Thanks in advance for your time in reading this - I am really at a quandry right now.

I had my 30 month old Lab in for her OFA xrays last week and I am afraid after thinking about it for a while that I should not have accepted the xrays.

The way that they positioned her was that her left leg was not parallel for the right leg and her femur was at a slight angle (pushed in at the knee) - thus showing slight joint laxity - and I am afraid that this is going to give me a false reading.

I was slightly gobsmacked at the time becuase the vet had called me and said that she has mild displasia and so was in a somewhat state of shock when the vet tech showed me the films.

Both of the legs should be completely parallel and the hips straight to ensure an accurate reading - right?

I was thinking of going back to the vets and asking to review the films again - this time with the vet? What would you do?

My husbands first reaction (please don't laught at this) was maybe the vet is very pro spay and neutur and so tried to give a bad reading!!!!

She is very fit and supple - never shows any hint of lameness - jumps willingly - comfy in the frog leg possition - etc etc - I just hate to have to start again with my breeding program if poor positioning?

I have spoken to my breed mentor - but would also like to toss this out here for thoughts.

Thanks.

A dog with midl D. may still be very active and do the same exercise a OFA dog does, it is not now that it's a concern just when your dog gets older.Now I would restrict certain exercise for her benefit later on but just because she looks fine to you does not mean her hips are perfect .We have a dog in our club that has been competing for a long time now and he has mild D.
I think your Xray might be correct, you can always retake them if you are not sure.Be hapyy they are not severe.
Good luck

Thanks - but my question was could bad positioning skew the results and giving me a bad result. I do understand that a young dog with HD many times does not show any outward symptoms.

If you think the vet might have positioned the dog wrong than I would take your dog to another vet and have them redone. Check to see who breeders in your area recommend for xrays.

I have made an appointment with the vets to back and review the x-rays again and talk to the vet.

I feel that this is poor positioning for an OFA xray - what do you guys think and would you accept them?

If the positioning of the dog isn't letter perfect, I don't accept them.
Hence I tend to use vet's that are *very* familar with the OFA procedure ( and willing to allow me to be in the room during the procedure...of course with Fetz, they're usually glad to have me there to control his little ol' evil self ).

It's worth paying more for the best, and vet's tend to be a prime example of that concept.

 Quote: Will Rambeau

If the positioning of the dog isn't letter perfect, I don't accept them.
Hence I tend to use vet's that are *very* familar with the OFA procedure ( and willing to allow me to be in the room during the procedure...of course with Fetz, they're usually glad to have me there to control his little ol' evil self ).

It's worth paying more for the best, and vet's tend to be a prime example of that concept.

Thanks - I have an appointment to go back and go over the xrays with the vet - so I will bring that up with her.

Do you agree that with one of the legs in at an angle that is not letter perfect then?

Tracy,
the easiest way I can explain this is:
An xray view should be "bilateral" if it's taken on the flat, ie, it should so both sides equally and *exactly* the same.

If the set-up is wrong, the end result will be wrong. And I've seen many lazy vets that wouldn't take the time or effort to go that extra mile and get a perfect film - I've heard "Oh, German Shepherds never get an OFA excellent, no need to over do it..... ( and that's an actual quote from a Vet, sadly. )

It's your dog and your money - the Vet works for you, don't let them forget that. If you have to, go to another vet that'll do the work at the quality that you want.

X ray positioning is CRUCIAL to a good x-ray. My vet who does my dogs x-rays is an expert on it. (people come from very far away to have him do the x-rays). A freind had her local vet do a hip x-ray on one of her dogs and it was sent away for certificastion . Came back with HD and did not pass. She showed me the x-ray and I too thought the hips did not look great. However, the positioning of the dog was not great either. I told her I would get my vet to do them correctly and see what happens. She did this and they passed certification!!!

Thanks guys - the way that the xray looked to me was that becuase the leg on the left hand side of the xray was angeld in towards the knee - and it appeared that the head of the femured was levered out and on the base of the socket thus creating an open pocket at the bottom of the socket. The other hip looked like it fit nice and tight becuase the leg was straight.

I will let you all know what the vet says to me.

Of course OFA could return the xrays becuase of poor positioning.

I want to be clear here - I am not trying to get bad hips passed - but I am trying to get a good and accurate reading. If she has bad hips then she has bad hips.

My inital reaction when teh tech showed me the films was ouch - that must have hurt when they pulled her leg into that position - but stupidly I did not ask to go over it with the vet right there and then.


Thanks all for helping me get my head around this and stopping me from losing it.