Hip Scores - help please

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zoeshiloh

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I have a small understanding of hip scores (lower the better and anything over 20 combined score = bad??) but this is only what has been explained to me by a few breeders etc. I am not into showing - OH's dogs are working dogs, but don't compete, and I just have two rescue dogs which are pets. Anyway, OH wants to get a new gundog and do some field trials - I have managed to track down the line he has always admired (descendant of Sandringham Sydney) and there is a litter due in a few weeks... The only thing is my brother (who breeds rotties) says that the hip scores of the parents are a bit high - the bitch is 3-3 and the dog is 4-4. Is this considered too high to produce a good working dog? Any help gratefully appreciated! BTW these are labs we are talking about.
 
The breed average for labs 15, so at 6 and 8 both parents are well below that. Those scores certainly wouldn't put me off buying a pup from them.
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Ditto what others have said. My young GSD scored 4:3 and I was delighted. Certainly would have no problems with buying from parents with the scores you mention.
 
As far as I know, I reciently bought a puppy, so looked intohip scores.
0-0 is perfect, but they can go over 100!
And even scores are good. So 3-3 is good, but 1-9 not good, 2 or 3, between in ok, but no more than that, or one hip will obviously wear faster than the other

But as far as good enough for breeding, I was told as long as both scores are in single figures, both dog and bitch are good enough for breeding

So your 3-3 = 6, and your 4-4 = 8, so both are within good range.
 
Mainly copied from a reply I wrote to Vizslak the other day :

We use letters and not numbers over here, as far as I've been able to understand it :
0 - 10 in UK = A in Sweden.
11 - 25 in UK = B in Sweden.
26 - 35 in UK = C in Sweden.
36 - 50 in UK = D in Sweden.
51 - 106 in UK = E in Sweden.

So in Sweden both 3:3 = 6 and 4:4 = 8 would equal an A score.

If a breed has HD score requirements (not all do) then SKK says that you can mate your bitch with A scored hips, to a dog with A, B or C scored hips.
If your bitch has B scored hips, you can mate her to a dog with A or B scored hips.
If your bitch has C scored hips, you can only mate her to a dog with A scored hips.
Only if your dog/bitch gets D or E scored hips are you not allowed to breed it.


Though that we're allowed breed dogs/bitches that I think could have up to a score of 35 to a bitch/dog with a max score of 10, we are considered to have a very successful anti-HD programme where the number of dogs with bad hips are decreasing.

To keep it simple due to polygene inheritance (= more than one gene is involved) and also being affected to environmental factors it is as follows.
Dog parents with good HD results are more likely to get puppies that also gets good HD results but they can also get puppies with bad results.
Dog parents with bad HD results are more likely to get puppies with bad HD results but they can also get puppies with good HD results.



I'm not saying that I think your brother is wrong, it is not bad to aim for only breeding dogs with 0:0 results but as long as the score is within what is allowed, I think other things like temperament and mentality and disposition matters more than 0:0 HD score.





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Did I made it clear that good tempered breeding animals is important to me? Another important thing is that you like the breeder, such master such dog sort of thing.


Conclusion, I recommend that you go and visit the breeder.

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I was always told that a combined score of 16 or below is fine but be wary of anything higher. Sounds a really good hip score to me. will the breeder be removing the dew claws? We had a lab, years ago that hadnt had hers removed and it got caught on something and it made a right old mess. We ended up having her hip scored so we could breed off her (scored combined 6 BTW) so while she was under the GA we had the dew claws surgically removed.
 
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