PennHip vs. OFA

[DaisysDad]

Please forgive me if this subject has been discussed prior. I went back 15 pages and did not see it, so here goes.

Do any of you have opinions on PennHip versus OFA clearances for hips?

If my understanding is correct, PennHip can be done anytime after 16 weeks, where as OFA requires the dog to be 2 years. Is this true.

I guess the bottom line to my question is: Which test is best and why.
DaisysDad.

[Swampcollie]

OHH Man, I'm staying out of this one!:eek

[GoldenLover]

LMAO.........Swampcollie.......bahahahahah!!!!!!!! !!!!!:rollin

[CanadianGolden423]

Hi,

I personally prefer OFA, and here's why. OFA rates your dog's hips. They tell you whether they are good, excellent, fair, and, if dysplastic, how bad it is. PennHip tells you how good your dog's hips are compared to others of their breed. Ex. your dog's hips are better than 60% of Golden Retrievers. That tells you very little. What if 60% are dysplastic? Just because you have a percentile doesn't mean you know anything about your dog's hips, you only know their soundness on a relative scale. OFA preliminaries should be done at 9 months and sent to OFA, where they will evaluate them (elbows too!). A large percentage (I can't remember what it is exactly)rgeries, such as THR, can only be done if the dog is under one year old, because the growth plates haven't closed yet.

Samra

[TsuwaGoldens]

Its allll just a matter of prefference. Some people paint their house, others like vinyl, then there are those who will only have brick and other cedar logs...who's house is better? well YOUR house of course.. ;)

Do what *you* are more comforatable with...

[DaisysDad]

Thanks for the info.
Looks like I need to do a little more research.
Randy.

[Herbette]

Do you really know how PennHIP is done? Find out!

[GoldenGirl]

HA HA HA Swampcollie! Good choice.....so am I!!! :rollin

[lotagoldens]

Hello Daisysdad!
I use both the Penn-hip and OFA for screening my dogs, but I am a "Breeder". Ok, I produce one well thought out litter a year. Penn Hip was developed because Breeders were getting frustrated with the inablility to eliminate hip dysplasia from their lines, even though they were breeding only OFA normal dogs. Penn Hip is a different method for screening hips. It measures the Hip joint laxity between the femoral head and the acetabulum (hip socket), this measurement provides a number called a Distraction Index (DI). It is hoped that breeding only tight-hipped dogs to each other will reduce the hip laxity (looseness) in the breed, thereby decreasing the incidence of hip dysplasia. This number is an exact measurement and can be done in animals as young as four months of age. I have used the distration index numbers to help make breeding desions. My CH. Ruby is OFA good and has Penn hip numbers (DI 0.31/0.35)in the 90th percentile (her hips were "tighter" than 90% of all Goldens evaluated) which are tighter than the three OFA excellent dogs I know. For her final litter I bred her to a dog with OFA fair hips. If I did not have the Penn-hip information showing she was a truely GOOD,OFA good I would not have felt comfortable breeding to this wonderful dog. I also have a champion boy that is rated OFA good. I was suprised when I got his penn hip numbers back as they are DI 0.65/0.50! This means 70% of Golden Retrievers evalutated have tighter hips than him!!!! Both of these champions are rated OFA GOOD! I will not allow my boy to be used on OFA fair rated girls or girls with loose hips because although he is OFA good,he does NOT have tight hips. I will continue to do both methods of hip evaluation until Penn-hip has been around longer and more data is compiled. Eventually I believe it will be a combination of these two methods that will be accepted. In the mean time ask your Vet. what method she/he recomends. (Many Veterinarians are not approved to do Penn-hip as they have to be specially trained). I will tell you the Penn-hip method IS expensive (they shoot three different X-ray films) and my dogs really are out of it for a day or so because of the heavy sedation.
There is alot of info. on the internet about Penn-hip: WWW.Vet.UPenn.edu/researchcenters/pennhip/ may be helpful!
Lotagoldens

[DaisysDad]

EVERYONE>>>>THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO!!!!

I have been doing my research aside from this post. I have hit both the OFA site and PennHip site. And as it turns out there is a PennHip vet in the town that I am currently visiting. I have just come back from her office. We had a great visit on what the whole procedure is and does and how she thinks it compares to OFA.

Thank you lotagoldens, I was really hoping that a breeder would pop up that has used BOTH methods. The comparisons were invaluable and will help in my decision on which procedure to use.

Anyone else that has used both????

[heather r]

In a few months we need to have Kelsi's hips xrayed per our breeders contract(she is trying to keep track of her breeding program). I was wondering if there is any difference between the Penn Hip evaluation vs. the other type? Also as to cost?

Heather R :reddogx

[CanadianGolden]

I prefer OFA and feel that it is more accurate. OFA has more dogs observed and so can make a more educated evaluation. PennHip only evaluates the dog compared to its breed, so your dog may have good hips for a GSD, but if all GSDs have bad hips, it is misleading to get a good score from PennHip.

[heather r]

CanadianGolden; thanks for info. I've also heard that the Penn hip database is a lot smaller than OFA.

Thanks Johnwa for fing this info in back threads.

Heather R :reddogx