Elbows

[rotts 1]

This might have been discussed before. Does anyone know how you can check on the elbows of a particular dog? I saw a posting on a website, not breeding stud any longer due to bad elbows.
Is this a problem with rotties? I guess I'm lucky my almost ten year old has had no major problems.(Knock on wood). Thank you in advance.

[TrishB]

Go to "The Orthapedic Foundation for Animals":

http://www.offa.org

This foundation takes in Xrays from veterinarians and evaluates hips, elbows, etc. of affected breeds to assess the soundness of their joints. Any displaysia is flagged and registered in the system. I personally don't trust any other certification other than the OFA as they are THE source.

Go into the search function:

http://www.offa.org/ofasrch.html

and enter the required information on the dog you're inquiring about. If his records are not found, than he hasn't been tested and you should recommend to the owners that they do BEFORE breeding him. If he isn't certified as having clear elbows, I wouldn't breed to him in a million years. Same for hips and eyes.

[RoseArbour]

TrishB - Just for curiosity's sake, if you were strongly interested in breeding to a particular dog and he had not had elbows certified, would you offer to pay for the radiographs? Or would the dog have been ignored from the beginning due to lack of OFA#?

[TrishB]

Originally posted by RoseArbour
TrishB - Just for curiosity's sake, if you were strongly interested in breeding to a particular dog and he had not had elbows certified, would you offer to pay for the radiographs? Or would the dog have been ignored from the beginning due to lack of OFA#?

Hmm, good question! It would depend! ;) What would it depend on?

1) How important is it to me that I breed to THIS male over 100's of other males available?

2) What other certifications does he have? Is he only missing this single solitary one?

3) Why is the owner of the male not willing to do it?

I'll tell you why I want to know 1, 2 and 3. The male of my potential puppy (due this fall) is fabulous. I love him! He has:

BISS, Award of Merit, Am/Can Ch, Am/Can CDX, CGC, TT, OFA Good. He almost has his UD. Besides all that, he's clear heart, eyes and elbows. :D

If he had all of this and was only missing his elbows - I might consider paying for the Xrays if there was a good reason as to why his owners couldn't afford to do it themselves. Luckily they have and I don't have to worry about it. ;)

My concerns would be raised if they were just simply 'unwilling' to do so. Most stud owners are only too happy to prove how wonderful their dogs are - a certification is just another way of doing so. If they don't want to, there are MANY others that would only be too happy to provide you with the required certification on their males.

Simply, there are SO many GREAT males out there that have EVERYTHING done and certified - I'd be hard pressed to see why I should accept anything less.

Of course, everyone has their own comfort levels. ;)

[RoseArbour]

What I read with most interest on the OFA website are the entries in RED. They are the ones where the owner chose to have ALL results listed, whether passing or failing, in the database.
I have 3 puppies out of a litter of 3 going in for rads in the next two weeks and their results will be listed in red. Until breeders and dog owners start telling the truth about certification results and that of their siblings we won't really know anything. Elbows and other certifications are important, but honesty from the person you are dealing with is even more so IMO.

[TrishB]

Originally posted by RoseArbour
Elbows and other certifications are important, but honesty from the person you are dealing with is even more so IMO.

I couldn't agree with you more. :D But I also wouldn't take honesty over certification. ;)

It comes down to you having your own criteria fulfilled when selecting a stud dog. Mine are:

- All health certificates (eyes, heart, elbows and hips)
- Championship to ensure solid conformation
- Temperament Titles to ensure solid temperament
- Working Titles to ensure intelligence
- To like him, as a dog ;)

I've seen some perfectly beautiful dogs with personalities of a thumb tack. :p I guess I'm suggesting that you be sure that you are getting to total package. ;)

I'd also suggest that you be happy and comfortable with the people you are dealing with. I tend to trust my first impressions of people, very rarely am I ever proven wrong from my gut. If you're not comfortable - keep looking. :)

[Nancy Estes]

There are stud dogs currently being used that have had elbows x-rayed and that failed and results are NOT posted on the OFA site. I'm talking about Grade 3 elbows too...

Nancy