BAD HIP EXPERIENCES

[M&Tdoodles]

HI To all the experienced Labradoodle Breeders on this fantastic forum.
We were wondering on the stats of people who breed , and have had puppies with diagnosed hip problems surfacing a year or 2 or 3 down the line even if your bREEDING STOCK 'S PenHip results were very high.
I HEAR THAT THIS CAN HAPPEN BUT WAS WONDERING HOW OFTEN.
We would appreciate your honesty. Email us privately if you prefer.

[gracielou]

I have not yet had any problems with this or heard of it from any other breeders that I know and speak to regular.

[Maureen]

I know of 2 breeders who have breeding stock, coming from OFA GOOD/EXCELLENT hips and their future-breeding puppies had terrible, or even dysplastic hips - and the bad hips have typically come to view, or diagnosis in the 1st year.

One of these breeders is a good friend of mine, and she is VERY protective of the breeder she purchased from, because of the honorable way in which the originating breeder has behaved in the situation. That breeder has set up a TRUST FUND for the THREE puppies from that litter that have all had a diagnosis to date.

I love to talk with, and learn from old-time breeders. Some will tell you that it doesn't matter WHAT you do to try to prevent dysplasia. He's probably right, in light of the example above. But it still helps breeders to pre-test their dogs before breeding, don't you agree? Forwarned is For-armed, right?

I don't know if anyone can give you a percentage or quantitative report of frequency.

[hallm]

test post

[lieverdmom]

I spoke at length yesterday with someone who has been breeding dogs for Decades, and the explanation I got on this very subject is that the gene for hip dysplasia is recessive, and can pop up out of nowhere, even from dogs whose ancestors show several generations of excellent hip scores. Hence the necessity of testing hips on every generation of breeding stock. If the hips are bad, obviously the animal in question is culled from breeding, but the good score is no guarantee of future generations also having good hips.

It is infinitely more difficult (impossible?) to cull a recessive trait than it is to eliminate a dominant one, since the dominant trait can be culled from a breeding program the moment it appears.

Speaking of hip testing, does anyone know how the BVA hip scoring system works, as compared to the other two commonly in use in the US?

[gracielou]

This is a good reason why we should not In-Breed our stocks or Line-Breed to closely especially for the breeders like me who don't know enough about Line-Breeding to make it safe. If there is such a thing as safe!!