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Frequently, breeders want early
knowledge of the hip status on puppies in a given
litter. 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.
The OFA accepts preliminary consultation
radiographs on puppies as young as 4 months of age
for evaluation of hip conformation. 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 minimized and the emotional loss
reduced. These preliminary radiographs are read by
the OFA veterinary radiologists and are not sent to
outside radiologists. The same hip grades are given
to preliminary cases.
A recent 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. For normal hip
conformations, the reliability was 89.6% at 3-6
months, 93.8% at 7-12 months, and 95.2% at 13-18
months. These results suggest that preliminary
evaluations of hip joint status in dogs are
generally reliable. However, dogs that receive a
preliminary evaluation of fair or mild hip joint
conformation should be reevaluated at an older age
(24 months).
In an effort to encourage open sharing of health
test results, on January 1, 2004 the OFA began
posting preliminary Hip and Elbow results for dogs
tested after that date on its website IF
the owner initialed the authorization block to
release all results (including abnormal results).
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