I just had my male german shepherds hips x-rayed the vet was so happy and sure he would pass OFA that we sent them in and they came back MILD.....what should I do, give up or try again? he is 30 months old..........I was as shocked as my vet was........

Positioning in x-rays is SO important! It is hard to say what to do without seeing how the postioning was in the x-ray you sent in.

I know someone whose dog failed certification. X-rays were redone by a vet who is VERY good and they were then sent in again. They passed the second time.

The experience of the vet is a big consideration when doing xrays on dogs. My personal experience is I use one vet for vaccines, fecals, etc and another vet just for health clearences. When it comes to hips/elbows, its worth the extra money to have an experienced vet take them. I learned this the hard way in taking my dog to our regular vet for xrays. The Vet does 1-2 per year (didn't know this at the time) ... looked at the xrays, said "yes they pass" and the dog came back with a DJD elbow. I knew the prelims were good so I went to a more experienced vet who does 3-5 xrays a day .... I made a point to have the vet go over the xray with me (so he would really take an extra look) ... and they passed.

If you are in a training group, get a concensus as to where they go for hips/elbows. I'm guessing 1-2 vet names will come up specifically. I drove all the way to Newport Beach to have my most recent dog xrayed. It was worth the money to know she does most of the show dogs and everyone I talked to raved about her accuracy.

Also, if you call OFA you can find out what the opinions of the 3 vets were. If all three were in agreeance, it might not be worth the money to re-evaluate. If you do re-evaluate, you will get a set of 3 new vets so with better positioning, it might make a difference.

Hope this helps.