Just looking to buy a puppy. The father's hip score is 4/5. I believe the breed average is 9(?). Mum is 0/2. Eyes and elbows good for both. Is 4/5 ok, or best avoided? The pup will have an active life. Thank you
Hello and welcome ! That is a very good hip score indeed ! I would be more than happy with it , bearing in mind that they go up to 50 for each hip ( I think ! ) so yes , its good !
Thank you Kate. I know this is a low figure, but not sure what the breed average is for this year (total of 9, or is it 16 for both hips??)
Rather than looking at an individual dog's hip score have a look at the estimated breeding value of a dog. It is far more accurate. https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/ebv/Default.aspx
Sorry, I'm not sure what that is. The puppies look like they come from very good breeders. They have taken a lot of care over the breeding of all their litters. Please could you explain what an estimated breeding value of a dog is. Many thanks
It takes into account not just the parents' hip scores, but all scores that have been registered in related dogs - any progeny, siblings and previous generations. Because the heritability of dysplasia is more complicated than "the parents have good hip scores so the puppy will have good hips", it gives a more complete picture of the likelihood of your puppy being dysplastic. With some big provisos, such as, it only takes into account the scores that have been registered into the system; it doesn't take into account any dysplasia that has been caused through trauma rather than genetics; if a problem manifests earlier than a year of age, the owner probably won't have the puppy's hips scored. The scoring is usually done at a year old and often only if the dog is likely to be bred from in the future. Most pet owners will not have their puppies tested, so there is a lot of data that won't be available, whether they are dysplastic or not. That said, you should absolutely look up the EBV for the litter by entering the parents' kennel names into the Mate Select tool that Heidrun has given you because, if there are potential issues, it will show them up. It's easy enough to use; you want the numbers to be happily in the green.
Thank you very much for that. it is really helpful, and I shall do my research. I have seen EBV banded about, but never understood it. Many thanks
Here's a bit more information I dug up: https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/355885/estimated_breeding_values_-_bhc_symposiu_2013.pdf
