I posted today in the pup forum some basic beginner questions but thought this would be better directed to the general forum.
My new GSD is 5 mths and we are just getting started, but because the pup was a gift for my sons from uncle who is a vet, who bought him from a breeder who's dogs he occassionally treats, I was wondering about a few health concerns.
1. I know nothing about the hips or the overall important health questions of the Sire and Dame of my pup. What should I do?
2. If I find the answers to the above questions, when and how do I go about determining the hips and important health concerns of my dog? He is 5 mths now. At what age could I begin to have these things determined? Obviously my uncle has given him the basic health approval, but I know he is not well acquainted with the selling breeder or the parents, and is basically trusting that the dog is healty. I'm sure he will do any kind of check or test I request but I would have no idea where to start. Currently, all I have is the dog's registrations paperwork and three generation lineage chart.
Where should I start?

Thanks again for the help.
Any input and information about these areas would be appreciated.

Greg,
Now your Uncle should know all this if he treats dogs from this breeder.
Are they OFA, if they are, well you have a better chance that your pup will have good hips if not , wait till he is 2 and have his hips Xrayed.And if your pup has problems before hand with his hips ,a preliminary X ray will tell you what kind of hips your pup has or if there is a problem.I wouldn't worry until your pup gets older and if he moves pretty good now , just wait till he is a bit older to do Xray.I don't look at my dogs hips until they are at least 2 YRS old.You can OFA only until then anyways.Both my female and my male are OFA and my young male is too young to get his numbers but I will X-ray next December and hopefully get his OFA.Was that your only concern?
Hope that helps

I have never owned a purebred whose parents were known, but seems to me you could contact the breeder and ask about the parents OFA (hip) certification, if the elbows were tested clear and if any eye tests were done. THose are the 3 tests I know of that are usually done to certify dogs for breeding, but at least the hips should be done.

If the parents have good scores on hips, elbows and eyes, you are probably going to have a healthy puppy too.

You could also ask if it is a repeat breeding and if so, ask about the health of the previous litter(s).

Reputable breeders should be happy to answer all your questions.

Thanks for the information. The other concern that I did not mention is that uncle says we need to keep a close watch on his eyes. He said that they are a little runny and has given me rx ointment to see if that solves, if not, wants to check tear duct. I'm assuming from a response that if he has bad ducts that makes him not good for studding? Not that I would be going that route, but I would definitely like to know the consequences of this if it proves to be a problem. BTW, eyes do seem to be doing much better since applying ointment last two days. As far as uncle knowing breeder, I know that he has very little knowleged of this person aside from giving his dogs some shots.
Anyway, thanks agian, I am learning a great deal from the wealth of knowledge here on this sight.