Health Clearances

Always was a nice guy YD, just not always accepting of certain positions without background or rationale. Thanks for the reference and information about the SEPP evaluation. I did take a quick look at their work and developments. I found the 'toes' out concept interesting and tried to put that kind of thinking into a comparison of confirmation for working retrievers/pointers etc. I would tend to think this was specific to their dogs and use. You would have more experience here. How does their work compare to modern day.

I really do believe dog folks should stick together, if I didn't I certainly would not serve in the capacities I have in the dog world...it's not like we get paid for our efforts.

Hmmmm
I think that as long as it follows the forum rules , folks should be able to give dog advice / answer questions here as they see fit.
Some advice given will be wrong. As long as the advice isn't going to harm a dog ( like vet advice from a non vet), they should be able to say what they believe.
I try not to confront wrong advice, but simply post what I believe to be good advice. Sometimes I'm wrong .
It's the reader's job to decide what advice is helpful to them ..... a person seeking advice should always beware on any forum.

Sorry was away hunting with my dogs, where we shoot the birds, and rabbits they have pointed and then oddly enough they retrieve them. A novel concept I know.
You can dominate without being healthy, dysplaxia shows up later in life when the animals are not in top physical condition, when muscles weaken and are not enough to hold joints together. I have hunted over several dogs with hips that were diagnosed as poor or dysplastic and you would never know it as a younger dog. 3 of them were VC's so you don't have to be healthy to dominate.

English Springer Spaniels typically are checked for: hip dysplasia, retinal dysplasia, brucellosis, and PFK (which is very rare now). Overall years of testing and selective breeding by responsible breeders in the field trial community have greatly reduced the incidence of these conditions in field bred ESS's. As was mentioned earlier when you buy a pup from a reputable breeder, with all breeding stock properly health checked and with champion lineage, you are really getting what you pay for.

Some interesting comments here about OFA vs Pennhip

OFA: No better than a marketing tool for breeders?

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At that thread I asked for input on questions to interview prospective veterinarians before I purchase a puppy. I also said I was in the process of putting together a “list of negative things” regarding breeders. For instance, if they haven’t undertaken OFA for hips and elbows for their sire and dam, then I would outright automatically reject that breeder.

Both vets I interviewed yesterday told me that PennHIP was far superior to OFA certification, and, frankly, should be the only one rising to the level to reject outright prospective breeders. One of them said OFA has grown into a money-hungry non-profit that builds certification upon certification that only serves to distinguish breeders in the eyes of buyers in an artificial way. I searched the Internet and found similar commentary, especially when comparing PennHIP to OFA.

Here, perhaps the forum's focus will be to attack the credibility of the vets', whom, by the way I liked, and everything about their clinics. Instead, I would like to hear arguments for or against about what one of the vets said, "If all you have to go on for hips and elbows is OFA, then you really haven't got much." Also, the other said, "OFA and all of its certifications are no-better than a marketing tool for breeders."

I could sure use your guidance. I'd also really like to hear from anyone out there in forum-land who has his or her dogs certified under PennHIP.http://rottweiler.net/forums/images/...s/confused.gif

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I could counter that these vets are certified by Pennhip (they have to have training and be certified by Pennhip to do Pennhip while OFA does not require special training (money given to OFA)) So they might be pushing Pennhip as they can have a higher profit margin. Pennhip requires sedatation where OFA does not require it.

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http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/bre...-breeders.html

We do both OFA and PennHIP. They are testing different things, OFA is a subjective evaluation of the morphology of the ball and socket and how well the hip is seated. PennHIP measures laxity in the joint, so as the legs are manipulated how much does the ball travel out of the socket of the joint. Neither predicts with absolute certainty whether an individual will develop hip dysplasia or not, they only show risk factors and probabilities for developing the disease later.