to OFA testing. There are a multitude of reasons as to why I prefer PennHip to OFA, these include:
1. OFA requires only one standard image to evaluate a hip. In comparison PennHip requires several angles (images) for hip evaluation providing the evaluating practitioner more detailed information about the hip in order to evaluate.
2. OFA will only provide you with a score of Excellent, Good, Fair, Fail or Dysplastic. To me one word responses for any evaluation is not a sufficient evaluation. As an individual with a science background (B.Sc. - BioMed) I prefer to know detailed information about the confirmation of the hip joint, providing specific reasoning as to where, and why there may be issues in the hip joint, which PennHip provides. This allows for greater insight, to learn and make the most informed decisions. Remember, knowledge is power.
3. Any licensed veterinarian can take hip images to send off to OFA. And as we all know, positioning is incredibly important, and there are many veterinarians that are not great at taking images, which can affect the OFA result. In contrast, veterinarians who take images for the PennHip evaluation are required to be trained and certified. 
4. As many of you know or have seen over the years OFA can be incredibly inconsistent. One day an image can come back with an evaluation of Fair, and you can send an image of the same dog back three weeks later and get an evaluation of Excellent. Even with similar positioning. This indicates that OFA is not a reliable or consistent system of evaluation. I know more people that I can count who have gotten vastly different results on the same dog. Which raises the question is OFA really reliable, or the best modality for proper hip testing?
5. The OFA is just an arbitrary evaluation system, they simply just look at an image and quickly provide a ONE WORD response. In comparison, PennHip uses actual measurements and data to provide owners with a detailed report. Simply looking at an x-ray is an OPINION. Measurements and data are SCIENTIFIC. Furthermore, a PennHip result provides an entire page of information with respect to the evaluation, to validate the reasoning for the specific score. 
In my quest to find the best testing systems for joint evaluation, I have recently the also tried the BVA (British Veterinary Association) and VetScoring (Australian System). Both of the aforementioned testing organizations provide evaluation of BOTH hips (left and right) and provide nine points on the hip joint that they evaluate. Again, in my opinion these are far superior testing agencies. Providing an evaluation of each hip joint, and nine specific points on each joint provides you far greater information than just basic one word response.
For years, I’ve seen breeders brag about their OFA results. But again I want to stress this is an arbitrary and rudimentary result with no real reasoning or science behind it. As a responsible and ethical breeder, I want the most detailed, scientific, reliable (and consistent) evaluation to make the best decision decisions for my breeding program.
In conclusion, I do not feel that the OFA is the “gold standard” in terms of hip testing. There are far superior evaluation systems out there. And I emplore any breeder to challenge your thinking, and consider a more scientific and detailed method of testing. OFA is subpar and antiquated.
