I am looking into PennHip checking my 6mo old chessie pup and was wondering if many are using this method for checking hips out there?
It is a large expense and was wondering what people's opinions have been? (I have found a certified/registered vet in my area that will do the rads for me)
Any advise is great. Wendy in WI

Hi there Wendy, Just my 2 cents... I was told to go through OFA vs Penn. and to get hips done when they are 24 months.

Wendy,
I agree wiht CBRock, if you want to see how the hips are coming along I would do a prelim x-ray and send that to OFA to get their opinion. Doesn't mean that is how the hips are going to turn out at 24 months of age. The rating may change so in some adspects it is a waste of money unless the dog is showing outward signs of hip dysplasia and you want to return the dog to the breeder and need documantion(sp). If dog is showing no problems then I would save your money and wait for 24 months and summit the x-rays to OFA. I'll see if I can dig up the info I have discussing both procedures and e-mail it to you. We only do OFA x-rays at our clinic.

I read up on Penn Hip about 4 years ago when we had a dog with Pano and my vet suggested Penn Hip. I didn't do it with that dog because the dog's joints were already sore and Penn Hip has a lot of manipulation.
I remember that AKC doesn't recognize Penn Hip on their pedigrees, etc. (have no idea why) The number of Chessies in tne Penn Hip pool was something like 300+ (not a lot of dogs to use in a statistical averaging).
A friend recently had x-rays taken and sent off to Penn Hip and OFA and basically got the same judgement from both organizations.
We generally just have the vet take an x-ray at 6-7-8 mos. whatever to see if hips are developing normally and then do the OFA at 24 mos.

I use the PennHip evaluation method on my Chessies. I prefer it to the OFA especially for the ability to rate the hips at a young age. I want to have a good idea of what the hip looks like and how it will function later in life. I like to know if the hips are loose, the distraction index gives a good indication of the laxiety of the hip. The PennHip readings are based on actual findings in the xrays via measuring and not a Dr's opinion on the Xray. That all dogs xrayed in this manner go into the database is a plus. It would be great if more CBR owners would use this method, but they don't.
After my dogs are 2 yrs I have OFA ratings of hips and elbows done.

quote:

The PennHip readings are based on actual findings in the xrays via measuring and not a Dr's opinion on the Xray. That all dogs xrayed in this manner go into the database is a plus. It would be great if more CBR owners would use this method, but they don't.
After my dogs are 2 yrs I have OFA ratings of hips and elbows done.

My vet does both and says that he prefers doing the x-rays for OFA as he gets the same results with a lot less stress to the dog. Guess it's each to his own!

Kathy Miller

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I just wasn't sure how people were doing there hip evaluation these days, if only OFA or both Pennhip and OFA. So I guess since AKC doesn't reconize Pennhip it would be a personal decision. I will also shoot an email to my breeder for her opinion also but I will most likely do the Pennhip check. Thank you again. Wendy

Wendy,
Here is the link I was looking for.

http://www.amrottclub.org/health_pennhip.shtml

Very interesting article. Still seems like it would be helpful to do both, but most breeders only do OFA. I will probably do both but maybe wait awhile. Thank you JoAnn

I have never done PennHip, as they require full anesthesia to be used, and I prefer to not put my dogs under for x-rays.

I usually do OFA preliminary evaluations on my dogs. I used to do this at 12-14 months, but am starting to do it a bit younger now, I just did one at 9 months last week. I want to see how things are looking before I start putting a lot of time and money into serious training & showing. OFA will do prelim evaluations as young as 4 months.

My vet does digital radiographs, which I love!!!! She emails me copies for my own records. I have had 8 dogs x-rayed there in the last 18 months, so I am starting to build up a nice collection of Toller hips to compare againts each other! I am a bit of a "data junkie", no such things as too much info!

A few of the dogs I have done prelims on will be getting final evaluations done next year (I am dual-submitting to OFA & OVC, which is the Canadian "equivalent" to OFA), and it will be interesting to see if there is any visual changes on the xrays.

I have switched from OFA to Pennhip exclusively. Why? I think it is a more accurate reflection of what is going on with a dog's hips and it's based on measurements rather than a subjective opinion. Pennhip uses 3 x-rays when looking at a dog's hips as opposed to OFA using one. A vet has to be certified to do a Pennhip evaluation. Any vet can submit an x-ray to OFA. There is also the advantage of getting hips evaluated and certified at a younger age. Pennhip is a little more expensive. The last one I had done was $230, but I think the additional expense is worth it. My 2 cents worth.