Hi, I finally found people to do protection training with so now that I'm going to really get into the training, I was wondering if I could do dysplasia x-rays on my 7mo old pup. I was thinking on doing it when she is 8 or 9 mo.

Is this a correct time to do the x-rays? At what age are they usaully done?

How do I mail them to the OFA? What is PinnHP (sp?) and OFA diference?

Start here with Ed's stuff. There is a lot of good information.

Hip, Elbow, or both? Do you want to check the hips/elbows to ensure that you are not putting undo stress on bad joints or do you want to certify the hips/elbows?

OFA - You can pre-lim hips and elbows at 9 months of age but OFA will not certify hips or elbows on xrays taken before the dog hits 24 months.

Pennhip - Does not "certify" hips like OFA does. OFA has a "board" of 3 radiologists who look at the xrays and make a determination as to what designation they are (Good, Fair, Borderline, Moderate etc). Pennhip uses measuresments from the xrays to give you a distraction level and than compares that distraction level to all the other dogs of your breed previously tested.

Pennhip can be done as early as 4 months but they recommend that if you are only going to do it once, do it closer to 1 year of age. Pennhip does not do elbows.

Both venues have their fans and their critics. Personally I see pluses and minuses in both systems. I Pennhip my guys around 9 months old and than I OFA the elbows and hips at 2. Overkill for most but it works for me ;-)

How much am I looking at spending her for some x-rays?

It's not cheap. Hundreds depending on what all you get done. Make sure it is done correctly, as Ed points out. Ask them who reads the results and where you can get a second opinion. In my vet's case they are reviewed by radiologists at the U of MN vet school and the radiologist's findings were drastically different (clinically silent pano) from the primary vets' (mild to moderate HD).

And I got mine done at eight months and will do so again around 1.5 years. I am not an expert here but my guess is that anyone here will tell you that it would be a big mistake to start intensive training and exercise of any kind before you have your animal's hips checked out. Their hip quality will drastically impact what training would be safe and/or sustainable for them.

 Quote:

How much am I looking at spending her for some x-rays?

Depends on your vet, location, and other variances. I just got my puppy Pennhip'd about a month ago and it cost me 200.00. OFA tends to be cheaper in my area but I am sure that is not always the case.